Nelsons' history begins with the founding father of homeopathy himself: Samuel Hahnemann. In 1860, his student, Ernst Louis Armbrecht, moved to London where he opened a homeopathic pharmacy and was able to put into practice the principles learned from his teacher. Ernst married Charlotte Nelson in 1866 and soon after began trading as Armbrecht, Nelson & Co. , later to be abbreviated to A. Nelson & Co. Thus, the Nelsons brand was born.
Nelsons Homeopathic Pharmacy was to become the centrepiece of Nelsons' heritage and experience for over 140 years, and, alongside its sister store in Dublin, continues to provide the same high quality remedies, advice, expertise and service. Today, we are Europe's oldest and the 's largest manufacturer of homeopathic medicines.
Nelsons enters a new era
Nelsons has always been a family owned company. Tragically, the remaining descendants of the founding family were killed in an aeroplane crash in the early 1970s. Dick Wilson, who had a long-standing passion and commitment to complementary medicine, was approached to take over the company.
Appreciating the increasing customer demand for homeopathic remedies, Dick pioneered the production of the first NelsonsTM range of over the counter homeopathic medicines in 1981, and went on to develop Nelsons into an international leader in its field, with a range of natural medicines which continues to grow.
Nelsons and the Dr Edward Bach Centre
Back in the 1930s an important chapter in Nelsons' history was written when Dr Edward Bach, a doctor with a keen interest in homeopathy, approached the Nelsons Homeopathic Pharmacy to help him make and sell his increasingly popular BachTM Original Flower Remedies.
The relationship between Nelsons and The Dr Edward Bach Centre, based at Dr Bach's former home, Mount Vernon in Oxfordshire, continues to this day.
Nelsons today
The Nelsons family of products continues to grow with the most recent additions being SpatoneTM, a natural iron supplement and Nice 'n ClearTM, a natural head lice lotion.
Today Nelsons exports to countries around the world and has subsidiary offices in Boston in the US and Hamburg in Germany. The company is run today by Dick's eldest son, Robert, and his brother Patrick, leading a team of some 200 professional and committed employees.