Meeting Reflections
The Life Of A Rural Chemist – Brian Bullock
Brian Bullock, who moved to Willington 4
years ago from the Norfolk Suffolk border, where he ran a rural pharmacy, gave
an interesting talk on his career as a pharmaceutical chemist. Due to
documentation found, he also highlighted similarities and differences between a
rural chemist and himself, separated by 130 years.
His career started in 1967 at Portsmouth
School of Pharmacy followed by working at Boots the chemist in Streatham High
Street. He registered with the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and
gained the certificate which gave him the legal right to possess and supply
drugs. This had to be displayed at all times whilst working.
In 1985 Brian and Caroline bought a
pharmacy business in Brandon in Suffolk. The existing business was called Bromhall’s Chemist, a name they kept as it sounded better
than Bullocks Chemist. The building was early Tudor with Georgian and Victorian
additions. Before purchase a surveyor
was employed who reported evidence of dry rot, wet rot, historical subsidence
and a roof showing signs of collapse but the sale went ahead anyway.
During the 20 years at the pharmacy, lots
of renovation work was carried out and a lot of history was uncovered. Artifacts were found everywhere from the roof to the
cellar. Boarded up in the fireplace was a postal wrapper from the 1896
Pharmaceutical Journal screwed up ready to light fire. Also found was an advert
for corsets, the black ones costing one shilling extra.
Around 1990, when the property was
re-roofed, the workman found evidence of a much earlier thatched roof. Amongst
the rubble was a spike full of bills, almost a complete record of the time the
building was known as Mr Maynard’s Chemist & Druggist.
On this spike was correspondence spanning
the years from 1853 to 1860. One of the oldest was a Rental agreement between
Mr Maynard & Mr Clark for him to rent rooms from May 16, 1853 at a cost of
9 pounds, 9 shilling and 6 pence per half year. There was also a receipt from
Norfolk Railway Company for goods carried including furniture, 4 boxes and
luggage transported to Brandon between 23-29th May
In 1855 Mr Maynard became a member of the
Pharmaceutical Society. At that time, the certificate was renewed each year but
now it lasts for the duration of a career. The first Pharmaceutical Society was
founded in 1842 in Bloomsbury Square in London, the second in 1849 in Liverpool
and during the 1850’s there were 2,500 members of the Pharmaceutical Society
out of a total of 25,000 drug sellers.
The Pharmacy Act of 1852 gave the legal
right to members to be called chemists or pharmacists, as opposed to
Apothecaries who dealt with and dispensing drugs but had no formal training.
Mr Maynard advertised for an apprentice in
1853 in Norwich Post and Suffolk Herald again for another in 1855. An invoice
dated December 9, 1860 shows he bought himself a black greatcoat at a price of
£3 - £500 in today’s prices; the business was definitely growing.
Looking at the censuses from 1851 to 1881,
Robert Maynard born was 1825 and later worked in Burnham Market as a chemist
and druggist until he was 28. In 1861 he was listed as
living in Brandon as a chemist and artificial fertiliser manufacturer. Due to
the industrial revolution, people migrated to the towns so there was an
increased demand for food so a fertiliser manufacturing business was lucrative.
Fossilised dinosaur excrement was a source of phosphate and was quarried in the
fens and transported by railway to be ground and mixed with water and acid for
farmers to increase their yield.
A sample of the pills and potions that were
sold were leeches, kept in a jar on the counter, Cockles Pills for the cure of
headaches, bile, liver complaints and heartburn and Holloway Ointment – the
Mighty Healer - which cured everything.
In 1856, tax paid for the year by Mr
Maynard was £4, 15s and 10d. As Income tax was 10%, his income was over £47
whereas the average was £25. He obviously had a very successful business.
The documents Brian found were displayed
for the audience to look at as were the various mechanisms used for making
tablets in Mr Maynard’s time. An enlightening talk which made
us glad that we have modern chemists.
Maureen
Strutt