Page 14 - Pharmacy History 29 Nov 2006

A dynasty of Fox Pharmacists
By Radley West
Without the traditional banners on the window of this Pharmacy in Ipswich, Queensland, one could
be forgiven for thinking that this magnificent display of Cymbidium Orchids was in a florist shop. The picture (RIGHT) was taken some time in the late 1950s or early 1960s, the pharmacist proprietor, William Maurice Fox, grew orchids as a hobby, and what a great idea it was
to share their beauty with his customers.
We will return to our orchidaceous pharmacist later.
Fox’s Pharmacy at 106 Brisbane Street, Ipswich was established in 1898 by the scion of the family,
William Fullelove Starkey Fox,
who graduated from the Queensland Pharmacy College in 1894. He had started his apprenticeship on February 1, 1888 to William Ninian Jeffrey,
to be trained as a Chemist, Druggist and Dentist.
Eighteen months later his indenture was transferred to George Inglis Hudson who had bought out William Jeffrey. Hudson was also a Chemist Dentist, but he later became a household
name throughout Australia when he formulated and marketed ‘Hudson’s Eumenthol Jujubes’.
WFS Fox was elected to the Queensland Pharmacy Board in 1917, and he became a prominent member of the Pharmaceutical Society of Queensland. When DJ Clarke, the examiner for the final Dispensing
Examination retired due to ill health, WFS Fox was appointed his successor, a position he held until his death
in 1925.
His son, William Maurice Fox, had been apprenticed to his father and when he qualified in 1920 he took over the business and operated it until his death in 1971.
WM Fox had two daughters who both chose pharmacy as a career, and they served their apprenticeships with him. Shirley Ann Larsen (nee Fox) qualified in 1954 and Jill West (nee Fox), in 1958.
The daughters carried on the business with a manager until 1999, when they decided to sell the pharmacy which still trades today as ‘Fox’s Pharmacy’, but without the ‘Ipana’ banner which was removed when the pharmacy was refurbished in the 1960s.
During the Second World War, Amberley, outside Ipswich, hosted the American Air Force and as the airmen were always looking for unattainable gifts, Fox’s Pharmacy made up gift packs by covering boxes with crepe paper, placing a combination of gift lines in between crumpled cellophane paper and covering the box with clear cellophane. Many nights were involved in this exciting activity with family and staff.
Jill’s son Brendan West, is also a Pharmacist, obtaining his B.Pharm
in 1984 from the University of Queensland. He purchased Bundaberg’s oldest pharmacy in 1997, which was established by
John Davidson in 1892.
So, just like the orchid bulbs in the window display, the Fox family blossomed and multiplied, and Queensland was blessed with four generations of pharmacists.
14 ■ Pharmacy History Australia
volume 3 ■ no 25 ■ March 2005