Local Life - St Helens - Sep/Oct 2021

29
The Pioneering
Beechams
by Nicola Gray
If there’s one characteristic
that St Helens is known for, it’s
the pioneering spirit that runs
through the town like a thick
coal seam. What other town of a
comparable size could boast of
achievements such as being the
birthplace of modern railways,
the location of the UK’s first
modern canal and the powerhub
of the glass industry?
Decoration above the entrance to the factory - courtesy
of St Helens Archive Service & St Helens Reporter
hard work was always in his blood,
and when he had to leave school
at the age of 8, he started work as a
shepherd’s boy. As fate would have
it, this is where he first learned about
herbal medicines, and he quickly
became adept in curing sick animals
and the occasional person. By his
mid-teens he had established quite
a reputation as an herbalist, one
who could treat all types of ailments.
That pioneering spirit deserves more than just a mention
in the story of the UK’s largest pharmaceutical company
GlaxoSmithKline. Their history runs directly back to a
company that was once the biggest employers in St
Helens - Beechams. Local Life looks back at the story of
Beecham dynasty.
The founder of the Beechams business, Thomas Beecham,
was born in Oxfordshire on 3rd December 1820. It seems
By 1840 he had already developed the formula for his
laxative pills but was still working as a postman and
gardener. In 1847 Thomas made his way North where
he married Jane Evans and the couple moved to Wigan,
opening their first shop at 120 Wallgate where they sold
groceries, pills and medicines. The Beecham’s services
were very popular in the town, in part down to the belief
held by Thomas that his pills could cure any ailment.
Men & women in the pill making
section - courtesy of GlaxoSmithKline plc