Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

    

Microscope 516 (Henry Crouch; portable histological microscope, c. 1900)

A close-up of a microscope Description automatically generatedA close-up of a telescope Description automatically generatedA wooden box with a telescope Description automatically generated

Henry Crouch learned his trade as an apprentice with Smith, Beck & Beck. Henry left his masters and formed his own company, probably in early 1862. His younger brother, William, joined him. The original H. and W. Crouch shop was located on Commercial Road, London, and their earliest instruments bear that address. The Crouch brothers initially produced copies of the microscopes that Henry had made for Smith, Beck & Beck. The partners soon focused on producing good-quality, less-expensive microscopes for the middle-class microscopists and students. Henry joined the Royal Microscopical Society in 1863, and the Quekett Microscopical Club in 1866. Advertisements as early as September 1864 indicated a move to 64A Bishopsgate Street. For several years afterwards, the Crouches retained the Commercial Road location as their factory, although not as a retail location. The Crouch brothers dissolved their partnership on 1866, with Henry retaining the optical business. Henry Crouch’s business moved ca. 1868, to London Wall, then to Barbican in early 1873. About 1886, Henry incorporated as Henry Crouch Limited. Crouch sold the business in 1907 to S. Maw, Son and Sons. Henry then worked for that firm, supervising manufacture of microscopes and other equipment. Many Crouch microscopes that already existed were additionally stamped with the new owner’s name, and newly made ones were imprinted on the foot with “S. Maw, Son and Sons”. During the early 1900s, Henry Crouch began producing microscopes with horse-shoe shaped, “continental” feet. Henry died in 1916. Microscope 516 is signed by Henry Crouch, London, and has the serial number 9263, being dated to c. 1900. A former version of a Crouch’s portable histological microscope was described in the 1883 edition of the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (Figure 1). This instrument aimed to “… provide a microscope which shall combine portability with more steadiness than is usually found in portable forms”. As described in the journal, “…The stage is made to turn laterally at right angles to the normal position, so as to be in a line parallel with the body-tube, which permits the latter to be reversed and inserted at the lower end of the socket; and the two front feet of the tripod are made to fold outwards and backwards under the heel”.

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Figure 1. Crouch’s portable histological microscope as described in the 1883 edition of the Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society.

 

References

Pearce Henry Crouch, 1838 – 1916 (http://microscopist.net/CrouchH.html), last accessed on 07.11.2021