[2] He was the second son of five children of Henry Dunhill (1842–1901), a master blind-maker, and his wife and cousin, Jane, née Styles (1843–1922).

[3] Alfred Dunhill was educated at The Lower School of John Lyon in Harrow on the Hill and by tutors until he was 15, when he was apprenticed to his father's business.

[3] In 1902 he opened his first shop in Conduit Street, Mayfair, selling clothing and accessories to chauffeurs and their employers.

[8] In 1934 he had the ship Lady Gay built as a personal motor cruiser; it later participated in the Dunkirk evacuation and was preserved until being destroyed by fire in 2021.

The company always ensured its products were covered by patent and trade mark, a policy prosecuted with vigour from the outset.

[3] Bloomberg Businessweek opined that Dunhill prefigured the modern luxury goods market with its international ambitions.

[13] In The New York Times review of the book, the anonymous author credited Dunhill with making pipe smoking "a gentlemanly diversion".

[15] Dunhill passed the chairmanship of his company to his son Alfred Henry in 1928, taking retirement for health reasons.

[16] He left his wife and moved to Worthing to join his long-term mistress, Vera Mildred Wright (1902–1976), who changed her name to his by deed poll.