Faces of Pharmacy

William Allen

First President of the Pharmaceutical Society, 1841–1843

Framed portrait in oils of William Allen (1770–1843), First President of the Pharmaceutical Society 1841–1843 Painted by Henry Perronet Briggs (1791/1793–1844) in 1844. 

Jacob Bell 

Founder of the Pharmaceutical Society and its President, 1856–1859

Framed portrait in oils of Jacob Bell (1810–1859), Founder of the Pharmaceutical Society and its President 1856–1859. Bell also founded and was the first editor of The Pharmaceutical Journal.

Painted by Sir Edwin Henry Landseer (1802–1873), RA, in 1859.  

Thomas Hyde Hills

President of the Pharmaceutical Society, 1873-1876

Portrait in oils of Thomas Hyde Hills (1815-1891), President of the Pharmaceutical Society 1873-1876. Painted by Sir John Everett Millais (1829–1896), RA, in 1873. Framed.

Hills worked ardently for the passage in the 1868 Pharmacy Act by which registration of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Chemists and Druggists became obligatory.

Fact: Millais was one of the founders of the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood. He was elected a Royal Academician (RA) in 1863 and became President of the Royal Academy of Arts in 1896. Millais was personal friend of Hills and the painting was completed in three hours. 

Peter Squire

President of the Pharmaceutical Society, 1849–1850 and 1861–1863

Portrait in oils of Peter Squire (1798–1884), President of the Pharmaceutical Society 1849–1850 and 1861–1863. Painted by an unknown artist. 

In 1837 Squire was appointed Chemist-in-Ordinary to Queen Victoria, a post he held for over 40 years. He was the author and publisher of "Squire's Companion to the British Pharmacopoeia".

Fanny Elizabeth Potter 

The first woman to qualify for registration with the Pharmaceutical Society, 1869

Framed and glazed portrait painting of Fanny Elizabeth Potter (later Deacon) (1837-1930). Possibly a hand-coloured photographic print.

Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Potter was the first woman to qualify for registration with the Pharmaceutical Society after the Pharmacy Act of 1868.  She appeared on the Society’s register as a Chemist and Druggist in 1870, having qualified on 5th February 1869 by taking the Modified Exam.

Fanny worked as a pharmacist until the year of her death, 1930.  She was 92.

Theophilus Redwood

Professor of Pharmacy at the School of Pharmacy, 1842-1885

Portrait in oils of Professor Theophilus Redwood (1806–1892), Professor of Pharmacy at the Society’s School of Pharmacy 1842-1885.

Painted by Joseph Sydney Willis Hodges (1828–1900) in 1887. Framed.

In 1842 Theophilus Redwood became the first Professor of Pharmacy at the School of Pharmacy, and in 1846 he was appointed Professor of Chemistry. He remained a professor at the School of Pharmacy until 1885.

Fact: Redwood also established the Society's Library and was the first to hold the post of Curator in the Society's Museum. Along with a museum committee, Redwood encouraged donations from Council members, officers, Society members and pharmaceutical businesses to build up a collection.

Jean Kennedy Irvine

First female President of the Pharmaceutical Society, 1947-1948

Portrait in oils of Jean Kennedy Irvine (1877–1962), MBE, First Female President of the Pharmaceutical Society 1947-1948. Painted by Norman Hepple (1908–1994), ARA, in 1957.

This portrait was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1957.

William Martindale

President of the Pharmaceutical Society, 1899-1900 & Founder of ‘Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference’

Marble bust of William Martindale (1840-1902). Sculpted by Frank M. Taubman in 1903.

One of William Martindale’s greatest achievements was the publication of ‘Extra Pharmacopoeia’ in 1883. Now known as ‘Martindale: The Complete Drug Reference’ it holds the rare distinction of being one of the very few publications now known by the name of its original author. For over 130 years it has constantly evolved, remaining an essential resource for pharmacists.

Ada Francis Richardson

Member of the Pharmaceutical Society, around 1910

This black and white photographic reprint of an original photograph shows Ada Francis Richardson (MPS) working in her pharmacy at 63 Berners Street, Leicester, around 1910.

Standing behind the pharmacy counter, Richardson is shown using a pestle and mortar to prepare a medicine. She holds up a glass graduated dispensing measure in her other hand.

Fact: Ada Francis Richardson owned her pharmacy, at 63 Berners Street, Leicester from 1906 until 1939, at a time when very few women were running their own businesses. The majority of women working in pharmacy in the early 1900s seem to have been working in hospitals and institutions as dispensers, or as managers or assistants in retail pharmacy.

J.R. Manson (Chemists) Limited

101 Leather Lane, London, EC1, 1972

Interior view of J.R. Manson (Chemists) Limited, 101 Leather Lane, London, EC1, taken in 1972.

The photograph shows the dispensing chemist, John Ross Manson, standing behind the shop counter on the left hand-side of the photograph, with his two long-serving assistants Marina Folly and George Cook.

A pharmacy was first established at the address in 1898, and many of the shop fittings date from that period.

Colour photographic print by John Londei.

'Mortar Willie'

Drug Grinder, Edinburgh, 1815

Coloured engraving titled "WILLM. WILSON. Commonly called Mortar Willie. Aged 107"

Drawn, engraved and published by John Kay in 1815. William Wilson (1709-1815), also known as 'Mortar Willie', came to Edinburgh in 1778 where he found employment as a drug grinder. He worked as a drug grinder for various apothecaries and chemists and druggists in Edinburgh until 1815, the year of his death at allegedly 107 years old.

Fact: Drug grinders were employed by apothecaries and chemists and druggists to prepare drug material to be used in medicinal preparations. Drug grinding involved reducing the medicinal substance to a fine powder. This labour-intensive work was normally achieved in a mortar and pestle, using a revolving, shearing action.