Thomas James Smith

Thomas James Smith (1827-1896), Chemist

1827 Born the son of Horatio Nelson Smith (1799-1879).

He trained as a pharmacist and first worked as an apprentice in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

1854-1855 He studied at University College, London, with Lord Lister, the antiseptic innovator.

1856 He was admitted into the newly formed Royal Pharmaceutical Society and in August he bought his first shop at 71 Whitefriargate, Hull.

Smith soon became involved in the wholesale trade of bandages and related materials. He took advantage of his proximity to the docks and the fishermen of Hull, and began supplying hospitals with cod liver oil, valued for its therapeutic value in cases of rickets, tuberculosis, and rheumatism (vitamins had not yet been identified). At the time, doctors' visits were expensive and pharmacists were often the first ones consulted. Most medicines did not require a prescription, and factory-made pills were only beginning to displace concoctions produced by doctors and pharmacists.

1860-1861 Smith's father lent him £500 to convert two cottages into a warehouse. Success led to even larger accommodation, so he rented some buildings at North Churchside, which he bought in 1880 with the help of another £500 loan from his father. Business boomed as he had travelled to Norway on a gunboat to buy 750 gallons of cod liver oil. It was a shrewd deal - the Norwegian product was both cheaper and better tasting than the previous supply from Newfoundland; the solid fat (stearine) had been processed out of it. At the same time, Smith's marketing efforts generated many new accounts among the hospitals of London.

By 1880, he had even shipped to Cairo. Encouragement by a correspondent, Smith registered his oil under the brand name Paragon Cod Liver Oil.

1896 T. J. Smith never married, but a few months before his death, his 22-year-old nephew Horatio Nelson Smith became a partner. The firm, now known as T. J. Smith and Nephew, shifted its production away from cod liver oil in favour of bandages.

1896 October 03rd. Died.

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