Grimshaw, Thomas (fl. 1876-1902), chemist and druggist, H. M. Prison, Wormwood Scrubs, London

Recipe book of Thomas Grimshaw, containing medical and general recipes, some printed.

The book is a small volume of a little over 300 pages, made by a stationer in Hull. It chiefly contains pharmacy recipes, handwritten and using chemists' abbreviations; these are chiefly to do with human health, though there are also some veterinary ones there. Some cuttings from magazines or newspapers are also pasted in, chiefly to do with pharmaceutical products but also some miscellaneous material (there is, for example, a copy of the Irish nationalist poem "The Wearing of the Green").

It may probably have been filled in chronological order - the ownership inscription inside the cover is dated 1887, and some way into the book the date 1888 occurs, suggesting that this marks a new year's work. There are a few personal touches: on ff.34r-35r there is a list of "Wormwood Scrubs Prison Recipes" and on f.104v there is a recipe for "T. Grimshaw & Co.'s celebrated colic drench for horses".