Collection: Thackray Museum of Medicine

Collection-level records:

• Collection overview (Adapted from Collections development policy)

  The Thackray Museum of Medicine collection encompasses three main areas: objects, library and archival material. The majority of the collection dates from the 18^th century to the present day, but there are small collections of Roman, medieval and early modern objects.

   

  Object Collection

  The object collection comprises over 45,000 objects. Areas of particular strength include:

  Surgical instruments and implants from the 1600s to the present day, with the period 1870- 1970 particularly strongly represented. The collection includes products from over 20 different countries, particularly British, German and French instruments. One strongly represented implant is the Charnley hip, the first truly successful total hip replacement, designed in collaboration with Chas. F. Thackray Ltd.

  The John F. Wilkinson collection of British and European drug jars, which incorporates the largest collection of English Delftware drug jars in Britain, possibly in the world. Other apothecary and pharmaceutical holdings include materia medica in the form of dried plant and mineral specimens, pill-making and weighing equipment, and thousands of tablets, ampoules and bottles from the 19^th to 21^st centuries.

  Disability aids, including prosthetic limbs, wheelchairs, spectacles, and a huge collection of hearing aids and audiological testing equipment, from 19^th century acoustic fans and ear trumpets to 21^st-century cochlear implants.

  Hospital equipment and furniture from the 19^th and 20^th centuries, including British anaesthetic apparatus; diagnostic equipment like x-ray machines; and ward staples, including urinals, bedpans and dressing trays.

  Uniforms worn by a range of healthcare providers from the First World War onwards. The textile collection also holds two large AIDS memorial quilts made in Leeds during workshops facilitated by BHA Leeds Skyline, a local HIV support service.

  A large collection of apothecary tokens, advertising tokens and medals dating from the 17^th to 20^th centuries.

   

  Library Collection

  The Library collection encompasses 10,800 books and 17,000 medical trade catalogues featuring a wide variety of surgical and healthcare products, making it one of the largest collections of medical trade literature in the UK. The majority of the holdings are in English, but numerous languages are represented, particularly German, French and Latin.

  Highlights include surgical manuals dating from the 1599 onwards; early catalogues and public information books promoting contraception; quack literature, including over 200 volumes relating to the pseudo-science of phrenology; medical journals from the 19^th to 21^st centuries; and thousands of reference books covering the history of medicine, including first aid, midwifery, and pharmacology.

   

  Archive Collection

  The archive contains over 10,000 items and is made up of separate collections, largely relating to medical supply companies and personal papers of doctors, nurses and surgeons. The most significant collection is the archives of the Chas. F. Thackray Company (circa 30 boxes), the former Leeds-based medical supplies company. The Thackray company archive covers the life of the firm from 1902-1990 and contains items such as trade catalogues, notebooks, instrument drawings and press cuttings.

  Other major collections held by the museum’s archive include archives of the Oxford Knee (circa 79 boxes), relating to the development of the Oxford Partial Knee implant, one of the most widely used and clinically proven partial knee replacements in the world; the Scholl archive of catalogues, advertising material and company magazines relating to foot comfort products; records relating to Lindsey and Sons, a company which built surgical appliances, including special footwear; the Calenduline Company, a Chicago-based company that manufactured treatments for the eye and throat; the Eschmann company, who were pioneers in making operating tables; and the Downs Surgical Limited company – material relating to an instrument manufacturing company who were pioneers in the manufacture of high-quality medical instruments, particularly those used in ear, nose and throat surgery.

  The archive contains over 50 collections of personal papers and photographs of doctors, nurses and surgeons who largely worked in Leeds. Names of surgeons whose papers we hold include Herbert Agar, Henry Shucksmith, Leslie Pyrah and William Blair-Bell, while the archive holds papers relating to Dr Michael Martin OBE, who worked for the Royal National Institute of the Deaf for 35 years, as well as papers relating to Dr J.F. Wilkinson, relating to his life and work as a haematologist and as a collector of apothecary jars.

  Other significant material in the archive includes collections of dispensed prescriptions, pharmacy day books, invoices, correspondence, promotional posters, letters and postcards, business cards, packaging material, flyers, patents and annotated literature. The collection also contains recipe books compiled by individuals between the 17^th and 19^th centuries, containing handwritten lists of formulae for food, drink, medicines and remedies.

  Source: Adapted from Collections development policy

  Date: 2025

  Licence: CC BY-NC

• Collection history (Collection development policy)

  The Thackray Museum of Medicine is named after Chas. F. Thackray Ltd, a medical supply company founded in 1902. Paul Thackray, a director of the company and grandson of the founder, formed a private collection around 1984. This initial collection was focused on the trade and manufacture of surgical instruments and implants, reflecting the interests of the firm. When Chas. F. Thackray Ltd was sold in 1990, Paul Thackray donated his collection of objects, along with the Thackray company archive and a growing library, to create a small museum, which opened to the public in 1997.

  The collection’s focus has broadened significantly in the years since its foundation, and it now covers the wider story of medicine and healthcare. The museum continues to actively collect, aiming to fill out underrepresented areas and reflect new medical innovations.

  Source: Collection development policy

  Date: 2020

  Licence: CC BY-NC