Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1770-1957 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
2.55 linear metres
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Preservation and the care of records are perhaps inherent in a firm which manufactures a patent medicine, since its existence depends upon the careful protection and safe descent of an original recipe or formula. According to tradition the ointment in question was invented by a Lambeth doctor, Thomas Johnson, in the seventeenth century. It was used for eye complaints. On his death it passed to the Hind family, passing from them when a daughter married Thomas Singleton and took the recipe with her as a marriage portion. Thomas Singleton died in 1779 leaving the recipe to his son William and on his death it passed via his daughter to the Folgham family.
Stephen Green, the Lambeth stone potter, married into this family and by 1848 acquired the proprietorship of the recipe. It eventually passed to the Carlill family who continued manufacture as Stephen Green Ltd. The descent of the recipe was surrounded by many ad hoc legal safeguards, designed to preserve its secrecy. Where they failed, elaborate litigation commenced between claimants to the proprietorship and this accounts for the preservation of deeds and settlements of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The remaining early material seems to have survived largely as a result of the prominence given to the "historic" nature of the firm in its publicity, a feature which Stephen Green, in particular, seems to have emphasised.
Repository
Archival history
GB 0074 B/SIN 1770-1957 Collection 2.55 linear metres Stephen Green Ltd , patent medicine manufacturer
Preservation and the care of records are perhaps inherent in a firm which manufactures a patent medicine, since its existence depends upon the careful protection and safe descent of an original recipe or formula. According to tradition the ointment in question was invented by a Lambeth doctor, Thomas Johnson, in the seventeenth century. It was used for eye complaints. On his death it passed to the Hind family, passing from them when a daughter married Thomas Singleton and took the recipe with her as a marriage portion. Thomas Singleton died in 1779 leaving the recipe to his son William and on his death it passed via his daughter to the Folgham family.
Stephen Green, the Lambeth stone potter, married into this family and by 1848 acquired the proprietorship of the recipe. It eventually passed to the Carlill family who continued manufacture as Stephen Green Ltd. The descent of the recipe was surrounded by many ad hoc legal safeguards, designed to preserve its secrecy. Where they failed, elaborate litigation commenced between claimants to the proprietorship and this accounts for the preservation of deeds and settlements of the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The remaining early material seems to have survived largely as a result of the prominence given to the "historic" nature of the firm in its publicity, a feature which Stephen Green, in particular, seems to have emphasised.
Donated to the Archive in 1964.
Records of Stephen Green Limited, patent medicine manufacturer, 1780-1930. The records relate to proprietorship of the recipe for "Doctor Johnson's Golden Ointment" including legal documents and legal case papers; and records relating to the manufacture and sale of the ointment including financial accounts, order books, correspondence, sales summaries, testimonials, advertising, legislation involving patent medicines and history of the ointment. Also various family and estate records.
In three sections: 001-023: Proprietorship of Recipe; 024-187: Manufacture and Sale and 188-269: Estate and Personal Papers.
Available for general access.
Copyright rests with the City of London.
English
Fit
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997. July to October 2009 Manufacturers Law Legal documents Legal case records Deeds Communication process Advertising Advertisements Pharmacology Drugs Dosage forms Ointments Management Business management Administration of justice Legal procedure Lawsuits Information sources Documents Primary documents Personal papers Family records Industrial personnel Personnel People by occupation People Business records Recipes Literary forms and genres Literature Business administration Company archives Stephen Green Ltd , patent medicine manufacturer Business
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Donated to the Archive in 1964.
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Records of Stephen Green Limited, patent medicine manufacturer, 1780-1930. The records relate to proprietorship of the recipe for "Doctor Johnson's Golden Ointment" including legal documents and legal case papers; and records relating to the manufacture and sale of the ointment including financial accounts, order books, correspondence, sales summaries, testimonials, advertising, legislation involving patent medicines and history of the ointment. Also various family and estate records.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
In three sections: 001-023: Proprietorship of Recipe; 024-187: Manufacture and Sale and 188-269: Estate and Personal Papers.
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Available for general access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright rests with the City of London.
Language of material
- English
Script of material
- Latin
Language and script notes
English
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Please see online catalogues at: http://search.lma.gov.uk/opac_lma/index.htm
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
- Law
- Communication process
- Communication process » Advertising
- Pharmacology
- Pharmacology » Drugs
- Management
- Management » Business management
- Administration of justice
- Administration of justice » Legal procedure
- Information sources
- Documents
- Documents » Primary documents
- Personnel
- Literary forms and genres
- Literature
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.
Status
Level of detail
Dates of creation revision deletion
Language(s)
- English