Holloway , Thomas , 1800-1883 , patent medicine vendor, benefactor and art collector

Thomas Holloway (1800-1883) was a highly successful pill and ointment manufacturer, who pioneered the use of product advertising. He married Jane Driver in 1840, and together they built up a large and prosperous business. Having no descendants, Holloway decided to use his fortune for philanthropic causes, and was encouraged by Lord Shaftesbury to found a mental hospital and by his wife to found a college for the higher education of women. This resulted in the Holloway Sanatorium (opened 1885) and Royal Holloway College (opened 1886), the latter serving as a memorial to Jane Holloway, who died in 1875. Thomas Holloway died before either project was completed, but not before the composition of a Royal Holloway College Foundation Deed. He left a large sum of money with which to endow the College.