Letter Referring To Liver Fluke Capsules

AssociatedAssociated with Davidson & Kay (Aberdeen, Scotland, founded c.1834)

Date1952

Object NameLetter

Mediumink on paper

ClassificationsMedicine and Healthcare

Dimensions19.9 x 12.3cm

AcquisitionThe George Shepherd Pharmaceutical Collection.

LocationView by Appointment - Aberdeen Treasure Hub

Object numberABDMS012542

Keywords

About MeLetter from a man in Stornoway asking Davidson & Kay to send him liver fluke capsules for his flock of sheep. His first language was probably Gaelic rather than English.

Davidson & Kay Limited was an Aberdeen pharmacy business with a history reaching back to the early 1800s, and possibly earlier.

The business was successful and grew during the Victorian period. Davidson & Kay benefited from Royal custom from 1857 onwards when the Duchess of Kent, mother of Queen Victoria, was a customer. The firm was granted the Royal Warrant from Queen Victoria in 1884, whose medicine was taken to the station and placed in charge of a guard before being taken by horseback from Ballater to Balmoral. The firm served 5 generations of the Royal family in all and also dispensed for the Czar of Russia.

Further dispensaries were built at Wellington Place, Alford Place and even Balmoral as the firm expanded while the main branch was on Union Street.

George Shepherd had worked with the company and collected a large amount of material relating to Davidson & Kay, and later presented this collection to Aberdeen Art Gallery & Museums.