Fanny Elizabeth Potter – the first woman to qualify for registration with the Pharmaceutical Society, 1869

Description

Framed and glazed portrait painting of Fanny Elizabeth Potter (later Deacon) (1837-1930). Possibly a hand-coloured photographic print.

Frances (Fanny) Elizabeth Potter was the first woman to qualify for registration with the Pharmaceutical Society after the Pharmacy Act of 1868. She appeared on the Society’s register as a Chemist and Druggist in 1870, having qualified on 5th February 1869 by taking the Modified Exam.

Fact

Fanny Elizabeth Potter’s first registered address was the same as her pharmacist father, William Potter: Kibworth Beauchamp, Leicestershire. Father and daughter both remained at this address until 1875 when Fanny’s name is noted as having changed to Deacon.
She married Abraham Deacon, the minister of Fleckney Carmel Strict and Peculiar Chapel in 1875, becoming his second wife. Both William Potter and Fanny’s address is changed to Fleckney, near Market Harborough, Leicestershire, in 1876. Fanny worked as a pharmacist in the premises on Wolsey Lane, next to the chapel.
William Potter is noted as ‘dead’ in the 1882 register. On Abraham Deacon’s death in 1911, their son, Augustine (known as Gus), took over part of the pharmacy premises as a watchmaker. The shop became known as Gus Deacon’s Chemist and Watch Repair Shop.
Fanny Deacon remained listed at Fleckney until the year of her death, 1930. She was 92.