The Westminster College of Chemistry and Pharmacy was a private college founded in October 1874, for the teaching of chemistry and pharmacy, by the chemist and pharmacist George S. V. Wills. Its purpose was to prepare students for examinations set by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, founded in 1841. Westminster College flourished in the late nineteenth century but faced growing competition from public institutions in the 1920s and 1930s, and it closed around 1942. [1]
The Westminster College of Chemistry and Pharmacy was a private college founded in October 1874 by the chemist and pharmacist George S. V. Wills. Its purpose was to prepare students for examinations set by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, founded in 1841.
By 1877, three years after its foundation, Westminster College was able to make the claim that it was the largest school of its kind in London. In addition, its students had achieved almost as many examination passes as all the other schools in England combined. [1]
In 1882, as his student body expanded, Wills moved Westminster College into new premises, a defunct Baptist chapel in Trinity Street, Southwark. [1]
In 1908, Wills suffered a financial setback following the failure of his pharmacy business, resulting in the loss of Wills's house and his personal assets. This financial failure caused the voluntary liquidation of Westminster College, despite it being registered as a limited company in 1901. However, the College was moved to a new location in Clapham, where it resumed its activities [1]
In 1899 Wills self-published a memoir titled The Works of George S. V. Wills and The Westminster College of Chemistry and Pharmacy.
In December 1916 Westminster College moved again, from 402 to 190 Clapham Road. [1]
During the 1920s and 1930s growing competition from public institutions began to put pressure on private schools such as Westminster College, and their number began to decline. Westminster College was one of the last survivors, and it continued to advertise its courses into the 1930s. Its founder, George S V Wills, died on 28 April 1932, aged 84. In 1939, at the outbreak of war, the threat of air attacks led the College to discontinue day classes in favour of correspondence courses. The College address at 190 Clapham Road ceased to exist in 1942, most likely the year of its closure. [1]
A pharmacist is a healthcare professional who specializes in the preparation, dispensing, and management of medications and who provides pharmaceutical advice and guidance. Pharmacists often serve as primary care providers in the community, and may offer other services such as health screenings and immunizations.
University of the Sciences in Philadelphia, previously Philadelphia College of Pharmacy and Science (PCPS), was a private university in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. On June 1, 2022, it officially merged into Saint Joseph's University.
Pharmacy is the science and practice of discovering, producing, preparing, dispensing, reviewing and monitoring medications, aiming to ensure the safe, effective, and affordable use of medicines. It is a miscellaneous science as it links health sciences with pharmaceutical sciences and natural sciences. The professional practice is becoming more clinically oriented as most of the drugs are now manufactured by pharmaceutical industries. Based on the setting, pharmacy practice is either classified as community or institutional pharmacy. Providing direct patient care in the community of institutional pharmacies is considered clinical pharmacy.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (RPSGB) existed from its founding as the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 1841 until 2010. The word "Royal" was added to its name in 1988. It was the statutory regulatory and professional body for pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in England, Scotland and Wales. In September 2010, the regulatory powers of the Society were transferred to the newly formed General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC). The RPSGB became the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) at that time and retained its professional leadership role; the "Great Britain" part of the name was dropped for day-to-day purposes.
A Doctor of Pharmacy is a professional doctorate in pharmacy. In some countries, it is a doctoral degree to practice the profession of pharmacy or to become a clinical pharmacist. In many countries, people with their Doctor of Pharmacy are allowed to practice independently and can prescribe drugs directly to patients. A PharmD program has significant experiential and/or clinical education components in introductory and advanced levels for the safe and effective use of drugs. Experiential education prepares graduates to be practice-ready, as they already have spent a significant amount of time training in areas of direct patient care and research.
The Royal Pharmaceutical Society is the body responsible for the leadership and support of the pharmacy profession (pharmacists) within England, Scotland, and Wales. It was created along with the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) in September 2010 when the previous Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was split so that representative and regulatory functions of the pharmacy profession could be separated. Membership in the society is not a prerequisite for engaging in practice as a pharmacist within the United Kingdom. Its predecessor the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain was founded on 15 April 1841.
Albert Benjamin Prescott was an American chemist. He graduated in medicine at the University of Michigan in 1864, and was made assistant professor of organic and applied chemistry, dean of the school of pharmacy, and director of the chemical laboratory over the years. Professor Prescott served as president of the American Chemical Society in 1886, president of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 1891, and president of the American Pharmacists Association in 1900. During his tenure as Dean at the University of Michigan College of Pharmacy, Prescott encouraged the foundation of what is now the Phi Delta Chi professional pharmacy fraternity. He is buried with his wife and children at Forest Hill Cemetery, adjacent to the University of Michigan Central Campus.
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Agnes Borrowman was a Scottish pharmaceutical chemist. In 1924 she became the first woman to serve on the Pharmaceutical Society's Board of Examiners.
Auguste-Arthur Plisson was a French chemist. Born in Orléans, Plisson was orphaned at an early age, but overcame the difficulties that caused him with the determination he brought to being a student of chemistry in Paris. Taught by Nöel-Étienne Henry, chief of the Central Pharmacy of Paris Hospitals, he won several awards from the School of Pharmacy of Paris, including a gold medal for chemistry in 1823, and was eventually recruited by Henry to work for the Central Pharmacy. After several years, during which he published a number of papers on chemical discoveries, he was appointed deputy chief. He was also a member of the Société de Pharmacie.
The National Association of Women Pharmacists was founded in London on 15 June 1905, following discussions between Margaret Elizabeth Buchanan and Isabella Skinner Clarke. Early meetings were held at Clarke's home. Membership was restricted to those who had passed the major or minor examination and 50 women joined immediately. By 1912 Buchanan claimed that practically all women practicing pharmacy were members. Buchanan served as its president at one point.
Margaret Elizabeth Buchanan was a British pharmacist and pioneer of women in pharmacy.
Frances Elizabeth Deacon (1837–1930) was an English chemist and druggist who was the first woman to qualify after the 1868 Pharmacy Act, which made registration with the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (PSGB) compulsory in order to work as a pharmacist.
George Sampson Valentine Wills (1849-1932) was a chemist and pharmacist and the founder of the Westminster College of Chemistry and Pharmacy, an institution which prepared students for examinations set by the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, founded in 1841.
Isabella Skinner Clarke–Keer was a British pharmacist and pioneer of women in pharmacy. In 1875, she became the first woman to qualify as a Pharmaceutical Chemist, and was one of the first two women members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, admitted in 1879. In 1905, she became the first President of the National Association of Women Pharmacists.
Rose Coombes Minshull (1845–1905) was one of the first two women members of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain (PSGB), admitted in 1879.
Hope Constance Monica Winch was an English pharmacist and academic.
Elsie Higgon was the first Joint Secretary of the (National) Association of Women Pharmacists; researcher for King's College, the British Medical Journal and the British Pharmaceutical Codex; Lecturer in Chemistry at Portsmouth Municipal College; proprietor pharmacist of two businesses in Hampstead, proprietor of the Gordon Hall School of Pharmacy for Women in Gordon Square, and a supporter of the suffrage movement.
Frederick Belding Power was an American chemist who worked in pharmacology, plant chemicals, and on standards in pharmaceutical production. He served as a professor of pharmacy at the Philadelphia College and as director of pharmacy at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He also served as a chemist for the Wellcome Chemical Research Laboratories in London where he examined Chaulmoogra oil and its use in the treatment of leprosy.
Ella Corfield was a British pharmacist, achieving pioneering academic work in her early career and later business management. She also held senior ranks in the British Red Cross.