Meaning behind Wetherspoons name unearthed - and it's not related to Tim Martin
The 100 biggest taxpayers in the UK were revealed today, with Russian-born billionaire Alex Gerko nabbing first place from betting tycoon Denise Coates, who is now in second place alongside her brother John and father Peter Coates.
Further down the list though, according to the Sunday Times, was Wetherspoon founder and chairman Tim Martin, who was revealed to be paying £123.2 million in UK tax, making him the seventh-highest taxpayer in the country.
While we all love nipping into our local Wetherspoons for a pint and some reasonably priced grub, there's one thing that many of us don't know - how the chain got its name.
JD Wetherspoon isn't named after the company's founder (Getty Images)Officially called J D Wetherspoon plc, you'd be forgiven for thinking that the chain was named after its founder, as several similarly named chains have done the same - including Morrisons, named after founder William Morrison, and Sainsbury's, named for married couple John James and Mary Ann Sainsbury.
But, as we know Wetherspoon's founder is Tim Martin, that doesn't look to be the case here, so where did the chain get its name?
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According to the franchise's website, the name is actually a tribute to someone from Martin's childhood - as he named his now-famous empire of pubs after a geography teacher who had taught him while he was at school in New Zealand.
The website states: "For the first month of trading, it was called Martin's Free House – after its owner, Wetherspoon's founder and chairman Tim Martin.
"Then, early in the new year of 1980, the pub was renamed Wetherspoons, after Tim's teacher, who'd taught him at school, when he lived in New Zealand."
However, the tribute isn't necessarily as sweet as it sounds, as according to Express.co.uk, Martin chose to name his company after that specific teacher because he believed he "wouldn't amount to anything".
Explaining further, Martin told the Independent in 1999 he chose the name because Mr Wetherspoon "was the least likely person to control a pub because he could not control a class".
And to make matters more complicated, the teacher's initials were not J.D. Instead, Martin got that part of the company's name from J.D. 'Boss' Hogg, a character from the American television series, The Dukes of Hazzard.
The company's name isn't the only interesting fact about the pub chain either - as there's also a specific reason why none of the almost 900 watering holes ever play any music.
According to Bristol Live, Martin was inspired to create his pub chain after reading a 1946 article by author George Orwell, who said his perfect pub would be free from any background music.
Martin chose to implement this in his company, but their website does state that pubs may put the sound on for sporting events, so it may not always be completely quiet.
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