Beecham's Pills first marketed

Background. Thomas Beecham (1820–1907) invented Beecham's Pills, a laxative first marketed about 1842. Source evidence identifies Wigan, Lancashire, as the location of this initial marketing, though St Helens is noted as the founder's home town. St Helens was a significant urban centre on the south Lancashire Coalfield, attracting self-made industrialists such as Thomas Beecham.

St Helens Context. St Helens lies in the south-west part of historic Lancashire. By 1844, Cyrus Redding described the formerly inconsiderable village as a very thriving town, and the Ordnance Survey map of 1843 showed it as a significant urban centre. The town later attracted self-made wealthy industrialists, among them Thomas Beecham, and became the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of St Helens.

Product Composition. The pills themselves were a combination of aloe, ginger, and soap. They were initially advertised like other patent medicine as a cure-all, but they actually did benefit the digestive process. This effectiveness made them stand out from other remedies for sale in the mid-19th century.