John Henry Reed
J. H. Reed was a manufacturing, dispensing chemist and druggist situated at 8 Bridge Street. The business was established in 1887 by John Henry Reed who also maintained establishments in Creswick, Nhill, Steiglitz, and South Melbourne. [1]
Reed was born in Ballarat in 1854. At the age of fifteen he became an apprentice to Messrs Wm Ford and Co., of Melbourne, with whom he served his apprenticeship and subsequently as an assistant for a period of six years. In 1875 he moved to Ballarat to work as an assistant to William Longstaff for eighteen months until he moved to Sydney to set up a business. In 1887 he returned to Ballarat and bought out his former employer Longstaff. [2]
In 1890 Reed built the two-story brick building on 8 Bridge Street which he occupied for his business. The front of the building housed the show and sales room, while the dispensary was situated at the rear. It was here that Reed built a comprehensive laboratory that contained a custom-designed steam vacuum apparatus constructed by Messrs Pontifex and Wood, of London.[3]
Reed died in his residence at Camberwell, Melbourne on 28 October, 1903.[4]
References
--S.Singaram 14:33, 23 December 2011 (EST)