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Some Special Interests => Occupation Interests => Topic started by: Jane Eden on Friday 29 February 08 21:09 GMT (UK)
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Hi
I am a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. If you have a query about a pharmacist, chemist, druggist, apothecary I may be able to help. Also on queries regarding early types of medicines, chemist shops, drug treatments, leeches, maggots, drug jars, etc.
Jane
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Hello Jane,
I've spotted an interesting article about Dr John Langdon Down of Normansfield which was written by Professor O Conor Ward who is Chairman of the Langdon Down Centre Trust.
The article refers to regulations relating to the practice of Apothecaries being introduced in 1815. This allowed John Langdon Down to call himself an Apothecary. Anybody who wanted to be an Apothecary after 1815 had to be registered by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and had to pass examinations. John started to learn his trade behind a shop counter at the age of fourteen. www.langdondowncentre.org.uk/history.php
Christopher
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Hello Jane,
One of my ancestors was in the 1851 census as a Druggist. I have followed one of his sons through the census and just out of interest I have a couple of queries you may be able to help me with.
His son was an apprentice druggist/chemist in 1881 and again in 1891. By 1901 he was a druggist/chemist. That seems a long time to be an apprentice. Did they train on the job and would they have had to have any academic qualifications then?
He had attended a boarding school so I assume he had fair education for that time.
Another question I have is, if all his family were from Wales how would he have known about apprenticeships in Devon which is where he was apprenticed. No family ties there that I can find.
Would there be records available of qualified druggists at that time? Did they have to register?
Thanks for any help you can give me
Mandy
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Hello Jane,
That is a kind offer. My 3rd great grandfather is in the 1841 census as a druggist, but by 1851 he is a Commercial Traveller, would you think that he sold drugs?
Also do you know if being a druggist a prestigious occupation in those days?
Thanks,
Elin
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As an afterthought, are druggists, pharmacists, apothacaries and chemists the same thing?
Thanks again,
Elin
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Hi
In the past druggists, pharmacists, apothacaries and chemists could have been interchangable but the correct term is pharmacist but how many people say they are nipping to the chemist?. The regulatory body for pharmacists now days is the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Your relative turned into a commercial traveer but it depends what in?
Of course being a pharmacist, chemist etc is a respectable occupation - it is a profession so it is more than respectable. Anyone who misbehaves gets struck off the register.
Jane
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H i Jane,
Thanks a lot for the reply, I would hate you to think that I was suggesting that being a pharmacist might not be a respectable profession today, I am well aware that that is not the case!
I just wondered whether in the 1850s people might have just been able to set themselves up as druggists and sold home made remedies unregulated. A bit like many elderly women delivered babies and barbers did surgery! :o Although that may have been in earlier times.
I have no idea what he sold as a commercial traveller, it just seemed to me that it might have been a bit of a come down for him after being a druggist.
Thanks again :)
Elin
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Hello Jane,
Would be interesting to find out about someone in my tree who according to the 1881 census was transcribed has a Homscopathic chemist (not sure if this is a mistranscription).
His name was William F. Clayton .
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Hi Jane,
I have and Ancestor who is listed as a "Grocer & Druggist" on the 1861 census..."A Commission Agent" in 1871 and a "Licensensed Victualler" In 1881.
Drug & Alcohol are hardly related......so I wondered if in this context...the "Druggist" tag was a loose term for someone who perhaps sold over the counter remedies for common ailments!
Thanks for your time.
T.T.
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Hello Jane
Thank you for your kind offer. If you are not already 'snowed under', perhaps when you get a chance you could check out my g g grandfather for me.
He was John Gray and practised in Bath, Somerset and in 1809 is listed as Apothecary at 5 Kings Street. 1819 has him as Apothecary and chemist at 32 Westgate Street.
His son, John junior, born 1820, was also an Apothecary in Bath in 1840's / 1850's but then disappears.
Any information on either of these would be be much appreciated.
Regards - Cynfran
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Hi
My next definite trip to the society is on 5 June. I can go to the library in the lunch break and look up these people in the registers.
Jane
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Thanks Jane
Cynfran
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Hi Jane,
I worked for a vet back the days of yore! We inherited a lovely old book, which was full of old recipes for medicines ointments and liniments.
It was great fun making up huge quantities of udder cream and horse embrocation. They always worked too! The sceptical youngsters that came into the practice, used to laugh at it all, but used them themselves when all else had failed
Of course none of them are allowed to be used now, but then they were in fairly common usage. I spent many happy hours mixing potions like that.
Rabbit B ;D
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Those RootsChatters with Irish ancestors should have a look at Apothecaries in Ireland on the Irish Resources board. Sorry there's only a link for Co. Cork at the moment ... I'll have a hunt for others. http://tiny.cc/mD2d4
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Hi Jane,
I would be very grateful if you have a chance to look up my 3rd Great Grandfather too. His is listed in the 1841 census as a druggist, Long Street, Wotton Under Edge, Gloucester.
Many thanks,
Elin
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Quite a few of my GUEST relatives were pharmacists and druggists according to the censuses and various certificates.
A distant relative who contacted me via ancestry's web site, had asked the Royal Pharmaceutical Society about one of them, and they had replied to say that he's in the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Chemists & Druggists and for £20 they will be able to dig out the following info:
• Date of registration with the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.
• Type of examination taken, examination number and qualification obtained.
• All registered addresses and the dates they changed.
• Date of removal from the Register and sometimes the reason why (e.g. death).
Seems fairly good value, though neither of us have yet got round to sending off a cheque. There are a few more I'd like to check too, so this could get a bit expensive!
