The story of the Wellcome Foundation Ltd.

This film sets the origins and growth for the Wellcome Foundation Ltd. and the Wellcome Trust in the context of the life and work of Henry S. Wellcome (1853-1936). After briefly describing his early life and adventures, the foundation of Burroughs Wellcome and Co. in 1880 and Wellcome's decision to make Britain, rather than the U.S., his permanent base, the film goes on to examine each of his three main areas of activity in more detail:- (1) The worldwide commercial expansion of Burroughs Wellcome as a major pharmaceutical manufacturing and wholesale company; (2) The sponsorship of biomedical and pharmaceutical research; (3) The sponsorship of archeological excavations and the collection of books, manuscripts, instruments, artefacts and images of medical-historical interest. The film concludes with a brief sketch of Wellcome pharmaceutical production and research in the mid-1950s, and of the early work of the Wellcome Trust in sponsoring medical and medical-historical research down to 1955.