Beechams, 1848-2000: from pills to pharmaceuticals

The Beecham enterprise began when Thomas Beecham (1820-1865), an Oxfordshire shepherd with a reputation for efficacious herbal cures, moved to Lancashire to start his medicinal pill business. Anthony Corley tells the story of the Beechams, from the successful career of this 'Smilesian hero' and his Patent Pills in 1848 to a major company at the heart of the British pharmaceutical industry, now part of GlaxoSmithKline, over 150 years later.