The one I know is on the Register is Frederick William Guest (b. 1809, a chemist in Tonbridge, then Hawkhurst, then Folkestone, before retiring to London by the time of the 1871 census), but some of his brothers were also in the profession, and most of his sisters married pharmacists:
John Henry Guest (1818-1891, who was a Chemist & Druggist on London's Ratcliffe Highway on the 1841 census (but by 1846 was working on the railway, so I'm not sure whether he would have been registered).
Edward Guest (1821 -), described as a Chemist on his marriage certificate to Margaret Lemon at Clifton, Bristol 17 Feb 1858.
Jane Clarissa Guest (1824-1912) who married Frederick Biggs (1829-) a Chemist & Druggist in Swansea on the 1851, 1861, 1871 censuses, becoming a colliery agent on the 1881 and 1891, though on the 1901 he calls himself a retired chemist, and on his wife's death certificate, he's a Chemist & Druggist.
Charles Guest (1826-1863), a Chemist in Clifton, Bristol in 1849, 1850; a Chemist & Druggist on the 1851 census; a Homeopathic Chemist in the 1851 Mathews Bristol & Clifton Directory; Homeopathic Chemist in Clifton in the 1856 Post Office Directory; a Chemist in 1858, homeopathic chemist on the 1861 census and a Master Chemist on his death certificate. His shop/residence was at 31 The Triangle, Clifton, Bristol, most of that time.
Ellen Sophia Guest (1827-) married Edwin Wheeler (1831-) in January 1856 in Bristol. Edwin became a Homeopathic Chemist in Cheltenham (employing an apprentice and a boy on the 1861 census) until Charles Guest (above) died, when he seems to have taken over 31 The Triangle in Clifton. Though by the 1901 census he's moved to Queen's Rd, Bristol and is described as a Homeopathic Chemist, working at home.
It certainly looks as though there was a distinct marriage network in the pharmaceutical profession in the early to mid 19th century!
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Hi
I seem to have kicked off a definite response for those of you with chemists, druggists and pharmacists in your families. I have got the list and will look up as much as I can on 5 June. I have 4 meetings per year at the society so those I cannot look up in June I will look up at the next meeting.
Keep sending in requests and I will endeavour to find out more for you. If you are interested in what they did there are information sheets on the old arts of pill making etc on the Societies website and further information on tracing relatives etc. (but this will be looking up in the registers which is what I have offered to do, though they may do it quicker, but at a cost).
http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/informationresources/museum/faqs.html
http://www.rpsgb.org.uk/informationresources/museum/resources/informationsheets.html
These are really interesting and worth a look. I never made pills but made suppositories and ointments etc.
Jane
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Hi Jane,
You have definately kicked off something here! I too have an ancestor (my 3x great grandfather) who was listed as a Chemist. He has been a total mystery to me for many years so I would appreciate any help you can give when you get the time to visit the Society.
He is Robert Hammond, who is shown in various records as a Chemist in Westminster, London, between 1835-1840. I beleive he died in 1843.
Many thanks for helping us all with this.
Tony.
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Hi Jane,
I made an observation recently at a FHS meeting it seemed the old chemist shops in the slides we were viewing of East Sussex in England were called Drug stores. Do you know if we copied the Americans OR did they copy us ??? ;D ;D
Crystal :D
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Jane
I found this thread by chance by googling 32 Westgate Street and apothecary.
My 4 x great grandfather was William CAve and was apparently an apothecary at 32 Westgate Street in 1822-1823 (Pigot's). But was not listed there in subsequent directories. Ironically the bulding is noa a SuperDrug!
Anything you could fin on William would be much appreciated as I actually have aphoto of a portrait of him.
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Please could you look up a William Henry Scott b1823 in Marylebone, Middx who was listed as an Apothocary (perfumer) he was in the 1851 census living in Wandsworth and the 1861 census living in Islington and he remained in that general area until his death in 1885. We have a huge problem identifying his family - there is speculation that he was a Sir William Henry? If you could identify his father from apprenticeship records that would be fantastic.
Thank you for your offer of help.
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Hi Jane,
Please could you try to look up John Taylor, b.1835 North Shields, Tynemouth, England. In 1851 he was a Chemist's Apprentice and in later census gave his occupation as a druggist.
In 1891 he is living at 41 Linshill Terrace, North Shields, he was a wholesale druggest drysalter.
In 1901 he is living at 25 Spring Terrace, Preston, Northumberland, he was 65 and a retired Chemist.
He lived and worked in North Shields all his life.
I appreciate Taylor is a common name but hope you might be able to find something.
Thanks
Laurina
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Just to feed back that I paid the RPS for information on one of my lot, Frederick William Guest. They confirmed he was a member and the addresses from which he paid his subscriptions. The really, really, really weird thing though (which they said they'd look into, but have never got back to me) was that he was still on the register and (presumably) paying subscriptions every year for 28 years after he died!
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:o :o :o :o :o
Just to feed back that I paid the RPS for information on one of my lot, Frederick William Guest. They confirmed he was a member and the addresses from which he paid his subscriptions. The really, really, really weird thing though (which they said they'd look into, but have never got back to me) was that he was still on the register and (presumably) paying subscriptions every year for 28 years after he died!
The plot thickens, keep us informed :-\
Crystal :D
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Just to feed back that I paid the RPS for information on one of my lot, Frederick William Guest. They confirmed he was a member and the addresses from which he paid his subscriptions. The really, really, really weird thing though (which they said they'd look into, but have never got back to me) was that he was still on the register and (presumably) paying subscriptions every year for 28 years after he died!
