Silas Burroughs, the Man who Made Wellcome

{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252\deff0\deflang2057{\fonttbl{\f0\fnil\fcharset0 Verdana;}} {\colortbl ;\red0\green0\blue0;} \viewkind4\uc1\pard\hyphpar0\sa170\sl288\slmult1\qj\cf1\lang1033\f0\fs20 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 Burroughs\rquote s childhood and education, and his increasingly difficult relationship with Wellcome. Based on extensive original research, this is a beautifully written and entertaining biography.\par Stuart Anderson, Emeritus Professor of Pharmacy History, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine\par \par \pard\hyphpar0\sa170\sl252\slmult1\qj 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.\par John Harley Warner, Avalon Professor of the History of Medicine, Yale University\par \par Julia Sheppard has written the definitive biography of Silas Burroughs, the dynamic young American behind one of Victorian Britain\rquote s most successful (yet fraught) business partnerships, a major forerunner of today\rquote s Big Pharma.\par Christine Macleod, Professor Emerita of History, University of Bristol\par \par \pard\hyphpar0\sl252\slmult1\qj Julia Sheppard sets the record straight with an enlightening account of Silas Burroughs\rquote s life and the importance of the part he played in the creation of an extraordinarily successful institution.\par Anne Hardy, Honorary Professor, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine\par \par There\rquote s much in this book for the business historian. For one thing, it reveals how marketing was done through feet on the ground and knocks on doors. For another, it gives insight into complex partnership dynamics.\par John Orbell, Business Archivist and Business Historian\par \par Silas Burroughs\rquote early death, and his bitter feud with his partner Henry Wellcome, has relegated him to a minor role in the story of their pharmaceutical empire. Julia Sheppard\rquote s absorbing biography recovers his vital contribution to their joint enterprise, and sets it in the context of a vigorous life of commercial success, globetrotting travels and excursions into radical politics.\par Mike Jay, Author and Cultural Historian \par \pard\cf0\lang2057\par } Burroughs 'made Wellcome' by creating the partnership in 1880, however within a decade he attempted to undermine Wellcome and end the partnership. Sheppard's narrative indicates a more complicated history than is implied by the title and invites alternative appraisals of Burroughs's achievements. Roy Church In Economic History Review, May, 2024