J Swift & Son (London, England)

James Swift were microscope makers trading from London and founded in 1853 by James Powell Swift, who was son of the watchmaker Thomas Swift. Before founding his company, James Swift was apprenticed to the well-known microscope maker Andrew Ross. In 1881 they made improvements to microscope design, including the replacement of the straight rack and pinion focusing to helical cut components and a new fine focus system. In 1884, Mansell James Swift, son of James Powell, joined the company and the name was changed to James Swift & Son. In 1901, Captain Scott was supplied with Swift microscopes for use on the R.R.S. Discovery for the 1901-1904 expedition, named in the catalogue of the time as the 'Discovery' model. In 1903, Mansell Powell John Swift, grandson of the founder, joined the company. In 1906, the founder of the company, James Powell Swift, died. In 1912, the company was incorporated as a limited company and the name changed to J. Swift Ltd. In 1942, both Mansell Powell and Mansell James died. In 1946, ER Watts and Son Ltd took over the company, mainly due to the association between the Watts and Swift families in earlier years. In 1949, they employed John H. Basset who, in 1968, took over the company.

* Instrument kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

** Instrument kindly donated by Robert Bensted-Smith (Cambridge, England) in February 2026

JH Steward (London, England)

James Henry Steward (1818-1896) started his business in London in 1852. Although his business started as retail business selling watches and firearms-related optical equipment, the business grew to include telescopes, binoculars, compasses, barometers, and microscopes, some of which he claimed to have made. Over the years, Steward sold many instruments with their name on the instruments, but many of these were made by others for Steward. The firm traded from 406 Strand, London (1865 – c. 1915), 66 Strand (1868 – 1888), 457 Strand (1885 – c. 1920), with various other branches. As each of James’ sons reached adulthood, they were given a subsidiary shop elsewhere in London to manage, but the establishment at 406 Strand remained as the centre of the business. After James’ death, the company continued (only being inherited through the male line) until 1975.

John B Dancer (Manchester, England)

John Benjamin Dancer was a well-known Manchester optician and instrument maker, born in London in 1812, the son of Josiah Dancer, also an optician and manufacturer of optical, philosophical and nautical instruments. Josiah and his family moved from London to Liverpool in 1817. JB Dancer took over his father's business in 1835 and continued in business in Liverpool until 1841, when he entered into partnership with A. Abraham, a scientific instrument maker of Lord Street, Liverpool. He moved to Manchester to establish a branch of the business as Abraham & Dancer at 13 Cross Street. The partnership ceased in 1845. Dancer continued in business under his own name until 1878, when part of the business was transferred to his daughters Elizabeth Eleanor and Anna Maria (he had to give up his business activities because of ill health and poor vision). The business continued trading under the name of EE Dancer & Co. until 1900, when the entire stock and the process of producing quality microphotographs were sold to the London microscope dealer Richard Suter. Dancer became well known for the quality of his microscopes and received several honours, including a prize medal at the International Exhibition in London. He was appointed Optician in Manchester to the Prince of Wales. Dancer is perhaps best known for his photographic work, in particular on microphotography and the stereoscopic camera. He took the earliest known photograph of Manchester, showing a cutler's shop at Market Street in 1842. Dancer died in 1887, while living with relatives in Birmingham.

L. Casella (London, England)

Louis Pascal Casella, originally from Edinburgh, moved to London to work with Caesar Tagliabue, entering a partnership with him in 1838, after marrying his daughter. Caesar died in 1844 and, in 1848, the firm was renamed to Louis Casella & Co. After Louis death in 1897, his son Charles Frederic took over the firm changing the name to CF Casella & Co.

MHR (London, England)

MHR Microscopes Limited was funded in 1982, in London, and ceased trading in 1996.