Curiouser and curiouser, how on earth did that happen. They stop all payments like that when someone dies as a rule.
I would ask for a rebate! ;D I bet that request would get a reply!
Rabbit B ;)
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Hello Jane,
What a very kind offer.
I have a George Proudman who is listed as a Chemist and Druggist on his son's marriage certificate in 1868 and on his wife's death certificate in 1870, he also died in 1870. Is there any trace of him on the register?
Kindest Regards,
Sue
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Just to feed back that I paid the RPS for information on one of my lot, Frederick William Guest. They confirmed he was a member and the addresses from which he paid his subscriptions. The really, really, really weird thing though (which they said they'd look into, but have never got back to me) was that he was still on the register and (presumably) paying subscriptions every year for 28 years after he died!
Curiouser and curiouser, how on earth did that happen. They stop all payments like that when someone dies as a rule.
They finally got back to me, and - basically - they're stumped.
The only thing they've been able to add is that his name is crossed out in the 1920 register, with an annotation "Deceased: T.T. Hora 6.5.20"
Apparently the date is ususally the date the Society is informed of the death of a member, and they assume TT Hora (whoever s/he is!) was the informant.
I now have an image of someone called TT Hora buying FW Guest's old shop and finding 28 years worth of mail behind the door! ;D
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As daughter of a pharmacist may I just say what a fascinating thread - I have only just found it :D. My dad qualified as a Pharmacist in 1929 after being apprenticed to his uncle who was a Chemist & Druggist and ran a Chemist shop in Padiham, Lancashire. My dad travelled several times a week by train to Manchester to study in between working in the shop.
By all accounts the family had all to make great sacrifices to let dad's uncle study for the profession and his two sisters had to work in the mill in order to provide the money for this. My grandmother would tell of her frustation at being denied her wish of becoming a schoolteacher so that her brother could study, and I have found in the census that she was working part time as a weaver by the age of 11. As a thank-you to her contribution, her brother agreed to train my dad in the profession if he showed any aptitude for the job.
Dad eventually took over the business in Padiham and I have vivid memories of how the shop used to look, with the little drawers of powder and all the bottles. There were few branded medicines then, and dad used to stay late into the evening mixing his medicines and making his own pills. I have two books of old recipes full of old remedies both for humans and animals and I still have the old brass weighing scales, various glass stoppered bottles with Latin names on the front, and a pestle and mortar from the shop.
If anybody wants a recipe for deepening the yellow colour in cockerels' legs just let me know ;D ;D ;D
Maggie
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Just to feed back that I paid the RPS for information on one of my lot, Frederick William Guest. They confirmed he was a member and the addresses from which he paid his subscriptions. The really, really, really weird thing though (which they said they'd look into, but have never got back to me) was that he was still on the register and (presumably) paying subscriptions every year for 28 years after he died!
Curiouser and curiouser, how on earth did that happen. They stop all payments like that when someone dies as a rule.
They finally got back to me, and - basically - they're stumped.
The only thing they've been able to add is that his name is crossed out in the 1920 register, with an annotation "Deceased: T.T. Hora 6.5.20"
Apparently the date is ususally the date the Society is informed of the death of a member, and they assume TT Hora (whoever s/he is!) was the informant.
I now have an image of someone called TT Hora buying FW Guest's old shop and finding 28 years worth of mail behind the door! ;D
The name T.T. Hora didn't mean anything at first until I started digging.
I found two entries for T.T. Hora in the 1906 telephone directory, both at 346 York Road, Battersea: TT Hora, Chemist & Druggist, Battersea 280 and Tudor T Hora, Whisle Photographic Chemist, Battersea 327.
Hora, and particularly Tutor T. Hora, is a sufficiently unusual name that I easily tracked him down on the 1891 census, where his widowed mother is Susanah M Hora: she's a chemist. I then found a marriage between a William T Hora and a Susannah M Page in 1866 - and that's where finally - and convolutedly - there's a connection.
My Frederick William Guest was the second husband of rather strange sounding character, Maria Brown. They married in 1882 and she was widowed for the second time when Frederick William died in January 1892. She then married again, in September 1892, to a James Richard Page, who was a "medical & general label printer" and who printed labels for Frederick William Guest's medicine bottles (according to a newspaper report of a curious deed of separation between Maria and James Richard Page). So I'm guessing there's a connection on the Page side. Siblings? Cousins?
What a tangled web! And it still doesn't explain why T.T. Hora left it until 1920 to inform the RPS of Frederick William Guest's death 28 years years earlier!
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Jane,
Would it be possible please to see if the following appear on the register
Andrew Hingston
Cheltenham early 1800's
also his son
Andrew Holland Hingston
Liverpool 1860's
Thank You Eddie
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hi jane
any chance you could look one up for me please
henry downie and co
43/44 sandhill newcastle upon tyne listed as druggest and chemist also had pickle factory???
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I am looking for one James Charles RUSSELL who was an apothecary in London pre 1834 when he emigrated to Tasmania. I haven't been able to find anything on him prior to Tasmania.
He went on to become a doctor and surgeon in NSW.
Thanks
Zenobia
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Wilfred Lewis Watson born 1873 Belper was a Pharmaceutical student living at the Granville Hotel WELLINGBOROUGH at the time for the 1891 census. He later opened a Drug and Photographic store in Frome, Somerset from about 1900 to 1909. A collection of glass negatives of Frome and District was found in the loft of a house in Ealing in the 1980s. Have been unable to find him on the 1911 census.
Any information on his subsequent movements would be much appreciated.
Many thanks.
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Hi Jane
Thanks for the offer.
