The History of Goulds Natural Medicine

 

Goulds Natural Medicine has a very long history in Hobart. Originally established in the late 1800's, and moved to its current site nearly 100 years ago, it has become a Hobart institution.


The Homœopathic Pharmacy was originally established in Elizabeth St by Mr F. Styant Browne in 1878. Also around this time Dr Harry Benjafield took over a homeopathic practice in Davey Street. Dr Benjafield was passionate about making homeopathy affordable for all, and frequently treated patients for free during the depression in the 1890s. 

Henry Gould came to Tasmania in 1881 after studying pharmacy at the Westminster College of Pharmacy in England, and was registered as a chemist in the same year. He joined the practice of Dr. Benjafield as his dispensing chemist. Benjafield and Gould were instrumental in the formation of the Hobart Homeopathic Hospital which was opened on Cascade Road in 1899. In 1903 Gould took over ownership of Mr Styant Browne’s homœopathic pharmacy (which was on the corner of Elizabeth and Bathurst Streets). When the lease expired in 1914 it was moved to its current location at 73 Liverpool St and opened on December 4th of that year.

 

Gould's Homeopathic Pharmacy was run by three generations of the Gould family until it was sold in the 1980s to Roger McLennan, a pharmacist with an interest in traditional and natural medicine. He maintained it as a pharmacy and gradually expanded the range of natural medicines and health care products, before changing the business name to Goulds Naturopathica and discontinuing the pharmacy lines altogether.

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Goulds Naturopathica changed hands in 2006 to the current owners, a collaboration between four Naturopaths (Dawn Whitten, Dr. Jason Hawrelak, Belinda Robson and Daniel Robson) and medicinal herb farmer, Greg Whitten. Keeping the style, furnishings and overall look of the shop as traditional as possible, they expanded the range of natural medicines further. 

 

One of the core values of the current owners and the business, is to maintain a connection with the medicinal plants they use and prescribe, and to ensure that their production is of the highest quality and ethical standard. Goulds' medicinal herb farm in Allens Rivulet produces many of the herbs used to make the herbal tinctures and dried herbs found in Goulds creams, teas and remedies.

 

In August 2015, the name of the business was changed to Goulds Natural Medicine, to herald a new era as a multi-disciplinary complementary medicine clinic was opened at 71 Liverpool St. Adjacent to the apothecary and connected by a doorway between the two spaces, the clinic houses practitioners of numerous modalities, including Naturopathy, Traditional Chinese Medicine (Acupuncture), Massage, Counselling, Lactation Consultancy, and Sex Therapy.