Negretti & Zambra (London, England)

Negretti & Zambra was founded in 1850 by Enrico Angelo Ludovico (Henry) Negretti (born in Italy; 1818–1879) and Joseph Warren Zambra (born in Essex; 1822–1897) and traded until the late 20th century. The firm produced scientific and optical instruments and operated also a photographic studio based in London. They would eventually be appointed opticians and scientific instrument makers to Her Majesty Queen Victoria, Prince Albert and King Edward VII, the Royal Observatory and the British Admiralty. In 1859 the firm produced a large catalogue containing more than 2000 items and instruments, including microscopes, and this range doubled a few years later. In this same year the firm moved to a larger workshop at 1 Hatton Garden. They moved to 103 Hatton Garden in 1867, and to 38 Holborn Viaduct, as well as premises in Cornhill and Regent Street, in 1869. Henry Negretti becomes a leader of the Italian community in London. In 1888, JW Zambra retires and MW Zambra joined his brother JC Zambra and HPJ Negretti in the partnership. The firm’s 1908 catalogue included various types of instruments, including binoculars and microscopes. During 1914 - 1918 the company performs much work for the Ministry of Munitions during the 1st World War and develops various innovations including early aviation instruments. In 1947 the firm was listed as manufacturers of industrial, aeronautical and meteorological instruments, and in 1948 the company becomes a Limited Company. In 1985 the company was acquired by Meggitt Holdings.

* Instrument kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

Pickard & Curry Co (London, England)

Pickard & Curry was originally founded in 1876 by Joseph Pickard and William Curry, and was based at 195 Great Portland Street, London. The company produced ophthalmic instruments, many of which were granted patents. In 1886, Joseph Pickard retired, and George Paxton joined the company. In 1920, the company was renamed to Curry & Paxton. The company traded at 120 – 126 Albert St., London, during the 1920s – 1940s. In 1928, they were also trading at 22 Wigmore St., London. The company was acquired by Boots in 1987 to form part of Boots Opticians Ltd.

Pillischer (London, England)

Moritz (M.) Pillischer emigrated from Hungary to London, England, in 1845. He opened an independent shop that produced microscopes and other scientific and mathematical instruments in about 1849. Moritz’s nephew, Jacob (who adopted the name “James”), moved to London around 1860 to work for his uncle. Jacob later became Moritz’s son-in-law, after marrying one of his daughters. Pillischer did not make his own lenses until 1854, but instead provided French-made objectives with his instruments. Moritz Pillischer was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society in 1855 and joined the Quekett Microscopical Club in 1869. By 1881, Moritz had moved to Hove, Sussex, although he retained ownership of the Pillischer optical business. He handed over ownership of the business to Jacob in 1887 and passed away in his Sussex home in 1893. Jacob joined the Quekett Microscopical in 1895, and the Royal Microscopical Society in 1898. After Jacobs’ death in 1930, the company was inherited by Jacob’s three children, Edward, Leopold, and Bertha, and the business was liquidated in 1947. 

R & J Beck (London, England)

R & J Beck occupy an especially important place in the history of the British microscope manufacturing with its beginning established in London, by Richard Beck (1827 - 1866) in association with James Smith (1800 – 1873), and later to be joined by his brother Joseph Beck. Richard and Joseph Beck were nephews of Joseph Jackson Lister, who was a respected British optician and physicist who experimented with achromatic lenses and perfected an optical microscope. In commissioning the manufacture of his improved microscope, Lister worked with James Smith, an employee of the instrument-making firm of William Tulley, to create the stand. James Smith went on to establish his own optical instruments workshop in 1837. Through this relationship, Lister arranged for his nephew, Richard Beck to be an apprentice under Smith in 1843. In 1847, James Smith entered into partnership with Richard Beck, and the company was re-named Smith & Beck. In 1854, the company was renamed to Smith, Beck and Beck, as Richard Beck's brother Joseph Beck joined the company in 1851. James Smith retired in 1865 and the company became R & J Beck and this name lasted for long time. In 1866, Richard Beck died at an early age of 39, and Joseph Beck carried on the business. In 1895 the company became a limited partnership (R & J Beck Ltd). By 1968, the company was a subsidiary of the Ealing Corporation of USA. In 2019, Beck Optronic Solutions Ltd is a descendent of the former R & J Beck Ltd.

