A Society created to “prevent the imposition on the community by quacks and charlatans”

The following is sourced from A History of Pharmacy in Western Australia by A McWhinney

At the time of the formation of the Pharmaceutical Society of Western Australia in 1892 there was no provision for the registration of chemists. There was no formal training or examinations. Chemists generally received their training by being apprenticed to a doctor or chemist.

With the gold boom underway and the population of WA growing, a group of chemists in Perth and Fremantle began discussing the need of an organisation to protect the interests of themselves and of the community. A meeting of interested persons was convened by Richard Birch at the Shamrock Hotel in Hay St Perth on 24 October 1892. At this meeting it was resolved that the gentlemen attending the meeting form themselves into a society to be called “The Pharmaceutical Society of Western Australia”. A member subscription fee of one guineas per annum was decided upon. The following office bearers were elected:

• President: Edward Mayhew

• Vice President: Sydney Hymus

• Secretary and Registrar: Dr J.L. Laughton

• Treasurer: H.J. Poole