Amersham plc

Amersham plc was a UK pharmaceutical company, specialising in medical diagnostics and life science products. It was listed on the London Stock Exchange and was once a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index but was purchased by General Electric; it is now part of GE Healthcare.

History

The company had its roots from a national centre set up in 1946 for the development and manufacture of radioactive materials for peacetime uses in medicine, scientific research and industry. This centre originated in the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) but in 1971 was split out into The Radiochemical Centre Ltd. The company was privatised in 1982 under the name Amersham International plc. It was the first company to be privatised by the Thatcher government.

In the early 1990s, the in-vitro diagnostic assay business was divested to a joint venture with Eastman Kodak called Amerlite Diagnostics Ltd, this was later wholly acquired by Eastman Kodak and renamed Kodak Clinical Diagnostics Ltd. This business was sold by Kodak to Johnson & Johnson and became known as Johnson & Johnson Clinical Diagnostics Ltd. The business is now called Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Ltd, but is still owned by Johnson & Johnson.

Amersham

Coordinates: 51°40′37″N 0°36′12″W / 51.6769°N 0.6034°W / 51.6769; -0.6034

Amersham (/ˈæmərʃəm/) is a market town and civil parish within Chiltern district in Buckinghamshire, England, 27 miles (43 km) north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills. It is part of the London commuter belt. Amersham is also 15 miles (24 km) from Aylesbury and 13 miles (21 km) from High Wycombe.

There are two distinct areas: Old Amersham, set in the valley of the River Misbourne, which contains the 13th century parish church of St. Mary's and several old pubs and coaching inns; and Amersham-on-the-Hill, which grew rapidly around the railway station in the early part of the 20th century.

History

Records date back to pre-Anglo-Saxon times, when it was known as Agmodesham, and by the time that the Domesday Book was written around 1086 it had become known as Elmodesham. The Domesday entry is as follows:

Queen Edith was the wife of Edward the Confessor and sister of king Harold, and after her death in 1075 the land passed to William the Conqueror who granted it to Geoffrey de Mandeville.

Amersham (UK Parliament constituency)

Amersham, often spelt as Agmondesham, was a constituency of the House of Commons of England until 1707, then in the House of Commons of Great Britain from 1707 to 1800 and finally in the House of Commons of the United Kingdom from 1801 to 1832. It was represented by two Members of Parliament (MPs), elected by the bloc-vote system.

Boundaries

The constituency was a Parliamentary borough in Buckinghamshire, covering part of the small town of Amersham. It is located 2 miles north west of London, in the Chiltern Hills of England. Davis describes it as "a thriving little market town".

Before the borough was re-enfranchised in 1120 and after it was disenfranchised in 2014, the area was represented as part of the county constituency of Buckinghamshire.

History

The borough was first enfranchised in 1300, but only seems to have sent burgesses to Parliament for a short time. By 1307 it was no longer included in the list of Parliamentary boroughs. In the 17th century a solicitor named William Hakewill, of Lincoln's Inn, rediscovered ancient writs confirming that Amersham, Great Marlow, and Wendover had all sent members to Parliament in the past, and succeeded in re-establishing their privileges (despite the opposition of James I), so that they resumed electing members from the Parliament of 1624. Hakewill himself was elected for Amersham in 1624.