Apothercary 2016

The Friends of the Archives
Paul Simmons
The Friends support the Society’s Archive
financially by raising funds for its conservation and
also by undertaking research and cataloguing projects
while working as volunteers. We work closely with
the Curator, Past Master Nicholas Wood who is now a
full Committee member.
Our long-serving Chairman, Dr John Ford,
demitted at this year’s AGM but he will continue to
volunteer in the Archives. He deserves a special
mention for his dedicated work in cataloguing the
Society’s 400 years of paperwork as well as leading the
Committee from the front and reporting twice yearly
to the full Court on the Friends’ affairs. Dr John
Moore-Gillon has joined the Committee and kindly
took the chair whilst I was out of action for the early
part of the year.
The lecture after the AGM was given by Caroline
Shenton, Parliamentary Archivist and author of The
Day Parliament Burned Down, who took us hour by
hour through the day of 16 October 1834 as the awful
catastrophe enveloped our seat of government of 800
years.
The Friends’ Spring lecture was given by Helen
Wakely, Archive Project Manager, Wellcome Library:
Making space for different voices in the archive; her title
disguising a very interesting presentation to a smaller
audience than normal.
Our Summer Party in June in glorious sunshine
was probably the most well–attended ever and
squeezed into the Courtyard before the major works
started in earnest.
Mrs Janet Payne continues to reply to archival
queries. Progress has been made in sorting and
naming the vast collection of photographs in the
archives. We supported the research by those involved
in the bicentenary symposium of the Apothecaries Act
1815, and are girding up for the archival support for
the 400 th anniversary celebrations in 2017.
Following the Curator’s launch of an ‘Adopt a
Book’ scheme, the Friends supported the conservation
of the 1809 Pharmacopoeia Londinensis volume,
interspersed with the 200 year-old working notes from
our laboratories and which is now back in the
Archives.
We asked Bridget Mitchell of Arca Preservation to
proceed with conservation of the 1722 Charter (with
Shellac/wax seals) which has been damaged by
rodents; but will only ‘make safe’ a 1676 copy of the
ordinances which is heavily infected with mould until
such time as repair techniques improve.
The Friends were prominent at Open House Day in
September when nearly 1400 members of the public
visited the Hall and they too were able to appreciate
the nature of the treasures possessed by the Society
and supported by the Friends.
Some Friends went on a private tour of the new
Museum of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society in East
Smithfield kindly arranged by Briony Hudson in
association with the British Society for the History of
Pharmacy.
If you haven’t yet joined, there is always a welcome
for you. Just £10 per year for our subscription.
Contact friends@apothecaries.org
or write to us at the Hall.
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