Could you please look up my Grt Grt grandfather? His name was John Roberts born abt 1803/1804 in Sleaford, Lincs. He was a chemist/druggist at Woodside Lane/Bridgehouses/ 24 Pye Bank, addresses all in the Brightside area of Sheffield from the 1841 census to 1883. His middle name could be Joseph, not sure, as he never used a middle name on censuses.
Have you any idea how much a druggist employed by another druggist who owned the shop would be paid please?
I should be very grateful thank you.
Ann
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This is the first time I have submitted a reply... hope it is done right. I have an entry on the 1871 census (St.Ann's, Liverpool) of a William Williams, druggist. He is employing a nephew, William P. Knight (my relative) as a druggist assistant. In 1881 William P. is listed as same, but in 1891 he is a messenger in an office, so I presume the druggist trade was just a job, and not a career path. I wonder if the uncle William Williams (born Liverpool C1824), was qualified or, as others have asked, just dabbling in a few remedies.
Thanks
Esther
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Hi Elin
This is my first posting on Rootschat. My g-g-grandfather Francis Harding WITT was also a chemist and druggist from 1820 - 1851 in Long Street and Market St. Wotton under Edge. Do you think our relatives knew each other? I am also trying to find out exactly what a druggist and chemist did and how he acquired his knowledge. Can anyone help?
Philip
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Hi Jane
Thanks for the offer, you are very kind :)
My great grandfather William Waller Stapleton 1841-1917 was a chemist and postmaster in Shefford, Bedfordshire.
Sometime in the 1890s, the family abruptly left Shefford, moving to Bedford, and he never worked again.
My question is: Is it possible to discover whether there was any legal reason why this move was necessary and, if so, what happened?
Thank you
Mark :)
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Hi Jane-
Wondering if you could tell me a little more about the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Chemists and Druggists. I found a copy of the register online that was published in 1885. I am looking for William Williams. Do happen to have access to one that was published before 1877 (when he died)? He was a druggist/chemist according to the 1861 and 1871 census records. If you don't have access, do you know who might? Thanks for any help you can provide. I appreciate it.
Jenny in Arizona
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Hello, jlvolker, Jenny in Arizona,
I see you are looking for a William Williams, died 1877. You say you found him in the 1861 and 1871 census.... in the 1871 census, did he have an apprentice named William Pilkington Knight? If so, he is the same one I have posted an enquiry about, about 3 up the list from yours. The apprentice is one of my line, and I wondered what had happened to his employ. In the 1881 census my fellow was still a druggist assistant, but living with his wife, so I didn't know W.W, had died, if it is the same person.
Sandra, Yorkshire
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I think they are two different people. On the 1871 Wales Census, William Williams resided in Wm. Rogers House on Ruthin Road in Coedpoeth (Ecclesiastical Parish or District of Minera), Bersham, Denbighshire, Wales. He lived alone and was a widower. The John Owens family lived on one side of him and the Griffith Evans family on the other.
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Hi Jenny, sorry we do not match up. Didn't think to mention that my enquiry was in Liverpool. Good luck with your search.... it gets you out of the Arizona heat, anyway!!
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Hi jlvolker
I happen to have a copy of the 1875 register in front of me (I'm researching my ancester who is a Chemist and Druggist).
I have found your William Williams in it, registered at the time at High Street, Coedpoeth, Denbighshire. The entry gives his date of registration as 31st December 1868, which is the initial date of compulsary registration under the Pharmaceutical Act of 1868. There is also a note in the qualification column that he was in business before August 1st 1868, which probably means that he didn't take an examination.
I hope this helps :)
Also, Jane, if you are still around here, I have the entry in the Register of my ancestor John Middleton of Lambeth - what more can I hope to find in the Royal Society Library?
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Thanks so much. That is exactly what I was looking for. I really appreciate it.
Jenny
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Hi Jane
This is a very generous offer. I'd be really grateful if you could help throw some light on my mysterious great-grandfather, David G Macdougal, born 1885 in Dumfries. He is shown on all documents as a pharmaceutical chemist. We believed he had his own business, but this seems a bit uncertain.
Some time before 1901 the family moved from Kilmarnock to Hull. They are on the 1901 census. In 1905 Kelly's directory gives him as a chemist's assistant. Although he didn't die till 1915 I can't find him on the 1911 census. Family stories say he'd split with his wife, who is living with her children in Hull.
Would it be possible to find if he was still working as a chemist in 1911? Or even whether he actually was qualified?
Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks
Lesley
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Hi Beximus
Have you still got the register ??? ???
I'm after William Waller Stapleton in Shefford, Beds.
Any info would be gratefully received.
Best wishes
Mark :)
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Jane, I see from a report on my grandmother's 1901 inquest that she was taking "Mother Segal's syrup" as a tonic. I believe that it contained sulphuric acid, can you please confirm this and also list the other ingredients, and say in your opinion what its effects on a patient would have been.
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Hi Beximus
Have you still got the register ??? ???
I'm after William Waller Stapleton in Shefford, Beds.
Any info would be gratefully received.
Best wishes
Mark :)
Sure - I should be popping back into my local archives to do some more research tomorrow, so I'll have a look for you then :)
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Hi Beximus
Any chance of finding this one?
Please could you try to look up John Taylor, b.1835 North Shields, Tynemouth, England. In 1851 he was a Chemist's Apprentice and in later census gave his occupation as a druggist.
In 1891 he is living at 41 Linshill Terrace, North Shields, he was a wholesale druggest drysalter.
In 1901 he is living at 25 Spring Terrace, Preston, Northumberland, he was 65 and a retired Chemist.
