The completion of Queen Street

Queen Street had been completed in 1840, and although it was named in Queen Victoria's honour, the project had begun some years earlier. It was here that Mr Broom began the business that was soon to be known as Broom Reid & Harris in No 2, Queen Street, in the pharmacy established by Mr Evans in 1841. He was later joined Mr Reid and Mr Harris.

Artificial Eyes, Kneecaps, Oxygen & Cameras

Old photographs of Broom Reid & Harris show the pharmacy in No2 and Qualified Opticians and Photographic Dealers in No3. Signage in the windows show artificial eyes and kneecaps, oxygen, and cameras. We also know that Broom Reid & Harris supplied other scientific equipment including binoculars and barometers.

Afternoon Tea and Cosy Fires

At one point Broom Reid & Harris employed around 30 staff and also had premises also in Gandy Street where they specialised in water-glass for preserving eggs and production of essence of rennet for making junket. Veterinary medicines were also produced there under the trade name Berg. The business even had a live-in husband and wife team caretakers. Each morning they'd light fires and afternoon tea would be served to all the staff, consisting of bread, butter and jam. Cakes would be provided on someone's birthday.

Hair Tonics, Home Made Perfumes & Ointments

Many of the prescriptions provided by the pharmacists were exclusive to Broom Reid & Harris, and they would be wrapped in white paper and sealed with wax. There were recipes for remedial medicines, such as indigestion mixture, influenza mixture, headache cures and cough medicine.

Recipes for hair tonics, home made perfumes, corn cures and chilblain ointments. Many of these recipes were written down in a handwritten book, still in existence today after more than a 100 years, and containing over 120 such recipes. Leeches would also be used for sucking out poison, easing their pains and helping with bruising and inflammation.

After the second world war, the chemists had been taken over by the firm Cross and Enfield.

During the 1950s, Broom Reid & Harris was one of four city centre chemists' shops all within 75 yards of each other. The others were Boots, Hinton Lake's and Wynne Tighe's. The pharmacy eventually merged with Hinton Lake, and was later taken over by Lloyds Chemists.

The Move From Queen Street

In the late 1970s Broom Reid & Harris were required to move from their home of over 130 years on Queen Street to make room for the new Marks & Spencer. If you walk along Queen Street and look up you will see the Lion and the Unicorn on Marks & Spencer's fascia. That used to be above Broom Reid & Harris.

By now the chemists and photographers had gone. The Opticians moved downstairs in what is now called the Lower Market Gallery of the Guildhall Shopping Centre, and the Hearing Aid Dispensers moved to the Higher Market Gallery. The optical side was eventually sold to Batemans, although it continued under the name of Broom Reid & Harris for a further 10 years until 1991.

Over 80 years of Hearing Care

In the 1920s Broom Reid & Harris began to supply hearing aids. It was still only a small part of the business when Ron Silmon joined the firm in 1940. In those days hearing aids were very conspicuous, consisting of an earpiece and a body worn device with two large batteries. The invention of transistor in the 1950s changed everything, paving the way for smaller, more cosmetic hearing devices significantly increasing their popularity.

So in 1967 Broom Reid & Harris decided to enlarge its the hearing care side and Ron was put in charge and sat the relevant exams in 1968, when the Hearing Aid Council Act was passed to regulate the profession. And for the next twenty four years he developed the practice until he finally retired in 1991, handing over the reigns to Roger Evans, the father-in-law and father of the present owners, Curtis and Rowan Alcock.

The Hearing Care side of Broom Reid & Harris is still independent, after 80 years of existence, which makes it one of the longest established practices in the UK.

Afterword

Practice Owner Curtis Alcock says, "The more I discover about our unique history, the more fascinated I become. There are so many lives, so many stories, so many old Exeter firms all interwoven into our history that I feel an obligation to preserve the name of Broom Reid & Harris lest they be forgotten. We must never forget how we got to where we are today, for we build the present on the foundations laid down in the past by others. And my wife and I feel proud to be part of that unbroken chain."