Howards and Sons

British pharmaceutical business

A view of the Quinine Department, Howards and Sons factory at City Mills, Stratford, 1897.

Howards and Sons was a pharmaceutical business established in 1797 by Quaker chemists William Allen and Luke Howard under the name 'Allen & Howard'. The business consisted of a dispensing pharmacy in Plough Court managed by Allen and a laboratory in Plaistow, Essex managed by Howard. Allen and Howard amicably dissolved their business in 1805 with each keeping their respective sections.[1][2][3]

As Howard's chemical manufacturing business grew, new premises were needed and he shifted the laboratory to City Mills, Stratford where it flourished over the 19th century becoming Howards and Sons in 1858.[1] It was under this title that it became a well-known supplier of quinine and aspirin.

Notable partners include John Eliot Howard, son of Luke Howard, who became a specialist in cinchona bark identification and quinine-related research, and Joseph Jewell (1763–1846).[4][3]

Manufacture of chemicals ceased in 1975.[1]

The business-related archives are located at the London Metropolitan Archives, Redbridge Heritage Centre and John Eliot Howard's cinchona archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

## Table showing selected iterations of Howards and Sons 1797-19

[edit]

Years[1] | Name  | Partners  | Location & notes

|
|
|

1797–1806  | Allen & Howard  | William Allen, Luke Howard  | Plaistow, Essex
1805–1806  | L. Howard & Co.  | Luke Howard  | City Mills, Stratford from 1806
1807–1823  | Howard, Jewell & Gibson  | Luke Howard, Joseph Jewell & John Gibson  |
1824–1830  | Howard, Jewell, Gibson & Howard  | Luke Howard, Joseph Jewell, John Gibson & Robert Howard  | Luke Howard and Joseph Jewell retired on 31 December 1830
1832–1837 or 1841  | Howard, Gibson & Co.  | John Gibson, Robert Howard, John Eliot Howard, Robert Gibson & John Kent
1841–1858  | Howards & Kent  |  |
1858–1903  | Howards & Sons  | Robert died in 1871, after which John Eliot became a sleeping partner. David and Dillworth Howard took on management.  | 1875, parts of factory destroyed by fire; 1898 Moved to Ilford
1903 onwards  | Howards & Sons Ltd  | Wider members of the Howards family  | 1914 City Mills lease dissolved.

Up until 1949, Howards and Sons existed with many subsidiaries not detailed here.

1961  | Howards of Ilford  | Laporte Industries Ltd takeover  |
1975  | Bilstar Ltd  |  | Renamed and chemical manufacture ceases.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Richmond, Lesley, ed. (2003). The pharmaceutical industry: a guide to historical records. Studies in British business archives. Aldershot: Ashgate. ISBN 978-0-7546-3352-5.
2. ^ Hudson, Briony; Boylan, Maureen (2013). The School of Pharmacy, University of London: Medicines, Science and Society, 1842-2012. Amsterdam, Boston, Heidelberg u.a: Elsevier. ISBN 978-0-12-407665-5.
3. ^ a b Slater, A. W (1855). Howards chemical manufacturers 1797-1837 (MSc. Econ thesis). University of London.
4. ^ Walker, Kim; García Guillén, Esther; Allasi Canales, Nataly; Medina, Leopoldo; Driver, Felix; Rønsted, Nina; Nesbitt, Mark (2022-09-02). "Reconnecting the Cinchona (Rubiaceae) collections of the "Real Expedición Botánica al Virreinato del Perú" (1777-1816)". Anales del Jardín Botánico de Madrid. 79 (1): e119. doi:10.3989/ajbm.2613. hdl:10261/288607. ISSN 1988-3196. S2CID 252060785.