He lived and worked in North Shields all his life.
Laurina
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Hi Beximus
Any chance of finding this one?
Please could you try to look up John Taylor, b.1835 North Shields, Tynemouth, England. In 1851 he was a Chemist's Apprentice and in later census gave his occupation as a druggist.
In 1891 he is living at 41 Linshill Terrace, North Shields, he was a wholesale druggest drysalter.
In 1901 he is living at 25 Spring Terrace, Preston, Northumberland, he was 65 and a retired Chemist.
He lived and worked in North Shields all his life.
Laurina
I'll have a look see if there is anything. They've only got 1875-1879 there, but he should pop up in there somewhere I'd have thought.
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Thanks, I appreciate that. In 1881 he's at 12 Luis Kile Terrace, Tynemouth - he's in North Shields all his life.
Let's hope he's there.
Laurina
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Chewboy:
William Waller Stapleton is in the 1875 register, resident at Shefford, Beds. He registered on Dec 31st 1868, again at the beginning of compulsary registration, and is down as having been in business before August 1st 1868, and has no exam dates next to his name so probably didn't take any. The information is still the same in 1879, which is as late as I can look I'm afraid.
Laurina:
I've found John Taylor in the 1875 register, and his details are pretty similar, although his residential address is given as Linskill Terrace, North Shields, rather than Linshill. He registered on Dec 31st 1868 and was in business before August 1st 1868 as well, with no sign of an exam taken.
But - from 1876 to 1879, he's not in Linskill/Linshill anymore, at least he's not registered from there. There is a John Taylor who gives his residence as 75 Clive Street, North Shields, so this may be the same one as he's still in the right area, although there's no definite way to tell (there's quite a handful of John Taylors in the book!) There's no one registered under the address given for the 1881 Census either.
I hope this info is of some use :)
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Thank you very much, Beximus. That is helpful ;D
That he probably didn't have any qualifications surprises me not at all. :D
He also left the Pharmaceutical business rather hurriedly in his mid fifties, and we are trying to find out whether there was a scandal or not.
Thank you again
Mark :)
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Thanks Beximus,
You're spot on with John Taylor. I have him in Clive Street at a later date too.
Thank you very much
Laurina
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Hi Everyone
I have been away for a while but I am back now. The modern day world of pharmacy has just been too busy.
We have to be aware that the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) who holds all the records is about to go through a huge reorganisation. It currently is the professional body and the regulatory body for pharmacists and it holds all the records since 1841. I believe quite rightly that the the time has come for the regulatory body and the professional body to be divided. It is proposed that the regulatory body will be the General Pharmaceutical Council and the Professional Body has yet to be defined.
If family history is important to you may be you should let the society know as during the reorganisation it is reviewing the core aspects of its role. I think the historical aspects are important but they could be easily overlooked at this time. I am not trying to raise a petition or a pressure group but if you want to forward your comments then this is the link:
Chief Executive and Registrar:
jeremy.holmes@rpsgb.org
Kind regards
Jane
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Thanks for the info but I would like records pre 1835 (London) on apothecary/surgeons.
I have followed a number of links and inevitably go round in circles. (Computers and I .....well) :-[
I have also checked Australian records with no luck.
Regards
Zenobia
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Jane, Do you have any suggestions as to the approach we should take when lobbying the society? Also, a little while ago, I asked in an earlier post on this thread about the contents of Mother Segal's Syrup?
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Hello Jane,
Many thanks for your kind offer to do lookups. Are you still doing them or are you snowed under? If you have time it would be appreciated if you could do a look up for FREDERICK BRIGGS. He was a DRUGGIST/CHEMIST in Pembroke , Pembrokeshire in the 1840's. By 1861 he had ceased to be so and he stated on the 1861 census that he was an Agent for the Irish Steam Packet running from Neyland to Cork. Not so suprising as his Stepfather came from Cork but quite a career change!
Regards
Kingskerswell
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http://www.healthysecrets.com/health_news/topics/cayenne_pepper-capsicum.html says that Mother Seigals syrup contained dilute hydrochloric acid and tincture of capsicum.
Jed
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Thanks for that Jed, Peppers and sulphuric acid, certainly make you jump around. I suspect aversion therapy played a part too!
Kingskerwell, In view of this dramatic career change, is it possible that Frederick was struck off after some failure or scandal?
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Hi Red,
Couldn't agree more that there might have been a scandal. He was my 2xG Grandmothers brother and after 1861 Census I "lose" him all together! Have tried Cork but that was some time ago, they have more on line now so must try again. Must also try, if I can find them, local Pembroke Papers!
Kingskerswell
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Hi Jane
If you still have access and time for lookups ::) would you be able to look for
Richard Lawton SMETHURST recorded as a Pharmaceutical Chemist on the 1861 and 1871 census, also on his December 1876 marriage certificate to my Gt grand aunt Mary Hannah HARGREAVES (formerly BARROW). His address at all these times was Greengate Salford.
Can't see him on the Historical Directories site :(
Heres hoping :)
Jo
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Robert Todd born about 1819 in Kirton in Lindsey, Lincs was a 'chemist & druggist' in Hunmanby, Yorkshire when he married my Gt. Grandmother Mary Jane Anderson in 1852. I've been trying to find her, in vain so far but it would help if you could look him up for me.
Census 1841 show him as a druggist and '51 as a chemist and still living at Kirton in Lindsey.
I'd be most grateful to have any information about him. His death cert. Jun 1889 showed him as a Chemist & Druggist (Master) although he stopped practising sometime after 1861.
Many thanks and regards.
