Silas Burroughs, the Man who Made Wellcome
American Ambition and Global Enterprise
Format:Paperback
Publisher:Boydell & Brewer Ltd
Published:25th Aug '22
Should be back in stock very soon
The first biography of the business brain behind Burroughs Wellcome & Co. Silas Burroughs arrived in London from America in 1878 and proved himself an exceptional entrepreneur, taking the pharmaceutical business by storm. He was the brains and energy behind Burroughs Wellcome & Co. With his business partner Henry Wellcome he created an internationally successful firm, the legacy of which can be found in the charity the Wellcome Trust, yet few now remember him and the impact he made in his short lifetime. A consummate salesman, Burroughs was also an astute businessman, with new ideas for marketing, advertising and manufacturing: his writings describe sales trips around the world and the people he met. He was also a visionary employer who supported the eight-hour working day, profit-sharing, and numerous social and radical political movements, including the single tax movement, free travel, Irish Home Rule and world peace. In this first biography of Burroughs, Julia Sheppard explores his American origins, his religion and marriage, and his philanthropic work, as well as re-evaluating the dramatic deterioration of his relationship with his partner Wellcome.
For too long, Silas Burroughs has stood in the shadows of his partner, Henry Wellcome. In this insightful and revealing book Julia Sheppard does a superb job of redressing the balance, revealing Burroughss childhood and education, and his increasingly difficult relationship with Wellcome. Based on extensive original research, this is a beautifully written and entertaining biography. -- Stuart Anderson, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy History, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
Besides a thoroughly engaging story of the American-born entrepreneur, manuf\-acturer and advertising innovator, Julia Sheppard has also given us an important and fascinating insight into the history of the British drug industry and the making of a global pharmaceutical market. This is biography at its very best. -- John Harley Warner, Avalon Professor of the History of Medicine, Yale University
Julia Sheppard has written the definitive biography of Silas Burroughs, the dynamic young American behind one of Victorian Britains most successful (yet fraught) business partnerships, a major forerunner of todays Big Pharma. -- Christine Macleod, Professor Emerita of History, University of Bristol
Julia Sheppard sets the record straight with an enlightening account of Silas Burroughss life and the importance of the part he played in the creation of an extraordinarily successful institution. -- Anne Hardy, Honorary Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
ISBN: 9780718895990
Dimensions: unknown
Weight: 312g
344 pages