Attwood Recently, Queenie Ethel Attwood, MRPharmS, of “Woodlands”, 15 Brook Crescent, West Hagley, Stourbridge, West Midlands. Mrs Attwood registered in 1932 and for some years ran her own pharmacy in Cradley Health and was the last of a family of pharmacists. Her father, Walter Price, was a pharmacist in Kidderminster and her brother Kenneth, another pharmacist, died in a road accident in Scotland in 1973.
Baxter On September 12, Alexander Hood Baxter, MRPharmS, of Voland Cottages, Port-na-Craig, Pitlochry, Perthshire PH16 5ND. Mr Baxter registered in 1951.
Furniss On September 8, Trevor Norman Furniss, MRPharmS, of 21 Kineton Road, Hill Lane, Southampton SO15 7PP. Mr Furniss registered in 1938.
Gould On September 21, Valerie Ann Gould (née Mason), MRPharmS, of “Ye Olde Cottage”, Church Street, Niton, Ventnor, Isle of Wight PO38 2BS. Mrs Gould registered in 1959.
Hunt On September 1, John Francis Hunt, MRPharmS, of 11 West Orchard Crescent, Llandaff, Cardiff CF5 1AR. Mr Hunt registered in 1937.
Jones On August 28, Arthur Clifford Jones, MRPharmS, of 32 Fiske Court, Cavendish Road, Sutton, Surrey SM2 5ER. Mr Jones registered in 1933.
McDermott On August 11, Bernard McDermott, MRPharmS, of 212 St Helens Road, Eccleston Park, Prescot, Merseyside L34 2QQ. Mr McDermott registered in 1951.
McMullan In a tribute to the late Ronald Gerald
Patrick McMullan (PJ, October 7, p513), Mr EDWARD J. H. MALLINSON writes: The
sudden death of Ronnie McMullan has robbed the pharmaceutical profession of
one of its greatest characters and ambassadors and one of the nicest people
I have ever had the privilege to meet.
I first met Ronnie at the 1982 British Pharmaceutical Conference in Edinburgh
and was struck by the fact that nearly all the people I came into contact with
at that,
my first, conference knew him. He exuded charm, particularly where ladies were
concerned, and was one of this world’s true gentlemen in all senses of
the word. There have been many occasions when colleagues from Scotland have
visited Belfast on business and I have recommended that they contact him. He
was always kind, considerate and helpful to them, and they returned home the
better for having met him.
It always seemed that he acted as a “guardian angel” to those pharmacists
from Ireland, both north and south of the border, who were attending the BPC
for the first time. He ensured they met the right people and were accompanied
to all the relevant receptions (particularly in the days when juggling receptions
at the conference was an art form), always being introduced to the appropriate
people.
At Birmingham this year he told me that this would be his last conference, as
he was to retire within the next six months. Conference without Ronnie would
not be the same and I told him so in my attempt to persuade him to attend Glasgow
2001 at least. I shall never know if my argument was persuasive enough.
When the conference was held in Glasgow in 1996, I received a telephone call
from Ronnie explaining that he was having difficulty securing accommodation
next to his colleagues. He had, he thought, left his booking too late and asked
whether I could I help. The response from the organising committee was predictable,
and Ronnie got his room in the headquarters hotel. The drink he claimed he owed
me for this was delivered to the conference office in the form of a miniature
of one of the finest single malts on the day he left to go home. I shall drink
it in his memory; may he rest in peace.
Newman In a tribute to the late George Raymond Newman, Mr VICTOR HAMMOND
writes: George (“Taff”) Newman was the first wartime colleague-comrade
to write to me in my search for information about service in the Far East in
the 1939-45 war (see PJ, July 16, 1988, p88). His reply was typical of him in
that he immediately asked whether he could help, particularly since he was anxious
to trace those colleagues who had served in the units in which he had served.
He enlisted in April, 1942, soon after qualifying as a pharmacist, and began
his service in the Signal Training Regiment in the Royal Artillery. The services
had realised by then that pharmacists could be used to better advantage acting
in their professional capacity, usually in medical services rather than purely
as scientists working on such things as radio and eventually radar, etc. As
a result of this, George was transferred to the Royal Army Medical Corps in
February, 1943, for a short course in the way in which the army managed pharmaceutical
matters. Very soon he was sent to join a batch that included at least 12 other
pharmacists who were soon to be sailing to India on HMT Strathmore.
His non-medical service was not completely at an end, as shown by part of a
letter that he wrote to me in 1992: “My recollection of the Strathmore
was being posted as troop deck sergeant, to a lower deck of many, many Irish
Fusiliers. Of course we were instructed to see that there was no gambling, no
shove-ha’penny, etc. I took one look down the gangway and saw that practically
every man on the deck was gambling. Needless to say, I disappeared quickly as
I am quite sure, had I exercised my authority there, I would have been thrown
overboard, without a qualm.”
The Strathmore left England on February 24, 1943, and the draft eventually landed
in Bombay in April that year. George was posted to 24 Indian base depot medical
stores. It was through my unit staying overnight with that unit in Dimapur,
Assam, in late October, 1944, that I met George and a number of other pharmacists
from the United Kingdom.
That brief meeting was to lead to reunions of the survivors on a number of occasions
in recent years. George was to visit me with Jack Hesketh, a fellow pre-war
Liverpool school of pharmacy student who was serving in the same unit with George.
The more lurid details of army service in the jungle were usually omitted in
favour of reminiscences concerning colleagues, the materia medica and the natural
wild life that abounded there.
George, whose loss is deeply felt, still corresponded with a fellow “Dimapurite”,
Douglas Warr, who emigrated to New Zealand not many years after the war. Douglas
told me in a recent e-mail message that George went to Canada to visit cousins
but had to return soon after his arrival because his only brother had died.
Sadly, George was ill himself leading to his death this year.
Nikolics On September 16, Kàroly Nikolics, of Sopron, Hungary. Dr Nikolics was a former president of the Hungarian Pharmaceutical Society.
Thomson On September 23, George Thomson, FRPharmS, of 6 Woodhayes, Durdar, Carlisle, Cumbria CA2 4TP. Mr Thomson registered in 1936.
Tuck On September 13, Robert Derrick Tuck, FRPharmS, of 184 Main Road, Milford, Stafford ST17 0UN. Mr Tuck registered in 1941.
Woodhall On July 1, Donald Woodhall, MRPharmS, of “Waverlea”,
17 Kirkwood Close, Peterborough, Cambridgeshire PE3 6BL. Mr Woodhall registered
in 1954.
Mr PAUL DURSTON writes: Don Woodhall passed away after a period of illness that
he bore in his usual no-nonsense way. For those who knew him professionally,
this came as no surprise.
Don was one of the “old school”, apprenticed before his national service
in a typical community pharmacy in Yorkshire, working for Timothy Whites, Boots
the Chemists and Savory & Moore, before joining Anglia Co-operative Chemists,
where I first met him.
He had little time for fools but, as many preregistration trainees and trainee
dispensers whom he helped through the system will attest, he had almost limitless
patience when they needed his help, whether professional or personal.
Respected by three generations of customers, his practical wisdom made him much
sought after by many. When he went into semi-retirement in the mid-1990s, many
would wait until Mr Woodhall was on duty before discussing their problems.
A man with a strong faith and an outstanding sense of humour, Don will be greatly
missed by all who have had the pleasure of working with him along with many
grateful customers and friends.