The Pharmaceutical Journal
Vol 275 No 7371 p497
15 October 2005

Society summary

Angell On 9 October, Matthew Nicholas Angell, MRPharmS, of Matamata, Lews Damouettes Lane, St Peter Port, Guernsey, Channel Islands GY1 1ZN. Mr Angell registered in 1936 after an apprenticeship with the Boots The Chemists in St Peter Port and spent his whole career there, becoming manager from 1959 until his retirement in 1973. He was assistant manager during the five-year German occupation of the Channel Islands and has been described as one of the unsung heroes of the occupation. With their usual products unavailable, and little to be obtained from the continent, Mr Angell and other Boots staff developed many of their own medicinal products and toiletries. He was said to have been a a powerhouse of new ideas, working on his half days, Sundays and evenings and taking no holiday for five years. Products made locally included a blemish cream made from bovine udder cream, soap made from fats obtained from a slaughterhouse, a children’s vitamin product made from the livers of locally caught fish, plus a tonic, an influenza mixture, an indigestion mixture and bronchial lozenges, all manufactured to high standards. (Tribute)

Tribute

Angell In a tribute to the late Matthew Nicholas Angell (see Column 3), JOHN HINCKS writes:

It was with great sadness that I heard of the death of Matthew Angell on 9 October aged 92. He retired in 1973 after 43 years’ service (including 14 years as manager) at Boots in Guernsey. It was there I first met him when I joined the branch some three years earlier.

Born in Alderney, Matthew Nicholas Angell attended Elizabeth College in Guernsey and joined the Boots branch in 1930 as a 17-year-old apprentice. He later attended Portsmouth School of Pharmacy. His generation were caught up in the 1939–45 war and his exploits in coping with the German occupation of the islands have been a legendary achievement in their own right. How he dealt with severe shortages of drugs — often resorting to basic pharmacy skills to keep the islanders in reasonable health — has been well documented, most recently in Peter Rivett’s book ‘A tiny act of defiance’. During the time of isolation from England he sourced alternatives from within the island or the continent of Europe, purchasing drugs from firms such as Rhone-Poulenc and Bayer using occupation “marks”.

After the occupation Matthew became a well-known local personality and was a douzenier, or councillor and parish “constable” on Guernsey for many years.

He always took an active part in the Society’s smallest branch and served as both chairman and secretary over his 69 years on the register. But it was for his great warmth and friendship that he will be remembered. No one who met him failed to be charmed by his welcoming manner and knowledge of pharmacy and life in general. I certainly benefited greatly from knowing him. He will be sadly missed.

My wife and I send our heartfelt condolences to his wife Daphne and daughter Wendy at this sad time.