ABSTRACT

Mr Beecham, who was born in 1820, began a career as a shepherd boy. He noticed that sheep tended to eat certain grasses and upon studying these findings he discovered that the grasses had medicinal properties. He became a fulltime medicine vendor and devised Beechams’ pills, a brand of laxative. He then began to concentrate on manufacturing. The first Beecham factory was opened in 1859 where mechanised production methods were devised. By that date, Beechams were selling their products as far afield as Africa and Australia.