ABSTRACT
History: The origins of Alien & Hanburys Ltd date back to 1715 and the opening of a pharmacy at Old Plough Court, Lombard Street, London, by Silvanus Bevan. Ten years later Bevan's younger brother, Timothy, was apprenticed to him. The two men went on to form a partnership in 1731, their business trading under the name Silvanus and Timothy Bevan, Apothecaries, Lombard Street. Over the next century, the company became known both for the quality of its products and the integrity of its partners, who brought their Quaker philosophy to bear on their business dealings. After Silvanus Bevan's death in 1765, the firm became known as Timothy Bevan and Sons, druggists and chemists. Timothy Bevan retired in 1775, handing over the business to the younger son of his second marriage, Joseph Gurney Bevan. Under J G Bevan the company concentrated largely on the manufacture and sale of wholesale drugs and instruments to merchants and surgeons in London and the colonies. In 1794 J G Bevan retired and sold the business to Samuel Mildred who shortly afterwards entered into partnership with one of Bevan's former clerks, William Alien, renaming the company Mildred & Alien. Alien bought Mildred out in 1797 and entered into a new partnership with Luke Ho ward. While Alien concentrated on the Plough Court business, Howard assumed control of the company's laboratory at Plaistow, Greater London. The two branches rapidly diverged, however, and the partnership was dissolved in 1806. Howard developed a chemical manufacturing business at Plaistow, while Alien kept control of Plough Court and specialised in the production of galenicals. Two of Alien's nephews by his second wife were brought into the firm: Daniel Bell Hanbury in 1808 and Comelius Hanbury in 1813. Both went on to become partners in 1824. A further partner was included from 1818, John Thomas Barry, who had acted as Alien's clerk and done much to facilitate the winding down of the largely unprofitable overseas trade. All four men were influential in the establishment of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 1841 and William Alien was elected the Society's first president. Following the retirements of Barry and Comelius Hanbury, in 1856 and 1858 respectively, the business became known as Alien & Hanburys. Two new partners were admitted: Daniel, eldest son of Daniel Bell Hanbury, and Comelius, son of Comelius Hanbury. Daniel Bell Hanbury retired in 1868 and was succeeded by Comelius Hanbury's only
other surviving son, Frederick Janson Hanbury. The period between 1850 and 1920 proved to be one of rapid expansion. The dispensing and manufacturing premises at Plough Court were enlarged during the 1860s, while a factory was established at Bethnal Green, Greater London, in 1874, followed by a second retail outlet at V ere Street, Cavendish Square, London, in 1884. Additionally, during the early 1880s a small forge and workshop were set up at the Bethnal Green factory to manufacture surgical instruments. This side of the business later moved to Wigmore Street, London, to be near the medical community of Harley Street. In 1893 the company was incorporated as a limited liability company, Allen & Hanburys Ltd. This was followed in 1896 by the acquisition of a mill at Ware, Hertfordshire, for the production of malted food, pastilles and galenicals. Allen & Hanburys Ltd's most successful products during this period included cod-liver oil, malted extract, pastilles, compressed tablets and baby milk, and a number of overseas subsidiaries were established between 1902 and 1913. After the First World War, the company, by this time under the chairmanship ofFrederick Janson Hanbury, established an analytical laboratory at the Bethnal Green factory and had an early success, becoming in 1923 one of the first producers of insulin. Overall, though, the period between 1920 and 1950 proved undynamic. Allen & Hanburys' major customer, the retail chemist, was disappearing as national retailing outlets such as Boots emerged, while the entrance of Glaxo into the baby milk market hit profits hard. By 1953, the production of milk products had ceased altogether. The 1950s, however, saw a growth in the company's veterinary output. Although the firm had always sold veterinary products these now assumed a greater importance. A new veterinary division was established and the marketing policy altered, enabling the veterinary surgeon, rather than the farmer, to be targeted by specially trained staff. The division's greatest success was Dicta!, launched in 1959 as an oral vaccine to combat lungworm in cattle. Hitherto the disease had cost the farming industry thousands of animal lives a year, but a research breakthrough by scientists at Glasgow University's Veterinary Faculty meant that over 250,000 calves were being vaccinated annually by the early 1960s. By this time, however, Allen & Hanburys Ltd was no longer an independent company, having agreed to a merger with Glaxo Laboratories Ltd in 1958. Three years later, Glaxo Research Ltd was established to co-ordinate the research functions of the two companies. Dr David Jack was appointed research director at Ware and promptly carried out a restructuring of the research facilities, moving the parasitology laboratory to Glaxo at Greenford, Greater London, and setting up a new pathology department at Ware. In 1962 the research division at Ware became a separate entity charged with developing new medicines for animals and humans. Over the following
decades it had particular success in developing drugs to combat respiratory diseases. All research activities were eventually concentrated at Greenford in 1979. An interest in the manufacture of surgical instruments was also retained, culminating in the incorporation of all the relevant Glaxo subsidiaries into Alien & Hanburys (Surgical Engineering Ltd) in 1963.
