GB 0120 SA/WWP - The Widow Welch's Pills

Identity area

Reference code

GB 0120 SA/WWP

Title

The Widow Welch's Pills

Date(s)

  • 1787-1966 (Creation)

Level of description

Extent and medium

2 boxes, 1 outsize item

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Catherine Kearsley and her husband were printers and booksellers in London in the late eighteenth century. They began the commercial production of Widow Welch's Female Pills, which they claimed to have as a family recipe, in 1787. There seems to have been some contention over who was manufacturing the true Widow Welch's Recipe, since the collection includes a handbill claiming that Mrs Smithers, as the granddaughter of the Widow Welch was the only person entitled to the preparation. It continued to be a popular patent medicine until the company ceased trading in the late 1960s.

Archival history

GB 0120 SA/WWP 1787-1966 Collection (fonds) 2 boxes, 1 outsize item Members of the Kearsley family and business

Catherine Kearsley and her husband were printers and booksellers in London in the late eighteenth century. They began the commercial production of Widow Welch's Female Pills, which they claimed to have as a family recipe, in 1787. There seems to have been some contention over who was manufacturing the true Widow Welch's Recipe, since the collection includes a handbill claiming that Mrs Smithers, as the granddaughter of the Widow Welch was the only person entitled to the preparation. It continued to be a popular patent medicine until the company ceased trading in the late 1960s.

Purchased from David Bluett in November 2005.

Papers relating to The Widow Welch's Pills, 1787-1966, comprising records of C and G Kearsley Limited, London, manufacturers of The Widow Welch's Pills 'justly celebrated for all female complaints'. Including family material and business records.

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

English

1 outsize item

The Wellcome Library Ephemera Collection contains an early 20th century leaflet advertising Kearsley's Widow Welch's Pills.

Compiled by Anya Turner.

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.

June 2008 Kearsley , Catherine , fl 1787 , printer, bookseller and remedy manufacturer Industry Manufacturing industry Social problems Quackery Systems of medicine Traditional medicine Pathology Diseases C and G Kearsley Ltd, patent medicine proprietors Female diseases

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Purchased from David Bluett in November 2005.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Papers relating to The Widow Welch's Pills, 1787-1966, comprising records of C and G Kearsley Limited, London, manufacturers of The Widow Welch's Pills 'justly celebrated for all female complaints'. Including family material and business records.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

The papers are available subject to the usual conditions of access to Archives and Manuscripts material, after the completion of a Reader's Undertaking.

Conditions governing reproduction

Photocopies/photographs/microfilm are supplied for private research only at the Archivist's discretion. Please note that material may be unsuitable for copying on conservation grounds, and that photographs cannot be photocopied in any circumstances. Readers are restricted to 100 photocopies in twelve months. Researchers who wish to publish material must seek copyright permission from the copyright owner.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

The Wellcome Library Ephemera Collection contains an early 20th century leaflet advertising Kearsley's Widow Welch's Pills.

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Publication note

Notes area

Note

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Subject access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Wellcome Library

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

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area