| AdminHistory | The Liverpool School of Pharmacy was established in 1849 by Jacob Bell (1810-1859), a renowned chemist and Liberal MP who also established the Pharmaceutical Journal. The founding of the School correlated with other developments in medical provision for Liverpool in the 1840s and 1850s, such as the 1846 Liverpool Sanitary Act, and the appointment of Liverpool's Dr Duncan, Britain's first Medical Officer of Health.
Bell began by successfully petitioning the City to make the Botanic Gardens available as a place for formal teaching, and in August and September of 1849, Dr Joseph Dickinson of the Liverpool Infirmary Medical School gave three lectures on the Classification of Plants at the Royal Institution on Colquitt Street, as well as demonstrations at the Botanic Gardens. These lectures started at 7am to allow apprentices to attend before beginning work at 8am.
In March 1850, the Liverpool Chemists’ Association decided to use the laboratory of the Royal Institution for Pharmaceutical Chemistry lectures which commenced on the 3rd April, and were given by George Hamilton to a class of 22 students. In September 1850, Rev. J England, Headmaster of Liverpool Institute High School gave lectures on Latin for Pharmacy. In 1851 the Liverpool Chemists’ Association appointed Dr John Baker Edwards to run the School of Pharmacy. School numbers were low in the 1850s and by 1862 there were only three pupils enrolled. A museum and library was proposed by the Council of the Liverpool Chemists’ Association in 1853 and, after negotiations with the Royal Institution, the library opened in 1855.
In 1866, the School's Principal Dr John Baker Edwards emigrated to Montreal, and an Analytical Chemist called Edward Davies was appointed Principal, aided by Dr W Carter who ran the evening classes in Pharmacy, Botany, and Materia Medica. J G Nevins was another early Botany lecturer. Although Liverpool officially became a city in 1880 and the population continued to grow at a rapid pace, student numbers struggled to improve and by 1885 Davies resigned and the first School had closed.
In 1882, John Septimus Ward began giving private lessons and evening classes from his pharmacy on Oxford Street. The second School of Pharmacy was then opened and Ward was officially recognised by the Liverpool Chemists' Association, utilising the name of the Liverpool School of Pharmacy by 1885. Ward's apparent reputation as a teacher spread and attracted large numbers of new students, meaning the School had to move several times to keep up with growth in numbers. In 1890, the School moved to 24 Newington, where there was a large lecture room, two laboratories, a balance and microscope room, and a museum.
Ward died in 1892, succeeded by Robart Charles Cowley, a former pupil of the School. Cowley also saw several relocations and the growth of the School before leaving in 1908 to become Principal of Brisbane College of Pharmacy.
Cowley was succeeded by Henry Humphreys Jones in 1908, also a former pupil of the School. Despite an unpromising start, with thirty two of the thirty three enrolled students withdrawing from their studies so as to not risk their money and prospects on a novice teacher, Humphreys Jones enjoyed a longevity of 42 years in office as Principal. By 1910, the School was being advertised as 'The most successful School in the Kingdom.' In 1909, Humphreys Jones became a fellow of the Chemical Society and became Secretary of the Liverpool Chemists' Association, for which he was later President from 1912-1915, 1932-1933, and 1948.
Following the start of the First Word War, enrollment from male students halted and due to financial constraints Humphreys Jones was working thirteen hour shifts to cover staffing. Women began to register an interest in Pharmacy education during this period, on which Jones noted: 'I had a very interesting time in training them, they were so different from the boys, easy to teach because everything was new to them and they learned quickly; they were always neat and tiy in their work. They found no difficulty in obtaining appointments and were so successful that many continued and became Pharmacists.'
In 1919, the School moved to Blackburne Place and throughout the early 1920s Humphreys Jones continued to invest in teaching staff and accommodation. The School had to seek recognition from the Pharmaceutical Society each year, and was qualified as having up to date loratories, equiptment, and trained staff. In 1927, Humphreys Jones was appointed as an Examiner for the Pharmaceutical Society in England and Wales. In 1936, over one hundred students had enrolled with the School, although these were halved by the commencement of the Second World War. Humphreys Jones retired in 1950, by which point the School was intaking so many students that it was able to reject some of those who had applied to study.
In 1950, following Humphreys Jones' retirement, Liverpool's School of Pharmacy was the last private School of Pharmacy in Britain and it was finally taken over by the City of Liverpool Education Authority to become part of the Liverpool Regional College of Technology. The transfer negotiations were closely overseen by Humphreys Jones, and he was pleased to see that his former pupil Thomas Linley Bower was appointed as the first Departmental Head under the new structure.
In 1959, the School moved into the Byrom Street building, and in 1970 it became part of the Liverpool Polytechnic. The first ordinary degree commenced in 1966, with the first honours degree intakes in 1971. Thomas Bowyer died in 1968 and was succeeded by Dr Vernon Walters, who oversaw the School's integratuion with the new Liverpool Polytechnic. In 1992, the Liverpool Polytechnic became Liverpool John Moores University. The School is currently known as LJMU's School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences.
A list of Principals, Directors, or Heads of the School are as follows:
1849 Founded by Jacob Bell and the Liverpool Chemists' Association
1851-1866 John Baker Edwards
1866-1885 Edward Davies F.C.S
1885-1892 John Septimus Ward
1892-1908 Robert Charles Cowley
1908-1950 H Humphreys Jones Ph.C. FRIC
1950-1968 Thomas Linley Bowyer
1969-1988 Dr Vernon Walters
1988-1992 Dr Bill Marlow
1992-1997 Professor Kelvin Chan
1997-2000 Professor Michael Rubinstein
2000-2002 Professor Peter Wheeler
2002-2004 Dr Terry Nolan
2004-2012 Professor James L. Ford
2013-present Professor Satyajit Sarker
For more information on the history of the Liverpool School of Pharmacy, see:
Webster, R., and Wilkie, S., 2017. The Making of a Modern University: Liverpool John Moores University (London: Third Millenium Publishing), p. 76-81.
Humphreys Jones, H., 1971. My Yesteryears: From Farm to Pharmacy: Reminiscences of Life's Pilgrimage.
A copy of both of these can be made available via LJMU Special Collections & Archives. |
| CustodialHistory | The item that LJMU SCA has custodianship of was transferred to the Archives internally from Byrom Street in the early 2000s. The bulk of the Liverpool School of Pharmacy papers is held by LJMU's current School of Pharmacy. |