Thomas Holloway

Thomas Holloway (22 September 1800 – 26 December 1883) was an English patent medicine vendor and philanthropist.

Early life

Holloway was born in Devonport, Plymouth, Devon, the eldest son of Thomas and Mary Holloway (née Chellew), who at the time of their son's birth had a bakery business. They later moved to Penzance, Cornwall, where they ran The Turk's Head Inn. In the late 1820s, Holloway went to live in Roubaix, France, for a few years. He returned to England in 1831 and worked in London as a secretary and interpreter for a firm of importers and exporters. In 1836, he set himself up as a foreign and commercial agent in London.

Success in business

Holloway had business connections with an Italian, Felix Albinolo, who manufactured and sold a general purpose ointment. This gave Holloway the idea to set up a similar business himself in 1837. He began by using his mother's pots and pans to manufacture his ointment in the family kitchen. Seeing the potential in patent medicines, Holloway soon added pills to his range of products. Holloway's business was extremely successful. A key factor in his enormous success in business was advertising, in which Holloway had great faith. Holloway's first newspaper announcements appeared in 1837, and by 1842 his yearly expenses for publicity had reached over £5,000 (GBP). By the time of his death, he was spending over £50,000 a year on advertising his products. The sales of his products made Holloway a multi-millionaire, and one of the richest men in Britain at the time. Holloway's products were said to be able to cure a whole host of ailments, though scientific evaluation of them after his death showed that few of them contained any ingredients which would be considered to be of significant medicinal value. Holloway's medicine business slowly declined and was bought by rival Beecham's Pills in 1930.

Thomas Holloway (painter)

Thomas Holloway (1748 Broad Street, London - 28 February 1827 Coltishall) was an English portrait painter and engraver.

Holloway was apprenticed to a seal engraver named Stent at a young age. He went on to study engraving at the Royal Academy beginning in 1773, during which time he resided at 11 Beaches Row, near Charles Square, Hoxton, and exhibited pastel portraits at the Society of Artists in 1777. He later lived in Orme House in Hampton, Edgefield, Norfolk, and Coltishall, Norfolk. He became a court engraver in 1792.

Life

Born in Broad Street, London, he was eldest son of a merchant who was an early follower of John Wesley; his mother's portrait was painted by John Russell. He was articled to a seal-engraver named Stent, by whom he was mainly employed in carving steel ornaments. He subsequently attended the Royal Academy schools, and in 1773 first appeared at the Royal Academy as an exhibitor of seals and engraved gems. Later and up to 1792 he was a contributor of miniatures and portraits in oils and crayons.