The Thackray Mural – A Virtual Tour
Brian Holmes: The Artist Behind the Mural
Brian Holmes (1933-2009) was an artist known for his distinctive ‘Personal Style’, inspired originally by a young child’s painting. His work in this style is bold and vibrant, sometimes making free with classical themes and commenting with great warmth and humour on the human condition. Brian’s representational work is also highly accomplished. Through his vivid, detailed and meticulously researched murals he has made a major contribution to our appreciation of the medical history of Leeds.
In 1988, Brian was commissioned by the School of Medicine of the University of Leeds to paint a mural commemorating the history of Leeds Medical School which, founded in 1831, had celebrated its 150th anniversary in 1981. The 28 foot, highly detailed painting showed the buildings, stories and characters of the Medical School in the context of the city’s development. It can be seen today in the Health Sciences Library in the Worsley Building of the University.
The Thackray Company was one of the sponsors of the Medical School mural and, in 1998, Brian was invited to undertake another large panorama of local medical history, this time showcasing the story of the Thackray Company itself.
The Thackray Museum was founded by Paul Thackray, whose grandfather Charles established the retail pharmacy business of Charles F. Thackray Ltd. opposite Leeds General Infirmary in 1902. He felt that the company, in which the museum had its roots, should be represented within the museum itself. Like the Medical School mural, Brian’s resulting painting is vivid, detailed and thoroughly researched.
This detailed and evocative painting in acrylic with oil charts the history of the Thackray Company as a centre of medical innovation, so join us as we take a closer look.
Panel One
The left panel tells the story of the original Thackray chemist’s shop at 70 Great George Street. The exterior can be seen on the left, with the interior to the right. Charles Thackray himself is behind the counter, serving a customer with a stomach complaint.
The green steam steriliser in the centre of the panel was purchased by Thackray in 1908 and enabled the firm to be one of the first to supply ready sterilised dressings. A packet of these can be seen to the right above some surgical instruments.
A selection of documents adds to the story, including a draft of the partnership agreement between Thackray and his partner Henry Scurrah Wainwright, Thackray’s 1899 qualification certificate from the Pharmaceutical Society, pages from the shop’s original prescription books, and an invoice to the eminent Leeds surgeon Berkeley Moynihan. Moynihan was an early user of Thackray instruments, some of which were designed to his personal specifications, and some of which are still used by surgeons today.
Panel Two
In the second panel, you can see the Thackray business growing and examples of the wide range of medical and surgical instruments they supplied.
The rapid expansion of the firm is shown by the former Leeds Medical School building in Park Street, occupied by the School between 1865 and 1894, depicted in the upper centre of the panel. This was purchased by Thackray in 1926 as their instrument business grew beyond the capacity of the original shop. The upper right shows an extension at the back of the building, built in 1933 to make larger equipment such as sterilisers. Horse-drawn wagons are shown transporting packing cases of equipment to the railway station.
At the lower centre is one of the firm’s 1940s sterilisers, large enough to sterilise a railway wagon full of hay for a veterinary research station. The scale was exaggerated by having the smallest member of staff standing by it when photographed! Above this is a Thackray General operating table, on which the world’s first successful heart transplant operation was performed in South Africa in 1967.
This international trade is emphasised in the surrounding images of salesmen’s reports and order books from Africa and the Middle East. Trade catalogues and advertising cards show the wide range of equipment that Thackray produced.
Panel Three
The firm’s further expansion can be seen in the image of the Viaduct Road works in the top left of this panel. This former dye works was purchased in 1939 to expand Thackray’s instrument making and bulk pharmaceutical manufacturing. At the bottom left, below the works drawing books, the interior of the building is shown with the instrument-making forges. You can see the viaduct and a passing steam train through the window.
The St Anthony’s Road, Beeston works, purchased in 1957 as a space in which to produce large sterilisers and operating theatre furniture, is at the bottom right. This was where the Charnley hip replacements, for which Thackray became best known, were produced in their own specialised factory building.
John Charnley, the orthopaedic surgeon who developed the hip replacement system, is shown in his home workshop in the top right. He is using his lathe, the original of which can be seen in the museum gallery, to make plastic hip cups. Beneath him there is a leaflet for the specialised orthopaedic operating table designed by Charnley in 1951, along with leaflets advertising the range of American products for which the firm was the sole UK distributor.
Panel Four
The last panel displays the more modern parts of the Thackray story. At the top left is an operation being performed using John Charnley’s total body exhaust suit, designed to keep the air filtered and extra-sterile during surgery. An example of the suit can be seen in the museum galleries. To the right there are x-rays and posters demonstrating the Charnley hip.
Below the operation scene, you can see a Thackraycare nurse helping a patient select a medical appliance in the comfort of home. This service was designed to provide a more relaxing environment in which to discuss what were often embarrassing appliances.
Beneath this are examples of skin grafting instruments and procedures, a speciality of the firm from the 1930s onwards.
The bottom right corner of the mural shows the casting of chrome-cobalt steel hip replacements at the Aeromed works in Sheffield.
Finally, this is where the museum itself features in the story. Our building, the former Leeds Union Workhouse, is in the top right corner. Paul Thackray began the museum as an internal company museum in 1980, recording the story of the development of surgical equipment. On the family selling the company in 1990, Paul set up a trust to develop the current museum, which opened here in 1997. This mural followed, unveiled in 1998.
Thank you to Brian’s widow Kathy, our former Librarian Alan Humphries and Bill Mathie, a former member of the Thackray Medical Research Trust for helping us tell Brian’s story. If you’d like to see the painting for yourself, just speak to one of our friendly Visitor Experience team next time you’re here and they can show you.
Click here to learn more about the life, work and legacy of Brian Holmes.