Marglos
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My gt gt grandfather John Stather Cousens was a chemist, born South Cave Yorks 1853. He was an apprentice chemist in Hull in 1871, by 1881 he was fully fledged and in Eckington, Derbys, in 1891 in Sheffield and by 1901 (until his death) in Nottingham.
Is it possible to discover where he did his training? My gt gt grandmother was born and lived in the Somerset area so I have always wondered where and how they met.
I'd appreciate any information about him.
Thanks.
garibaldired
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Hello all,
Can anyone tell me whether a fellow who was probably an industrial chemist ... would have been trained at the same facilities as apothecaries and druggists? And would he appear in the records under "Apothecaries, Druggists & Chemists"?
My gt grandfather Christopher Robert Tatham (b. Poplar, London, 1859) is listed as a "chemist" in various Australian records - he was a part-owner of a varnish and woodstain-making company at the time.
I know he "dropped out" of Cambridge, where he'd been reading Mathematics, in 1880, and married in Carlton, Victoria, in 1887. If he trained in England, I suspect he did it between 1880 and about 1885.
Any clues?
**Oooops, just realised I've virtually duplicated a thread: -
http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,390822.0.html
:-[
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Hi Jane,
My 4xgreat grandfather William Quiney was born in Preston Capes, Northamptonshire in 1802. He was recorded as a druggist in the 1841 census, an ink maker in 1842, chemist in 1851 census, druggist in 1865, wholesale druggist in 1871 census, druggist 1881 censis, drug maker 1883. He died 7 Jan 1883 and was recorded as a wholesale druggist. In all this period he lived and worked in the Stepney, Tower Hamlets, Mile End area of London (Middlesex). I don't know when he moved from Preston Capes to London. Anything you can find would be wonderful.
Lynne
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Hi Jane
Not sure if you are still doing lookups....but if you are, any information about Michael Holloway Dean, he was an apprentice chemist & druggist in Wolverhampton in 1851. Later on in his life he moved to Cardiff and Brynmawr where he states he was a Chemist & Druggist (he died in Cardiff in 1886). Any information would be much appreciated.
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Hi Jane,
How kind of you!
I have a relative, 1910 on wards (will have to check) who was a Perfumier in Nottingham. I wonder if you have any ideas where one might start to research this?
Any help would be much appreciated..... after your other homework!
Best wishes,
Copperbeech5
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Hi Jane
Re my earlier post.
I have looked up the registers at RPSGB from mid 1890's to 1920 and the only trace of Wilfred Lewis Watson was as a student in 1891 at Kettering. He operated a Drug & Photograhic store in Frome from 1899 to 1909 and at the 1901 census he gave his occupation as 'Dispenser to Surgeon.' Perhaps you can help? Does this suggest that as he apparently failed to qualify, he was able to dispense drugs that were checked/prescribed by the Surgeon only? Presumably if unqualified he was nevertheless able sell over the counter medicines and drugs?
many thanks
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In view of the quack remedies available at this time (see my post on Mother Siegal's syrup above) I think it likely that he didn't qualify, just got on with dispensing and took a chance!
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Hi Jane.
I wonder if you can help me also. In 1871 Arthur Horseman was in Manchester as a Chemists Apprentice; in 1881 he was in Paddington as a Chemist; in 1901 he was in Battersea as a Chemists assistant. He died in Wallasey in 1935 and his death certificate said he was 'formerly a pharmacist' (shop keeper). Arthur was born in 1855, and his name could be Horseman or Horsman.
If you were able to find anything about him it would be great.
Thanks in Advance
Sue
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Hi Jane, I dont know if you are still doing look ups? I have a father and son with the same name Robert Flower Smith who both trained as Apothecarys - the elder was born 1767 born Shifnal, Shropshire, trained at Cambridge and gained Freedom of the City of London, and the son born 1796 in London was apprenticed to his father and passed in 1822. any information would be appreciated. Many thanks :)
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Hi Jane,
thank you for your offer. I have an ancestor who was a chemist and druggist called Thomas Edward Buckle. His name and occupation appear on his son's (also called Thomas Edward Buckle) birth certificate in Thames Ditton SURREY in 1843, and marriage certificate (London 1879). His wife Sarah Bristow b 1820 Thames Ditton (presumably common-law as I have found no marriage certificate) appears on the 1851 census with the son but I can find no other references to Sarah or the elder Thomas apart from both of them being witnesses to Sarah's sister's (Harriette)wedding in 1846 also at Thames Ditton.
If there is any record of where and when Thomas qualified as a chemist, this could help me through a current dead end in my research.
Thank you
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Jane, based on your knowledge of the records available do you know if someone listed as a "druggist traveller" would be required to be registered with the RPS as well as druggists? My ggrandfather, Donald Thomas Nisbett is recorded on the 1881 census as a druggist traveller. On his marriage certificate of 1878 it just says traveller and on his death certificate of 1887 he was a commercial traveller. We have been unable to track him anywhere before 1878, not even his birth abt 1852, supposedly in St Georges, London. Any help or advice you can offer would be much appreciated.
Many thanks
Peter
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Hi Jane,
Don't know if your offer is still open. If so, can you do a look-up on Bernard Arthur Craine. In 1871 he is an apprentice dispensing chemist with Thomas Stowell in Ramsey, on the Isle of Man. By his marriage in 1881 he says he is a Chemist and Druggist, still in Ramsey, on the Isle of Man. I presume as its post 1868, he would have to have qualified. Is it possible to find out when and if there is any further info on him? Really do appreciate your time. Thanks.
