Thomas Beecham (chemist)

Thomas Beecham (3 December 1820 – 6 April 1907) was the founder of Beechams, a large pharmaceutical business.

Thomas Beecham
Born3 December 1820
Curbridge, Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom
Died6 April 1907 (aged 86)
Southport, England, United Kingdom
Occupation(s)Pharmacist, company founder
Known forBeechams Pharmaceutic company
FamilySir Joseph Beecham, 1st Baronet (son), Sir Thomas Beecham (grandson)

Career
Beecham's Clock Tower built in 1877 in St Helens, Merseyside, today serving as the College Administrative centre.

Born in Curbridge in Oxfordshire, Beecham became a shepherd's boy at the age of 8 and it is in this role that he learnt about herbal medicine.[1]

For a while he worked as the village postman in Kidlington but in 1847 he moved to Wigan, where he started selling Beecham's Pills which were a laxative.[1] By 1859 he was based in St Helens where he started advertising as well as selling his pills.[1] He created a network of agents throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire and by 1880 he had expanded his business so much that he was able to open his first factory.[1]

In 1893 he moved to Southport, where he fully retired within three years.[1] He died in Southport in 1907 and is buried in St Helens.[1] He left £86,680 in his will.[2]

Family

In 1847, he married Jane Evans and together they went on to have two sons and two daughters.[1] He subsequently married Sarah Pemberton in 1873 and Mary Sawell in 1879.[1] His elder son was Sir Joseph Beecham, 1st Baronet, and his grandson was the noted conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. His younger son was William Eardley Beecham.[3] A great grandchild was the poet Audrey Beecham.[4]

References
  1. Corley, T. A. B. "Beecham, Thomas (1820–1907)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/30669. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  2. "Word to Tradesmen". The Brecon and Radnor Express. 4 January 1917. p. 4d. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  3. Maclean, Charles Donald (1912). "Beecham, Thomas" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography (2nd supplement). London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  4. Trickett, Rachel (2012). Beecham, (Helen) Audrey (1915–1989), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Accessed 13 March 2017.
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