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Cooper On 10 February,
Thomas Peter Cooper, FRPharmS, aged 90, of Trewinnick Cottage, St Ervan,
Wadebridge, Cornwall PL27 7SL. Mr Cooper registered
in 1940, and was The Pharmaceutical Journal’s “Onlooker” for
many years (see tribute,
p190).
Funeral: Tuesday 19 February, St Ervan Parish Church, at 3.30pm,
then family only service at Truro Crematorium.
Family flowers only. Donations to Cornwall
Wildlife Trust.
Davis On 26 January, Sydney
George Davis, FRPharmS, aged 89, of 16 Dan-y-Graig, Cardiff CF14 7HJ.
Mr Davis registered in 1940. (See tribute)
Liddington On 4 January, Joan
Lilian Liddington (née Barcroft), aged 77,
of The Chilterns, 16 Western Road, West End, Southampton SO30 3EL. Mrs Liddington
registered in 1953 and retired from the Register in 2006. (See tribute) |
Tributes
Burnett In a tribute
to the late George
Murray Burnett (PJ, 9
February 2008, p160), JOHN PACKHAM writes:
In the late 1960s I was appointed
marketing
manager to Bush Boake Allen, responsible for making a profit on all pharmaceuticals
(galenicals) produced at its Long Melford factory in Suffolk.
Stafford Allens had originally started in 1833 in Islington, but with
the rapid growth of London and the company, a factory was opened at an
existing water mill
near Long Melford in 1899. The Allens had a country estate nearby.
George was the factory manager and to his credit allowed a marketing man free
access to all areas. We were charged with bringing the outlook into the 21st
century and I was trying to change a production-centred company (we make it,
you sell it) to one where the company produced what the customer demanded,
so amply demonstrated by Japan’s penetration into the UK market. When I saw
some machinery had an 1862 date of manufacture, I knew I had a long job.
George was always receptive to new ideas which would help his beloved Long
Melford and he pioneered the use of vertical conical Nauta mixers which transformed
the
production of dry powder materials. At that time we produced literally tons
of Pulv pro Mist Mag Trisilicate and also zinc, starch and boracic dusting
powder.
We also extracted liquorice root from Russia in ton lots and George introduced
the principle of using large vats which were moved around the factory by fork
lift truck.
In a brilliant stroke of Scottish genius he was stirring the tea pot one day
and had the idea of using the Nauta mixers for stirred extraction of botanicals
for both pharmaceutical and flavour extracts. This revolutionised production,
enabling volumes and yields to be increased dramatically.
George was one of three Scots pharmacists in the company who had graduated
from Aberdeen. Every year George was host to a Burns night celebration where
the late
Dr W. R. L. Brown was a frequent attender together with other Scots friends.
They always had the next day off to recover.
The most profitable product was chlorophyll. This was extracted from dried
grass with acetone and processed to a variety of oil and water soluble grades.
As may
be realised, chlorophyll production was extremely messy and somewhat hazardous
but George’s maxim was that if a product was difficult to make, then competition
was reduced. Our sales to the US boomed when the American company producing from
Lucerne (Alfalfa) had to close for environmental reasons.
George introduced me to an area of practical pharmacy where I was able to make
use of my pharmaceutical engineering training from Brunswick Square and I am
eternally grateful to him.
Davis In a tribute to
the late Sydney George Davis, DESMOND
LAVERS writes:
On behalf of his many colleagues in the Hounslow and district
branch I extend our deepest sympathy to his widow Phyllis and family
on the death of George, who died in Llandough Hospital, Leckwith, Cardiff,
on 26 January, aged 89.
George was a stalwart of the branch being a founder member in 1947. He
was the secretary for many years and also served as chairman. He was
production
manager for Parke Davis & Co from 1948 to 1971 and helped supervise its
move to Pontypool, retiring there in 1974.
Liddington In a tribute to the late Joan
Lilian Liddington SULTAN
(SID) DAJANI writes:
It was with extreme sadness I learnt about the passing
of Joan Lilian Liddington due to a stroke on the morning of
January 4 2008. Joan hailed from Wellingborough in Northamptonshire,
qualified from Brighton and joined the Register on 4 August 1953. She settled
down
in the Southampton area in the early 1960s and soon after she started
working for Wainwrights Chemist, where she stayed until her retirement
a few years
ago.
I first met Joan when I joined the great kinship of Wainwrights Chemist
in 1996 as a locum. It did not take long to realise and admire Joan’s strength
of conviction, the clarity of any decision she made and her attention to detail.
She balanced both the honourable, traditional old-school ethics with the progressive
nature of clinical services and was proud of her pharmacist status.
When she
recounted stories of the past, she did so with great fondness, enthusiastic
passion and unequivocal panache. Her elegance of mind, sweetness of character
and good company always meant that Joan made friends easily because she
had a great deal of conversation and a liberality of ideas.
All who knew Joan would bear witness to her tenderness and cheerful disposition,
her never giving-up, her unselfishly helping others and her tireless generosity.
As a testimony to her dedication and personality she worked with the same
staff for nearly 30 years and is a major figure in the Wainwrights Chemist
history.
In the latter years, her eyesight started failing to the extent
she eventually could not drive and needed more specialist help. She would
come tenpin
bowling with the rest of us and still get strikes. I used to wonder if
she had extrasensory
perception because even while nearly blind she would still tell me off
if I had not shaved, had a button missing or was in need of a haircut.
Joan was a caring, affectionate lady, of true worth, a patriot for the
profession and a devoted pharmacist through and through. It is people
like Joan who
have traditionally given pharmacy a strong and proud history — she was one
of those unsung heroes and she left a wonderful lasting impression on all those
she met. Joan will always be remembered with great affection and respect.
My sympathies and condolences to her companion Harold, her confidant
Arvind Patel along with Joan’s other lifelong work colleagues at Wainwrights
Chemist and of course John, Alan and the rest of the Joan’s huge family. |
The
Pharmaceutical Journal