Henry Wellcome's last years

13 January 2009. By Penny Bailey.

Wellcome grew increasingly lonely in the 1910s and 1920s. He had separated from his wife Syrie in 1910 and one by one his close friends - never many in number - grew old and died. In his early 60s he had no one with whom he could share his deepest interests.

Even so, his passion for history and collecting remained undimmed. At a time of life when many would slow down, he orchestrated an archaeological dig between 1911 and 1914 in the Sudan, continued rearranging and collecting for his Historical Medical Museum, and opened a museum on the history of medicine. Meanwhile, he remained very much in control of his company, suggesting avenues of research for his scientific laboratories and adapting his enterprises to the strains of World War I.

Such was his industry that a member of staff later commented that “one of the things about Sir Henry was that he never thought he would die.”

Knighthood

He finally found recognition for his impact on the worlds of business and scientific research in 1932, when he was knighted. Many people were surprised that a man who had done so much for British scientists (and so much for Britain in such a time of need) had had to wait so long before receiving a knighthood. The scandal of his divorce is likely to have played a part.

In 1932 he was also made an honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons - a very rare distinction for anyone not holding a medical degree, which indicated the high respect in which he was held by the medical profession.

Preparations for the future

With no one to hand over his empire to, Wellcome used his last years to consolidate his various enterprises and make suitable arrangements for mankind to benefit from his life’s work.

In 1924, he established The Wellcome Foundation Limited, a private limited company, which brought together his non-commercial and commercial interests under a single corporate umbrella. In 1931, the construction began of the Wellcome Research Institution on Euston Road (pictured right), designed to house his research laboratories and collections. It was completed in 1932, renamed the Wellcome Building in 1955, and now houses Wellcome Collection.

In his will, signed on 29 February 1932, Wellcome vested the entire share capital of his company, The Wellcome Foundation Limited, to the Wellcome Trust. The appointed Trustees would be charged with spending the income according to Sir Henry's wishes.

Four years later, on 25 July 1936, Henry Wellcome died, aged 82, at the London Clinic. He was cremated at Golders Green and in 1987 his ashes were buried in the churchyard of St Paul's Cathedral.