Family History

Researching Pharmacy Family Histories

There is a wealth of resources available to explore the history of pharmacy, whether relating to individuals, retail businesses, manufacturers, or scientists. These are widely scattered and only partly available online, so persistence will be required.

The history of British pharmacy falls into two periods with very different histories and resources. Before the mid-nineteenth century the supply of medicines was inconsistently regulated, with a number of bodies claiming the right of oversight, such as the Grocers’ Company, the Society of Apothecaries, and the Royal Colleges of Physicians of London, Edinburgh, and Dublin. Records of all kinds are much easier to find for people with significant wealth and status.

Ada Richardson, c.1910. RPS Museum.

However, following the foundation of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (PSGB) in 1841, and several Acts of Parliament culminating in the Pharmacy and Poisons Act of 1868, pharmacists were required to secure qualifications and be registered with the PSGB. The mid-nineteenth century also saw the growth of the trade press, and of government records such as registers of vital events and the census. Many resources for the nineteenth century are available online, and it should be possible to build a biography for many people involved in pharmacy.

First steps

It may be that the person, company or institution of interest to you has already been researched. Try searching for the relevant name and place in Google, Google Scholar, and Google Books (these each search different subsets of the web). Try similar full-text searches at archive.org, and check the National Archives Discovery catalogue, as well as relevant local library and archive catalogues. Our journal Pharmaceutical Historian may also contain useful existing research and is available open access online. Local history groups, including the informal groups on Facebook, can be very helpful. Key libraries and archives are listed on our Museums & Libraries page.

Guidance on genealogical research can be found at the:

National Archives for England and Wales
Scotland’s People
Public Record Office of Northern Ireland

A wealth of material has been digitised by commercial websites such as Ancestry.com; most such sites can be accessed free of charge at local libraries.

Be sure to keep copies of what you find, together with a note of where you found it.

Before 1841

Those practicing pharmacy before 1841 were mainly chemists and druggists for whom no registers exist. However, some physicians were heavily engaged in pharmacy practice, and a number of apothecaries focused on the supply of medicines even after passage of the Apothecaries Act of 1815, when most opted to register as general medical practitioners. Useful sources include:

Inspiring Physicians, also known as Munk's Roll, Obituaries of fellows of the Royal College of Physicians, starting from 1518 to the present day.
Apothecaries' Company 1617-1669. London livery company apprenticeship registers, abstracted and indexed by Patrick Wallis. London: Society of Genealogists, 2000.
The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London hold comprehensive records relating to their membership, and the archives can be consulted. Note that their jurisdiction was focussed on the City of London Contact details archivist@apothecaries.org

After 1841

When the Pharmaceutical Society was founded in 1841, full membership (MPS) was restricted to chemists and druggists who were “established in business on their own account”. They had to have been “apprenticed to or regularly educated by a vender or drugs or dispenser of medicines” and did not “profess to act as a visiting apothecary or surgeon”. But their assistants were not eligible for membership although they could join as associates (APS). Initially there were no examinations and no statutory Registers.

A list of the founder members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was published in the Pharmaceutical Journal on 1 April 1842 (volume I, number VII), pages 364-79.This has been digitised and is available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b5586042&seq=381. The Society continued to publish The List of Members, Associates and Apprentices from 1841 to 1868.

The Society had a number of powers conferred on it by its Royal Charter, awarded in 1843, but legal recognition of any qualifications or registration required passage of an Act of Parliament.

After 1852

In 1852 an Act was passed “for regulating the qualifications of pharmaceutical qualifications”. The Act reserved use of the titles “pharmaceutical chemist” and “pharmaceutist” to members of the Society and those who passed its Major examination. It created a legal distinction between “pharmaceutical chemists” and “chemists and druggists”, many of whom joined the Society in order to use the title “pharmaceutical chemist”. This situation continued until a new Pharmacy Act was passed in 1868.

The 1868 Act established a lower-level qualification, the Minor examination, which was the basic qualification required to practice pharmacy. Those who passed it could have their names added to the Register and describe themselves as “chemists and druggists”, “pharmacists”, or “dispensing chemists and druggists”, all of which became restricted titles, although they could not call themselves “pharmaceutical chemists”, which was restricted to the small number who passed the Major examination.

Lists of new members, associates, and apprentices were reported in the Pharmaceutical Journal on a regular basis. For example, those for April, May, June, and July 1852 were published on 1 August 1852 (volume XII, number II), pages 56-58, available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.b5586053&seq=74&q1=members

Those qualifying in 1868 were reported in January 1869 (volume X, number VII), pages 382-388, available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924070539808&seq=472&q1=members

After 1868

The 1868 Act established the Society’s lower-level qualification, the Minor examination, as the legal minimum requirement for those who wanted to practice pharmacy. From 1868 to 2010 it was compulsory for Chemist and Druggists, and Pharmacists to register with the Society. “Chemists and druggist”, “pharmacist”, or “dispensing chemist and druggist” all became restricted titles. The term “pharmaceutical chemist” was restricted to the small number who passed the higher-level Major examination.

The names of those passing the examinations are listed in the annual Registers of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Chemists and Druggists, which later became the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Directory and Yearbook. A comprehensive collection of the Registers is held by the RPS Library, along with the Register of Premises, published from 1936-2010. These can be viewed by appointment.

Those qualifying in 1868 were reported in January 1869 (volume X, number VII), pages 382-388, available at https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=coo.31924070539808&seq=472&q1=members

So far only two of the Registers have been fully digitised, those for 1885 and 1919. They are available at:

After 1933

Before the 1933 Pharmacy and Poisons Act membership of the PSGB was entirely voluntary. In order to practice, it was inclusion in the Register of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Chemists and Druggists that was a requirement. After 1933, membership of the Society was synonymous with registration as a pharmacist. The separate Registers of Pharmaceutical Chemists, and Chemists and Druggists continued until 1954 after the Pharmacy Act of 1953 introduced a single professional qualification: the Pharmaceutical Chemist’s Diploma. On unification, all existing pharmaceutical chemists were made Fellows of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (FPS).

The PSGB was granted the title “Royal” in 1988, becoming the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Membership remained synonymous with registration as a pharmacist until 2010, when the General Pharmaceutical Council was established, and membership of the Society again became voluntary.

Other sources

A great deal of commercial and biographical information can be found in the trade journals Chemist & Druggist and the Pharmaceutical Journal, available online through our Open Access Resources page.

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Library holds a comprehensive collection of Registers which can be consulted. Contact library@rpharms.com

The Royal Pharmaceutical Society’s Museum offers a chargeable people and premises research service, based on the complete listings and Registers compiled by the Society since its foundation in 1841.

The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries of London hold comprehensive records relating to their membership, and the archives can be consulted. Contact archivist@apothecaries.org