Frazer and Green

FRAZER & GREEN, Pharmaceutical Chemists to the Queen, 127, Buchanan Street ; 469, Sauchiehall Street; 1, Charing Cross ; and 1, Belmont Place, Hillhead, Glasgow.

    There is no concern in Scotland associated with the dispensing of medicines and the general operations of the pharmaceutical chemist that stands higher in the popular esteem than does the old-established house conducted by Mr. Daniel Frazer, under the trading style of Messrs. Frazer and Green, of 127, Buchanan Street, Glasgow, with subordinate branch establishments located in various parts of the city. This successful enterprise was founded in the year 1830 by Mr. N. B. Frazer, elder brother of the gentleman who, at the present time, controls the affairs of the concern. At Whitsuntide, 1830, Mr. Frazer, entered upon possession of premises situated at 105, Buchanan Street, and here was laid the nucleus of a business which, in the course of sixty years, has developed into one of the largest, one of the most influential, and certainly one of the most fashionable pharmaceutical emporia to be met with in Europe at the present time.

    The founder of the concern at the time of entering upon the enterprise, which has since proved so successful, was a young man only just out of his teens, yet possessed of exceptional energy and perseverance and of valuable knowledge and experience, acquired during an apprenticeship of six years to the Glasgow Apothecaries’ Company. The business developed with remarkable facility, and in a manner which we might describe by the Wordsworth-coined expression “by leaps and bounds”. The secret of this suddenly experienced and continuously enjoyed success is not far to seek. Assuredly it was not the product of mere adventitious circumstances, nor the result of a “fortuitous concourse of happy chances”. The entire credit falls to the founder, who displayed indomitable perseverance and almost statesmanlike diplomacy in attracting and firmly attaching the aristocratic clientele whose names are found in the old books of the establishment. Many well-known medical missionaries, as well as medical men, gain their knowledge of practical pharmacy with the firm. Amongst others we may mention Professor McCall Anderson, M.D., Glasgow ; the Rev. Dr. Stewart, Lovedale ; the two younger Doctors Turner, of Samoa ; and at a very early period (1836), Sir Lyon Playfair, M.P., late Postmaster-General, Professor of Chemistry, Edinburgh University, &c., &c.

    In August, 1831, a destructive fire occurred, but even this untoward event proved powerless to check the ardour of the spirited chief. The lamented death of the founder occurred 10th December, 1836, and subsequently his widow assumed Mr. George Green into the partnership, when the present trading designation of the firm was adopted. At Mr. Green’s death, Mr. Daniel Frazer became sole proprietor, and he still conducts the great undertaking with a perennial vigour which would be indescribably creditable, were it not as much a hereditary gift as a personally cultivated quality in the esteemed proprietor.

    Seven years ago the present eligible premises at 127, Buchanan Street were entered upon. These premises consist of a large and commodious shop with a most elegant and attractive exterior. The splendid shop is, unquestionably, one of the finest of its kind in the city. It has a double frontage, is of great length from rear to front, its fine counters extending the whole distance, while elegant fittings and glass show cases everywhere abound. The gasaliers are all fitted with wires and connections for the electric light, which, it is intended, will be installed as soon as a central station is established. Electric bells and speaking-tubes are fitted up throughout. The show cases are filled with various proprietary articles, and are placed in the most attractive positions, so as to give an air of elegance and finish to the whole of the extensive interior. Everything is in perfect taste, and the large and select stock of goods is displayed to the very best advantage. The dispensing department is equipped with every appliance for the conduct of a large and first-rate family trade. The whole establishment is chastely decorated after the manner adopted by those chemists who more especially cultivate the professional side of their business and cater for the requirements of the educated classes. The remarkably large stock embraces pretty well everything found in the very best pharmaceutical emporia, and includes all the leading patent medicines, proprietary articles, and toilet requisites, with a complete stock of the best and newest drugs and chemical preparations.

    Messrs. Frazer and Green control well-known West End establishments at 469, Sauchiehall Street, Charing Cross Corner, and Belmont Place, Hillhead, the total rentals amounting to some £1,200 a year. Each of these is conducted on no less high-class lines than the parent house, and reflects infinite credit on the principal, who is a dispensing chemist of the highest standing in the profession. So highly valued are the medicines dispensed at Messrs. Frazer and Green’s establishments, that the Royal Warrant, constituting them Pharmaceutical Chemists to the Queen, has been held by them for over fifty years.

    A special feature not hitherto referred to in connection with the firm is the large business done in the supply of medicine chests, both for family, Colonial, and sea-going use. In the latter class, inter alia, the firm have supplied the palatial steamship City of Paris, the steamer China, three Canadian Pacific steamers, and some of the largest vessels engaged in the East India trade. Aerated waters are also manufactured by the firm, and command a large patronage throughout the West of Scotland.

    We conclude our review of one of Scotia’s greatest pharmaceutical concerns with the remark that the commercial relationships of the house ramify through every quarter of the globe, the house drawing its support from a clientele which, in respect of social influence and aristocratic standing, has no superior in the kingdom. Of the esteemed proprietor, Mr. Daniel Frazer, we can say with confidence that there is no better-known or more generally respected name in the widely-embracive annals of eminent Glaswegian citizens. It has justly been remarked of him “that the city of his birth and adoption has just reason to congratulate itself upon the fact that he has found time, apart from the duties and responsibilities of a business life, to make a distinct mark in the world of literature. His ‘Story of the Making of Buchanan Street ’ (1 vol., Glasgow : James Frazer), is a delightful series of personal reminiscences of the author during the last half-century, and charmingly and graphically portrays the various successive epochs incidental to the building of one of the. handsomest and most interesting of Scottish city thoroughfares.

    Excellent reading, also, for those interested in such matters, is Mr. Frazer’s lecture on the proposed changes in the Pharmacy Act of 1868 and in the educational system of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain”. This able discourse was delivered before a meeting of the Chemists’ and Druggists’ Association of Glasgow on April 10th, 1883, and exercised no inconsiderable influence on the question to which it referred. From the pen of the same versatile writer we have a most instructive and entertaining little book (now in its second edition) entitled “Paper, Pens, and Ink” (1 vol. square 8vo. One shilling. David Bryce and Son, Glasgow) which furnishes a capital sketch of the principal writing materials used in all ages, with a chapter on “How and When we Began to Write”, all told in a lucid and concise style and manner.

    For more than a quarter of a century Mr. Daniel Frazer has acted as a Justice of the Peace for the County of Dumbarton, where he resides, and for ten years held a prominent place on the Council of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain. Both in his magisterial, his civic, his professional, and his literary capacity Mr. Frazer ranks among those citizens who have conferred lasting services upon the general community, and whose lives and characters are brilliant illustrations of what can be achieved in business, as in every other sphere of activity, by the association of strict integrity with indomitable perseverance in the working out of high and worthy purposes. His sons, we may add, are following in his steps. The eldest, Mr. J. G. Frazer, is Fellow and M.A. of Trinity College, Cambridge, and Member of the Middle Temple, London, and has had a distinguished career. The second, Mr. S. M. Frazer, has been associated for over twenty years in the business with his father, and has, from his admirable business qualities, rendered it invaluable service. Both are worthy scions of the Frazer stem, and thoroughly qualified to sustain the reputation of the Frazer name under all conditions.

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