He left a large amount of capital for charitable work in his will, which was used to form the Wellcome Trust, one of the world's largest medical charities.

He was a keen collector of medical artefacts which are now managed by the Science Museum, London, and a small selection of which are displayed at the Wellcome Collection.

His first product, at the age of 16, was invisible ink (in fact just lemon juice), which he advertised in the Garden City (MN) Herald.

After that Syrie (as she was known) had several affairs, including with the department store magnate Harry Gordon Selfridge, and the author William Somerset Maugham with whom she had a child (Mary Elizabeth) and later married.

[7] In his will, Wellcome vested the entire share capital of his company in individual trustees, who were charged with spending the income to further human and animal health.

After changes in UK charity law the foundation was sold to GSK and the receipts invested in a broad ranging portfolio.

The trust then became the largest charity in the UK, providing funding for focus areas such as biomedical science, technology transfer, public engagement and bioethics.

[10] Wellcome had a passion for collecting medically related artefacts, aiming to create a Museum of Man.

He was also a keen archaeologist, in particular digging for many years at Jebel Moya, Sudan, hiring 4000 people to excavate.

[14] He was one of the first investigators to use kite aerial photography on an archaeological site, with surviving images available in the Wellcome Library.

In 2003, the Quay Brothers directed a short animated film in tribute to the collection entitled The Phantom Museum.