Thomas Beecham (chemist)
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Thomas Beecham (3 December 1820 – 6 April 1907) was a British businessman who founded Beechams, a large pharmaceutical business. In 1859, he focused on marketing the business by advertising in newspapers and using a network of wholesale agents in northern England and in London, rapidly building up the business.[1] In August 1859, he created the slogan for Beecham's Pills: "Worth a guinea a box", which is considered to be the world's first advertising slogan, helping the company become a global brand.[2]
Career
Born in Curbridge in Oxfordshire, Beecham became a shepherd's boy at the age of 8 and it is in this role that he learnt about herbal medicine.[3]
For a while he worked as the village postman in Kidlington but in 1847 he moved to Wigan, where he started selling Beecham's Pills which were a laxative.[3] By 1859 he was based in St Helens where he started advertising as well as selling his pills.[3] On 6 August 1859, "Beechams Pills: Worth a guinea a box", considered to be the world's first advertising slogan, appeared in a Beechams advertisement in the St Helens Intelligencer.[2][4] The phrase was first said to be uttered by a satisfied lady purchaser from St Helens, Lancashire, the founder's home town.[4][5] He created a network of agents throughout Lancashire and Yorkshire and by 1880 he had expanded his business so much that he was able to open his first factory.[3]
In 1893 he moved to Southport, where he fully retired within three years.[3] He died in Southport in 1907 and is buried in St Helens.[3] He left £86,680 in his will.[6] In their 1907 obituary of Beecham, the Daily Mirror said the slogan "Worth a guinea a box" was the making of the business and the foundation of a huge fortune.[4]
Family
In 1847, he married Jane Evans and together they went on to have two sons and two daughters.[3] He subsequently married Sarah Pemberton in 1873 and Mary Sawell in 1879.[3] His elder son was Sir Joseph Beecham, 1st Baronet, and his grandson was the noted conductor Sir Thomas Beecham. His younger son was William Eardley Beecham.[7] A great grandchild was the poet Audrey Beecham.[8]
References
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- ↑ Trickett, Rachel (2012). Beecham, (Helen) Audrey (1915–1989), Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press. Accessed 13 March 2017.
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