Memorial to Edward Frank Harrison designed by Phyllis Blundell, 1921
 Visitors to the Society's library, or those taking the stairs rather than the lift to higher floors, pass a handsome (but often overlooked) memorial plaque on the library landing. It is tangible evidence of the achievements of Edward Frank Harrison.
Edward Frank Harrison was born in 1869 and began an apprenticeship with
a pharmacist at the age of 14. After serving his apprenticeship he was
awarded the Jacob Bell Scholarship to the Society’s School of Pharmacy.
He was an outstanding student, being awarded medals and certificates
in chemistry, botany and materia medica.
Harrison qualified as a pharmaceutical chemist in 1891. In 1892 he became
a demonstrator in the Society’s laboratory and school. His subsequent
career included being made head of the analytical laboratory at Burroughs & Wellcome.
He then worked as a consulting and analytical chemist for 10 years before
the 1914–18 war. During this period he assisted in the compilation
of the British Pharmaceutical Codex. He also took a great interest in
the unmasking of fraudulent proprietary medicines. He carried out a wide
range of analyses of “quack” medicines on behalf of the British
Medical Association. The results of this work were published in ‘Secret
remedies: what they cost and what they contain’ (1909) and ‘More
secret remedies …’ (1912).
When war broke out in 1914 Harrison tried to join the army but was rejected
several times on account of his age (45 years). However, he persevered
and in 1915 he was accepted by a “sportsmen’s battalion” that
took men of any age.
The German army launched its first gas attack on the Western Front at
Ypres in April 1915. The War Office responded by enlisting chemists to
work on finding a way of defending troops against this form of attack.
The Anti-Gas Department was formed and Harrison joined its staff. From
the autumn of 1915 Harrison worked to develop the “large box respirator”,
the first serviceable British respirator. Around 200,000 were issued.
It is one of Harrison’s greatest achievements that he produced
a gas mask that successfully offered protection, and did so in the early
months of gas warfare when the principles of respirator construction
were almost unknown.
Harrison next worked on the development of the small-box respirator,
for which he is best known. Incorporating improvements on the large box
respirator, it was developed to be effective against all the various
poison gases. This was because absorbents in the box could be modified
as required.
Harrison was rapidly promoted through the ranks to lieutenant-colonel.
In 1918 he was appointed Controller of Chemical Warfare. He died a week
before the Armistice in November 1918. His death was caused by influenza
but it was widely believed that it was hastened by weakness arising from
overwork and the effects of repeated exposure to poison gas in the course
of his work. He had continued to work with a raging temperature for four
days before he was taken home to die. Harrison had lost his own life
but his work had saved countless lives of those who served in the Allied
armies.
The idea for a memorial to Harrison was voiced by a number of his friends
and co-workers in the Pharmaceutical Society and the British Pharmaceutical
Conference. These two bodies created a joint committee which appealed
to his “pharmaceutical brethren” to contribute to a fund.
The memorial was duly presented to the Society and in November 1921 Sir
Worthington Evans, the Secretary of State for War, unveiled it in the
Society’s examination hall at Bloomsbury Square. A guard of honour
with fixed bayonets lined the hall. When the flag covering the memorial
was withdrawn the guard of honour presented arms and four buglers of
the Coldstream Guards sounded the Last Post.
The memorial was transferred to its present position, facing the library
entrance, when the Society moved to Lambeth in 1976.
The memorial takes the form of a bronze relief bust of Harrison in uniform,
within an alabaster and gold mosaic classical portico. The legend reads:
Edward Frank Harrison
Lieut.-Colonel Royal Engineers.
CMG. BSc. FIC. PhC. Officer of the Legion of Honour.
Member of the Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus.
Controller of Chemical Warfare 1918.
CMG is the acronym for Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George.
It ranks sixth highest in the British honours system. The Legion of
Honour (Légion d’Honneur) is France’s highest award
for outstanding service to France. The Order of St Maurice and St Lazarus
is the Italian state award for civilian and military merit.
The memorial was designed by Phyllis Blundell, who knew Harrison personally.
She was commissioned to produce a number of portrait busts in her career,
including one of Anne Roosevelt, daughter of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Current members of the Society may be more familiar with another form
of remembrance of Harrison. Every two years the Harrison memorial medal
is awarded to a pharmacist who is judged to have made significant achievement
in both the science and practice of pharmacy. The medal is silver and
bears a portrait of the man it commemorates. The recipient in return
delivers the Harrison memorial lecture.
Tributes from contemporaries describe Harrison as a man totally dedicated
to his work, putting in incredibly long hours of work, even to the detriment
of his health. According to Major-General Sir David Bruce, “Energy,
sincerity and modesty emanated from the man’s whole being.”
Another contemporary (P. A. W. Self) wrote: “To an iron strength
of will and the highest possible ideals of duty and conduct he added
an indefinable charm which insured the intense devotion and affection
of all those with whom he was intimately connected. Much of this charm
lay in the fact that his own strength of character did not in the least
impair his power of sympathising with and stimulating others who did
not possess his great courage and power of triumphing over difficulties;
he was always ready to help and encourage the weak and to give others
the benefit of the doubt.” |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal