Queensland Family owned and made
Lucas' Papaw Remedies is still owned and operated by the descendants of Dr T.P. Lucas - the Talbot and Swinglehurst family, and remains at 1590 Beaudesert Road, Acacia Ridge.
To this day, Lucas' Papaw Ointment is crafted using the same process that Dr Lucas developed all those years ago.
Image: The Talbot and Swinglehurst families are the fourth, fifth and sixth generation descendants of Dr T.P. Lucas and still own and manage Lucas' Papaw Remedies today.
Formulated by Dr T.P. Lucas
Born in Scotland in 1843, Thomas Pennington Lucas developed a love for natural history, botany and medicine from a young age. This led to a lifetime passion for botany and an esteemed career as a medical practitioner.
After moving to Australia later in the 1800's Dr Lucas discovered the numerous medicinal benefits of Carica Papaya and formulated a number of papaw remedies including Lucas' Papaw Ointment.
Image: Dr Thomas Pennington Lucas the inventor and founder of Lucas' Papaw Remedies.
Papaw Ointment & the Vera Papaw Hospital
The passion Dr Lucas had for medicine and caring for people led him to open a special hospital called “Vera”. At the hospital, located in Brisbane, patients were treated solely by his papaw remedies. Take a look at your red jar or tube of Lucas' Papaw Ointment and you will see the trademark “Vera Papaw Hospital” picture is still printed on them today.
The hospital recorded many fantastic results, including cases of disease which had until then been deemed incurable yielding to this latest treatment. As people saw the benefits of the ointment, its use spread around Australia and the world.
Image: The Vera Papaw Hospital in New Farm, Brisbane where Dr Lucas treated patients with his papaw remedies.
A Local Brisbane Icon
Lucas' Papaw Remedies has proudly been based in Acacia Ridge, Brisbane for decades. Locals recall the 1960's - 1980's when Mrs May Talbot (3rd generation) walked around the local suburbs selling her coveted Papaw Ointment door-to-door through till today when the Swinglehurst family (5th and 6th generation) work with our team to prepare millions of tubes for Australia and international sales every year.
Over the years we've transitioned from the little brown shed, to purpose built state-of-the-art facilities to deliver the ointment that is loved and recognized around the world.
Image: The team from 1987 outside the 'Little Brown Shed' where Lucas' Papaw Ointment was hand crafted for generations before shifting to a purpose built facility on the same site.
Our Iconic Packaging
For generations Lucas' Papaw Ointment has been the leading papaw ointment; our iconic red packaging becoming synonymous with the papaw ointments around the world.
Image: A collection of red tins, jars and tubes from decades of Lucas' Papaw Ointment production.
The Lucas' Papaw Remedies Museum
At the headquarters of Lucas' Papaw Remedies there is a small museum of items kept as a tribute to the work of Dr T.P. Lucas.
Included among the exhibits of the museum are some of the original items and equipment used by Dr Lucas in preparing the ointment over 110 years ago.
While the museum is only small it makes for an interesting visit. Next time you are in the area you are welcome to stop by for a look during business hours (Monday to Friday) and entry is Free.
Image: A collection of the other medications and remedies created by Dr Lucas. These remedies are no longer in production, however we still retain the original formulae.