Finance

Various financial files, including some early cheque books and bank books, and a range of ledgers, deriving from Burroughs Wellcome & Co, and The Wellcome Foundation Ltd, with some material from S M Burroughs & Co, and from the Kepler Malt Extract Co Ltd. One of the early chequebooks (WF/F/005) contains the first signature of "Burroughs Wellcome & Co" in the hand of Henry Wellcome (5 October, 1880).

An extensive ledger (WF/F/087) provides balance sheets (liabilities/assets), spanning 31 August 1880 to 31 August 1939.

Also included are accounts and sales figures for subsidiary overseas houses for 1950-1962 (WF/F/110-118), and Wellcome Foundation Ltd Capital Accounts (WF/F/070-078) for 1940-1948.

The files include some advertsing registers (1954-1958) with examples of advertisements placed in publications overseas, indicating place of publication and amounts spent. Also, extensive sets of purchase record cards maintained over the period 1907-1971.

1879-1989

39 boxes, plus 27 oversize boxes/items

Much financial material was lost in the destruction of the firms's premises at Snow Hill in 1941, but much was also not retained, as the following published remarks indicate: "Following the visit of Mr Moore and Mr Matthews to the Works Record Store at Dartford for the purpose of surveying old account books, journals, sales record sheets, etc. a considerable amount of paper has been released for salvage. By the end of April alone we had sold approximately 13.5 tons of paper which was disposed of for £70!" Foundation News (September 1942).

Please see main WF collection description (ref. 'WF').