The Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine: Archives and Manuscripts relating to Nigeria

Extract

The Wellcome Institute was created by Sir Henry Wellcome (1853-1936), founder of the international pharmaceutical company, the Wellcome Foundation Ltd (formerly Burroughs Wellcome). He was a wide-ranging collector of materials of all kinds relating to the history of medicine. His collections continue to be administered under the provisions of his will by the Wellcome Trust, which also funds medical research. The library underwent some reduction after his death, largely to restrict it more closely to the history of medicine and science and to reduce it to manageable bulk. In World War II the company headquarters at Snow Hill were bombed, and the firm moved into the Euston Road Building originally intended to house the Wellcome Research Institution.