Fennings Pharmaceuticals

Records of Fennings Pharmaceuticals, 1830s-1990s, comprising corporate records, 1906-1957; accounts and other financial records, 1900-1993; marketing and public relations records, 1845-1988; legal records, 1866-1970; personnel records, 1910-1980; recipes, mid 19th century; personalia, mid 19th century-late 20th century; records of premises, mid-late 20th century; records on production, manufacture and licensing of medicines, 1951-1994.

1830s-1990s

41 boxes, 1 o/s box, 2 o/s volumes and 1 o/s file

Arranged where possible within administrative functions. As follows:

A. Corporate Records, 1906-1957

B. Accounts and Other Financial Records, 1900-1994

C. Marketing and Public Relations Records, 1845-1988

D. Legal Records, 1966-1974

E. Personnel Records, 1910-1980

F. Alfred Fennings' Recipes, mid-19th century

G. Personalia, mid 19th- late 20th century

H. Records of Premises, mid-late 20th century

J. Product Manufacture and Licensing Records, 1951-1994

Donated by C.A.P. Merle, formerly Chairman of the Fennings Trust, in May 1997 (acc. 707), and in March 1998 (acc. 755). Transferred form the Horsham Museum in October 1997 (acc. 737).

Fennings Pharmaceuticals was founded in 1840 when Alfred Fennings (d.1900) opened the Golden Key Pharmacy in Hammersmith Broadway, London. Fennings sold medicines for the treatment of typhoid and cholera as well as for more minor ailments such as coughs and colds. However he was not a member of The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries and there is no trace of him in the Medical Register. In 1850 the business moved to Cowes, Isle of Wight and went into manufacturing. While the general management of the business, including advertising, correspondence, book-keeping, manufacturing and publishing was carried out at the Cowes office, manufacturing, packing and supply of various medicines was also carried out, under agreement, by Sanger & Sons (Seymour Works, 47 Lime Grove, Shepherds Bush London) and G.F. Sutton, Sons & Co. (Osbourne Works, Brandon Road, Kings Cross, London). These two firms collected all acounts due for goods supplied by them. After the death of Alfred Fennings in 1900 Fennings Pharmaceuticals became a Trust, with all profits going to Shaftesbury Homes, a children's charity. In 1948 the main office moved from Cowes to Horsham, West Sussex. From 1964 some medicines were being manufactured and distributed by J. Waterhouse & Co. Ltd., (Church Street, Old Square, Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire). There was also a manufacturing plant in Mabelthorpe, Lincolnshire. The company ceased trading in 1996. Fennings Pharmaceticals sold products across the Commonwealth, mainly in the area of child proprietary medicines.

(Sources used: Wellcome Institute's own administrative records and the Business Archive Council's database.)

Apparently owned by Shaftesbury Homes and Arethusa, now known as Shaftesbury Young People.

This collection has been partially catalogued and the catalogued part is available to library members. Some items have access restrictions which are explained in the item-level catalogue records. Requests to view uncatalogued material are considered on a case by case basis. Please contact collections@wellcomecollection.org for more details.

The following is an interim description of material that has been acquired since this collection was catalogued. This description may change when cataloguing takes place in future: 4 boxes received in 2008 (acc. 1623), consisting of: papers relating to Shaftesbury Homes - Fennings Trust Fund including minutes of Trustees meetings, Trustees correspondence and material relating to Arethusa Training Ship; general administrative, constitutional and financial papers, 1890s-1990s 1 file received in 2009 (acc. 1686) consisting of product brochures, 1936-1983 3 boxes received in 2010 (acc. 1760) consisting of: advertising, product literature, accounts and financial statements, minutes, legal documents and correspondence, 1840s-1990s 1 volume received in 2018 (acc. 2428) Cash Book 1900 - 1903 which relates to the Ledger of same date range SA/FEN/B/1/1

The majority of the records in this collection were accessioned as a gift to the Wellcome Institute (now the Wellcome Library) from the Fennings Trust in May 1997. Some records had been donated to the Horsham Museum by the Trust in the 1970s and were thus transferred to the Wellcome Institute in October 1997. Mr. C.A.P. Merle, previously Chairman of the Trust, was in the process of writing a history of the business and continued to deposit records to the Wellcome Institute (January 1998, November 1998). Other records were also donated by the Fennings Trust to the Science Museum in the 1980s and to the Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. However, it was decided that the Museums would retain the collections of objects (i.e. product and packaging samples) while the Wellcome Institute would continue to accept the business archive.