The Wellcome Foundation Archive

Cooper McDougall & Robertson: Subsidiary Companies and Related Companies

In 1959, Cooper McDougall & Robertson Ltd was acquired by the Wellcome Foundation, with Coopers’ emphasis on dips and dressings complementing Wellcome’s expertise in biologicals. Both were international companies, and had outposts around the world.

These records are from the subsidiary and related companies of Cooper McDougall & Robertson Limited, as well as companies acquired by them. Covering the period 1877 - 1975, there are a total of 65 boxes of material for 27 companies. Coopers was particularly strong in countries of the British Empire and Commonwealth, and in some other parts of the globe too, such as South America. Because the survival of records has not always been complete, especially from earlier periods, it is likely that Coopers had a presence in many countries covered in this catalogue before the actual start date of surviving records.

This series is mostly comprised of minutes of meetings of the boards of directors, AGMs and EGMs for the companies listed, but also includes some statutory books, some accounts, and a few other related records. The minutes contain quite detailed information on the running of the subsidiary, related and acquired companies – such as staff matters, the development of the latest products, the financial performance of the companies, sales, and even company premises.

The release of these records for research is a significant addition to the records relating to animal health, veterinary and agricultural medicine and products, in the twentieth century. When all of the records of Coopers are released, the collection will be in a class of its own.

More information on the history of the Coopers company can be found in the catalogue, and in the Business Archives Council / Wellcome Trust Survey of the Historical Records of Veterinary Medicine in the United Kingdom (available at the Wellcome Library and elsewhere). The existence of the ‘parent’ business can be traced back to 1843.

Enquiries about the WF Archive should be addressed to Archives and Manuscripts ( archs+mss@wellcome.ac.uk).

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