When Richard Henry Haughton moved his family to Mandeville in 1920, to start his own drug store business, he had no notion that his legacy would span nine decades! In those days, Mandeville, the capital of Manchester, having just been carved out of two parishes, was abuzz with new life and business. It was a definite period of growth for this community and more people moved from the plains of Kingston and St. Richard Henry Haughton was born in St. Jago de la Vega (Spanish Town) in 1866, to an Indian mother and a Scottish father. In 1885, at the age of nineteen, he qualified as a druggist, along with a number of more experienced older gentlemen who had been working in hospitals for many years. As time passed, the rules changed and the age limit to sit such exams was raised to 21 years - he was thus a pioneer on many fronts. It was in 1907, just after the earthquake that destroyed Kingston and Port Royal that he visited Mandeville and met Ida Margaret Elizabeth DePass, who became his third wife and bore him seven of his eight children. At that time, he was working with Chemical Hall, a pharmaceutical company owned by Lauriston Charles Nunes, selling drugs and poisons to drug stores in Kingston. Disillusioned by the lack of opportunity in Kingston and by the difficulties created after the earthquake, Richard moved to Mandeville, Manchester to start his own business in mid-1920. The original store was located at 25 Manchester Road, on land owned by his wife’s family. There he created Mandeville’s first Drug Store. He named it the “Manchester Drug Store”. It proved to be a great location in this small but growing community, right opposite the market. His clients were mainly entrepreneurs and farmers who journeyed from near and far to the local market to do business. SPANNING GENERATIONS
When Richard Henry Haughton died in 1927, Elsie Bailey succeeded him as manager until Dudley, his eldest son, qualified as a druggist and took over the business in 1928. With his father’s dreams alive in his heart, Dudley was determined to continue and improve on his father’s work. One of these dreams was realized when in 1951, he spearheaded the opening of a second store named Haughton’s Pharmacy at 18 West Park Crescent. His younger sister Dorothy, who qualified as a druggist in 1938, returned to Mandeville to assist with the Manchester Drug Store. The tradition of Haughton’s was steered into the twenty-first century with Stafford Haughton at the helm. Stafford, the grandson of the founder, started with the company upon the death of his father, Dudley in l969. He was one of seven children born to Dudley and Lucille Haughton and the only son to become involved in the pharmaceutical business. Upon reflection, he is grateful for the choices he made. Back then, he wanted to become a chemical engineer. However, on finishing Higher Schools (equivalent to A-Levels) without the requisite physics, he was unable to pursue that dream. His father then convinced him to go into the pharmacy business. So, in January 1962 Stafford became one of the first students to be accepted to pursue the diploma in Pharmacy at the College of Arts, Science and Technology (UTech), in its pioneer programme. Upon graduation in 1964, much to his father’s chagrin, Stafford joined the prestigious Federated Pharmaceuticals in the Quality Control Department. Determined to make his own way, Stafford’s hard work soon caught the attention of Hopwood headhunters, who were expanding into pharmaceuticals and wanted him to set up their quality control lab at Windsor Laboratories. There he spent two years and thereafter moved on to become Production Manager at the Sterling Drug International factory at is fully integrated distribution outlet at White Marl, Central Village, St. DEDICATION TO FAMILY MATTERS
Upon his father’s death in 1969, leaving the business to his older sister Olga Patricia (affectionately called “Pat”) and himself, Stafford felt it would be prudent to bring all his experience into the family pharmacy. He came with distinct ideas about how to improve the pharmacy, making it more convenient and customer friendly. He had the advantage of working part-time in retail at the more modern Manor Park Pharmacy and saw the potential retail added to the business. One of his first moves was to set up a more customer friendly dispensing area, allowing people to see him counting tablets and mixing medicines. He also added modern self-adhesive labels, which were easier to read and more attractive. Years later, he was instrumental in developing retail pharmacy software which is widely used in pharmacies throughout the island. In 2008, Haughton’s Pharmacy relocated to its current location at Shop #1, Caledonia Courts Plaza, 29-31 Caledonia Road, Mandeville, and today, Stafford is still Chief Pharmacist contributing 45 years of the 90 years of service in the realm of pharmacy, of which 41 of these years have been dedicated in service to the family business. THE FOURTH GENERATION
Stafford married Joan Young in 1968 and the union produced three daughters - Carolyn, Francine and Nicole. They all grew up in Mandeville and attended the Belair Schools with Nicole completing her high school studies in Kingston at Campion College. They have all been involved in the family business at some stage of their post-tertiary education work life. However, still shareholders in the family business; they are pursuing other business interests at this time. Carolyn is involved in the pharmaceutical distribution trade; Francine is involved in project management, while Nicole is involved in the tourism industry. Francine remains an active part of the family business and is committed to implementing the Haughton’s Rx Vision 20/20. The Jamaican economy in many ways has been built on the entrepreneurship of many families who have expanded their enterprises over decades and generations. Haughton’s Pharmacy is one such contributor to the economy and has provided valuable products and services to the health of the communities it has served over these nine decades.