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Hi
I am a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. If you have a query about a pharmacist, chemist, druggist, apothecary I may be able to help. Also on queries regarding early types of medicines, chemist shops, drug treatments, leeches, maggots, drug jars, etc.
Jane
Hello Jane,
Your posting interested me as I'm researching UK trade. Are you still able to help with Chemist lookups? If so please may I ask a favour?
I have in my library Kelly's Directories for Chemists & Druggists for years 1893,1919, 1930 & 1938 but cannot find one (male) O.B.DUCKETT who was a Pharmacist and Dispensing Chemist. His shop is described as The Little Pharmacy..As I cannot find him in my Kelly's and no trace in the 1901 & 1911 censuses I'm guessing he was trading in Scotland between 1919-1930. His Apparell would also suggest this period.
Would you be able perform a look up, please?
Thanks in advance!
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Hi Jane,
If you are still doing look ups could you please see if
William MOGFORD who is described as a druggist on his marriage certificate in 1848 and on the 1851 census,
William lived in Exeter.
Thanks
Carol Ann
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Hello Jane,
If you are still kindly answering questions after more than two years ...
There's a Charles Pooley at 8 George St. in Bath, on UK directories between 1822 and 1842, under various listings over the years:
Chemists and Druggists,
Apothecaries,
Chemist and Druggist to the Queen Dowager,
Dispensing, and Member of the Pharmaceutical Society of London, as well as
Fire and Life Assurance agents,
Phoenix Fire, Protector Life agent
Was he gaining more credentials and side businesses as time went on?
Was the "Chemist and Druggist to the Queen Dowager" anything significant?
Where would he have trained? He seems to have had apprentices or assistants living with him on different Census. Would there have been an initial school training at that time?
Was it customary for Chemists to sell insurance?
He had a son John C Pooley who also became a chemist in Bath.
Thanks for any light you can shed,
Adair
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If you are still looking these names up, I would really appreciate anything on my chemist/druggist!
His name was John Reay and I have in as a chemist/druggist in the 1851, 1861, 1871 and 1881 censuses in St Bees, Cumberland. He died at the age of 54 in 1883.
I would appreciate any information at all!!
Thank you!
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Hi, I have stumbled on your link and realise it is a long time since you began this link - however I wondered if you are still checking records. My mother was a pharmacist and I would be grateful of any info. She was born Florence Auty Ellis in 1919 (Married name from 1942 - Glover). She practiced until the early 1970's but I am interested in any information about her training etc,
Many thanks,
Maggie
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Hi
Please check http://webspace.webring.com/people/oj/jarmscoop/emerson_ellis.html as this may have all the info you require.
Jane
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Hi, Thanks jane. This is not my family- my mother trained in Yorkshire and lived there till 1942 before spending time in kenya and then returning to UK to live in Scotland from 1959 onwards,
Maggie
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Hi Jane,
I hope you can help, a member of my family was a chemist, from Cardiganshire he was on the 1911 census at Upper Gloucester Place London, found him again 1931 details from a will Newgate Street London, I will try the LMA later, his name
David Morgan Rees, would you have any more to add.
Thanks Joan
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Hi
One of my ancestors was a chemist - his name was Theophilus Aston Wedge, b 1824.
On the 1861 census he is shown in High Street Dudley as 'Assistant (Chemist and Druggist)' age 22; on the 1881 census he is at 30 Broad Street Bilston, occupation Chemist.
Theo died in 1888: his death is registered in Christchurch, Dorset.
Any information you could find about him him would be wonderful!
Cati
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Looking for information on William James who is down as an Apothocary on two of his children's baptisms in Christ Church Spitalfields in 1767 and 1771, before moving to St Mary Whitechapel. He was of St Botolph without Aldgate when he married. Would someone this early appear in the records of the Society? Would someone working outside of the historic "city" of London have much chance of turning up perhaps in the records of The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries?
Thanks
Nicola
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hello
looking for any information on Thomas Barker born in Exeter Devon in 1826. from 1851 he is living in Aston Birmingham where he is listed as a druggist and a grocer and druggist. He had a brother William also a druggist and edward Thompson who was a vet in worcester.
Thomas lived in Finch street Lozells where I presume he had his shop?
any info apreciated
Dandalady
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Hi Jane
Really would appreciate some help.
Trying to locate a Samuel Black, I believe he was born in County Donegal 1918/19. He worked in Austins Chemist, The Diamond, Londonderry, in or around the late 1930's. I have lost him after this. Austins Chemist was run or owned by people called Stinson.
As I said any help would be really appreciated.
Davy C
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My 3rd great-grandfather, William Richard Wells (1809-1865), was a "master chemist & druggist" & listed as such on his children's birth records, & censuses. His son George Osborn Wells became a chemist also. In 1851 a young William Park was his assistant. William lived in the St. Pancras area of Middlesex. I would love to know where he went to school, as I am trying to verify that his parents were Joseph & Elizabeth. I cannot find a birth record. Thank you SO much for any info.
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Way back in March 08, Treetotal posted about an ancestor who went from being a 'grocer & druggist' in one census to a 'licensed victualler' two censuses later, suggesting it is hard to imagine a link between the two.
Well, for what it is worth -- and I post it here in case it is of interest to anyone or is something anyone can throw further light on -- my chemist ancestor Owen Davies Owen, who published between 1860 & 1880 a couple of books on basic pharmacology includes amongst these one titled, "The licensed victuallers' pocket manual and book of receipts". So it seems as if there actually WAS some sort of link between drugs and booze so far as our Victorian chemist ancestors were concerned! :o
Curious!
