HENRY WELLCOME: BORN 1853
HEALTH PHILANTHROPIST

Henry Wellcome was an early and hugely successful pharmaceutical entrepreneur. He left his vast fortune to create the Wellcome Trust. It is now the UK’s largest charity, with an endowment of £39 billion. He married Syrie Barnado who was daughter of orphanage founder Thomas Barnado, and was 26 years his junior. After their tumultuous divorce Syrie had affairs with department store magnate Harry Selfridge and author William Somerset Maugham. Their son Henry became a farmer and led a quiet rural life.

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LIFE

The following was reproduced, with acknowledgement and thanks, from the website of the Canadian Museum of Health Care at www.museumofhealthcare.ca.

Born in a log cabin in Almond, Wisconsin, in 1853, Henry Wellcome was one of the most influential pharmacological entrepreneurs and an avid collector of medical artefacts. Wellcome had reportedly always had an interest in marketing, having developed his first product at 16 when he advertised his invisible ink (just lemon juice) in the local newspaper.

Wellcome family portrait, c. 1875–1877. Henry standing left.

In 1880, Wellcome and colleague Silas Mainville Burroughs founded the London-based Burroughs, Wellcome & Company, specializing in pharmaceuticals. Notably, the company popularized the use of medicine in the form of tablets. Additionally, they pioneered the marketing of pharmaceuticals directly to doctors by offering free samples. The company was incredibly successful and established several research laboratories.

Wellcome Tincture of Digitalis c. 1914 - Museum of Health Care

Henry Wellcome and his wife Syrie in 1902. She was 26 years younger than him.

Despite his career success, Wellcome had an unhappy personal life. He and his wife, Gwendoline Maud Syrie Barnardo, eventually separated after having one child who they passed on to foster parents due to their constant traveling. After their separation, Wellcome's wife had affairs with several men, including celebrated author William Somerset Maugham and Harry Gordon Selfridge of the UK's Selfridges department stores. These affairs were cited in Wellcome's file for divorce.

Bromides tabloid container; the 'Tabloid' name was trademarked by Wellcome to eliminacompetition trying to sell pills c. 1920-30 - Museum of Health Care

Wellcome died of pneumonia in London, England at age 82. In his will, Wellcome spread his assets among several individual trustees who were instructed to spend his funds to better humanity. These funds were combined to form the Wellcome Trust, which is today the largest charity in the UK and one of the largest medical charities in the world, worth $33.5 billion today. It offers hundreds of millions of dollars a year toward clinical training and biomedical research.

Tabloid Medicine Case c. 1880-1910 - Museum of Health Care

In addition, Wellcome had an impressive collection of medical artifacts (including Napoelon's toothbrush), which became part of the Wellcome Collection. His archival collection is now stored at the Wellcome Library, and his artefacts can be found in museums across the world. A large part of this collection can be found at the Science Museum.

The Wellcome Trust

Henry Wellcome gave funds to establish the Wellcome Trust, which now has the largest endowment of any UK charity. It describes itself on its website thus:

We were founded in 1936 after the death of Sir Henry Wellcome, a pharmaceutical entrepreneur, with a pioneering approach to drug design. In his will, he left us three important things: his wealth; his collection of historical medical items; and our mission to improve health through research.

Since our formation, we have supported breakthroughs in scientific discoveries and advocated for policies to improve health for everyone.

Today, Wellcome supports science to solve the urgent health challenges facing everyone. We have four programmes of work: one for discovery research, and three to find solutions for the challenges of mental health, climate and health, and infectious diseases.

Our work is funded from an investment portfolio that currently stands at £39.9 billion.