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Thanks for that Annie...so that is a connection there then...How strange...I will have to do a bit of digging.
Carol
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There were very few restrictions on the sale of alcohol prior to WW1, so I suspect nothing to stop a pharmacist selling liquor!Afterall it's another drug anyway!
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Hello, Redroger! Yes; that's an interesting thought! And maybe many poor folk in Victorian times preferred dulling their bodily aches and pain with drink to subjecting themselves to the leeches or blistering?!! (No question which one I'd have opted for, anyway!) ;D
Perhaps some members of middle class Victorian society, anxious to maintain their veneer of respectability, would not have wanted to cross the threshold of a pub or tavern, and so what more "respectable" outlet to purchase your liquor from for home consumption but the pharmacist?! (This is though, of course, pure speculation on my part).
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Brandy has been used for medicinal purposes for years...I was given Indian Brandy for all sorts of ailments when I was a kid ;D ;D ;D
Carol
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There is another factor that springs to mind, that is the strong Temperance Movement which was evident in the Victorian period; this, coupled with the Victorian talent for hypocrisy does suggest that we may have hit on something here. A middle or upper class member of a temperance society would not want to get caught buying alcohol, think of the social stigma, so a respectable outlet as you say.
The inquest on my grandmother (1901) mentioned she used Mother Siegal's Syrup, a pharmacist friend found the ingredients for me, it had sulphuric acid as a base! Many of the stronger medicines in use in that period would now be clasified as Class A drugs, including many opiates used as pain killers in confinements, I believe today Queen Victoria would be described as addicted to opium.For another insight the Sherlock Holmes books give a view of drug taking in Victorian London.
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Well Roger...On the subject of Opium....you only have to look at what some of the work that French Artists of that ara produced...Say no more ;D ;D ;D
If they weren't drug induced...some of the work they produced certainly was halucinogenic ;D ;D
Carol
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What was Piccasso on then? And Dali? Both latert I know!
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Picasso I believed had distorted vision probaly brought on by migraine...I put this theory forward to my art teacher...he liked it ;D ;D ;D ;D
Or over use of opiates.....there is one story that he was painting in a mental hospital and slipped and tore the painting..in desperation...he tried to glue it together but realised the pieces were put together wrong..but a rich spanish king saw it and liked it and offered to buy it for a ridiculously high price...Mmmm...gap in the market moment for Picasso...and the rest..is history ;D ;D ;D ;D
Carol
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That's Piccasso, but what about Dahli?
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Hello,
Can anyone please help with some information i have been told that my great aunt and uncle Alexander and Agnes Macrae might have had a chemist shop in or around Glasgow not sure if this is correct. They had a son Alistair Macrae who died in world war 2, Alexander and Alistair are buried in Balonock cemetary.
On the headstone after Alexander's name is NAS not sure has this is not very clear, they lived on Broomfield Road and could have lived on the Ilse of Bute at some time.
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Hi Jane,
Not sure if this is still active but I wonder if you might be able to help me find out more about my Great Grandfather, Thomas Cooling (b. 1877/8). He was a chemist, I think he trained in Edinburgh and practiced on the continent in Rome and Florence around the turn of the century. He had a Chemists in Wandsworth around 1914/15 and then later owned another shop in Edenbridge, Kent.
Thanks,
Jean
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Hi
I am a member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. If you have a query about a pharmacist, chemist, druggist, apothecary I may be able to help. Also on queries regarding early types of medicines, chemist shops, drug treatments, leeches, maggots, drug jars, etc.
Jane
Hello Jane,
Your posting interested me as I'm researching UK trade. Are you still able to help with Chemist lookups? If so please may I ask a favour?
I have in my library Kelly's Directories for Chemists & Druggists for years 1893,1919, 1930 & 1938 but cannot find one (male) O.B.DUCKETT who was a Pharmacist and Dispensing Chemist. His shop is described as The Little Pharmacy..As I cannot find him in my Kelly's and no trace in the 1901 & 1911 censuses I'm guessing he was trading in Scotland between 1919-1930. His Apparell would also suggest this period.
Would you be able perform a look up, please?
Thanks in advance!
Owen Bertram Duckett b. 1887 Margate, Kent....he was a Pharmacist Manager and Proprietor of 20, Blackheath Road, Greenwich.
NAME: Owen Bertram Duckett
DEATH: 14 Jul 1963 - Bedfordshire, Bedford, England
CIVIL: 28 Aug 1963 - London, England
NAME: Owen Bertram Duckett
BIRTH: Apr 1887 - Thanet, Kent
During WW1 he was a sergeant in the RAMC earning The British War Medal and The Victory medal
On the 1891 census he is transcribed as Duckell
Carol
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Hi Jane
I have emailed the Guild and they only have the rare chance to check their register so, although I'm sure you are overwhelmed with requests but could I add another name please?
John SPICER mid 17thC from Northamptonshire. John was noted as an apothecary on his daughters bap in 1635
Thanks so much, no rush
Meegan
Brisbane, Australia
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Hello Jane
This is a kind offer
My ggf William Waller Stapleton practiced in Shefford, Bedfordshire in the 1850 and 60s.
I do know he had a number of run-ins with the local constabulary for after hours drinking.
However I can find no link to why he left the chemistry business so abruptly, and wondered whethe he jumped before he was pushed, so to speak.
Is there any possibility you couldlok into this, please.
Best wishes
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Hello,
My great aunts husband Alexander Macrae and his father also Alexander macrae were chemists and had chemist shop in or near Edinburgh Lady Menzies place was mentioned, between I think 1840-1930 ish if anyone can help with any information or pictures to help.
Jacqueline