* Instrument kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

Ross (London, England)

Andrew Ross founded his business in 1830 and, like James Smith, collaborated with J.J. Lister, the maker who invented a mathematical method of producing objectives which were both achromatic and aplanatic. Ross's early instruments were constructed initially in a fashion similar to the Jones-most-improved models, followed by a construction similar to that of the 'Lister Limb' and he continued this practice until the 1840's when he developed his version of the Bar-Limb, a very stable design and from then on also supported his larger stands on the classic Y-shaped foot with two upright supports. Early examples of the Ross Bar-limb construction used a triangular bar, which was later replaced by a square one and finally on the largest and heaviest version, a rectangular one. The Ross Bar-limb design became the standard for many British microscope makers throughout the second half of the 19th century. Some conservative companies such as Powell and Lealand continued the manufacture of bar-limb microscopes into the 20th century, long after the improved continental design. Andrew Ross died in 1859 and his son Thomas Ross carried on the business. Thomas Ross died about 1870. The Ross company went on to produce optical products well into the twentieth century, although large high-quality microscopes became less important as the years went by. The firm was called Ross & Co between 1837 and 1841, and Ross Limited from 1897. The firm discontinued the production of microscopes in 1906.

S. Maw, Son & Thompson (London, England)

The Maw’s firm had its origins with George Maw, who, in 1807 started a partnership with his wife’s cousin Hornby in Fenchurch Street. In 1814, George purchased the business of a surgical instrument maker in Whitecross Street. In 1825, he moved to 56 Aldersgate Street, and his sons John Hornby and Solomon joined the company. George retired in 1829 and the firm moved again in 1834 to 11 Aldersgate Street, under the leadership of his son Solomon. Solomon’s son Charles joined the company in 1860, and the firm became S. Maw and Son. Sometime in the 1870s, the firm became S. Maw, Son & Thompson. In the very early 1900s, John Thomson retired, and the firm was renamed to S Maw, Son & Sons. In 1940, the firm was again renamed to Maws Pharmacy Supplies Limited, and moved to Monken Hadley, Barnet, England.

Salanson & Co (Bristol, England)

H. Salanson & Co was established around 1887 by Alfred Salanson and listed at 21 Clare Street and 130 Victoria Street and, in 1901, 20 High Street in Bristol. The company also had premisses at Queen Street in Cardiff. Over the following forty years the company sold optical instruments, microscopes, spectacles, cameras, and photographic equipment, among other instruments.

Smith & Beck / Smith, Beck & Beck (London, England)

Smith & Beck was originally established in London, by Richard Beck (1827 - 1866) in association with James Smith (1800 – 1873), and later to be joined by his brother Joseph Beck. Richard and Joseph Beck were nephews of Joseph Jackson Lister, who was a respected British optician and physicist who experimented with achromatic lenses and perfected an optical microscope. In commissioning the manufacture of his improved microscope, Lister worked with James Smith, an employee of the instrument-making firm of William Tulley, to create the stand. James Smith went on to establish his own optical instruments workshop in 1837. Through this relationship, Lister arranged for his nephew, Richard Beck to be an apprentice under Smith in 1843. In 1847, James Smith entered into partnership with Richard Beck, and the company was re-named Smith & Beck. In 1854, the company was renamed to Smith, Beck and Beck, as Richard Beck's brother Joseph Beck joined the company in 1851. James Smith retired in 1865 and the company became R & J Beck and this name lasted for long time.

Thomas Armstrong & Brother (Manchester, England)

In 1825, Joseph Armstrong started a business as jeweller and silversmith at 261 Deansgate, Manchester. After Joseph died in 1851, his elder son Thomas continued managing the business, which was expanded to manufacture spectacles and optical instruments. In 1868, Thomas took his brother George in partnership and the firm was renamed as Thomas Armstrong & Brother. The company grew considerably between 1877 and 1891, employing 15 people including Thompson and George’s younger brother Alfred. Around 1887, the company acquired additional premises on St Mary Street. Towards the end of the 1890s, Thomas’s son, Frank Armstrong, also started working in the company, which expanded further into Liverpool in 1904 with the opening of a branch at 112 Bold Street. In the meantime, the company’s headquarters in Manchester moved to larger premises at 78 Deansgate. In 1920, the company was sold to Leonard Douglas Kidson, of 1 Booth Street, Manchester, but Frank Armstrong continued with the company for a further 10 years. In 1965, the company was taken over by Harrisons Opticians, which, in 1968, was taken over by Dollond & Aitchison, which itself was absorbed into Boots Opticians in 2009.

Townson & Mercer (London, England)

Townson and Mercer are, still today, well-known scientific instruments and chemicals suppliers. The company was established in 1798, manufacturing laboratory, scientific and medical glassware and apparatus. The company traded at 89 Bishopsgate Street (1870s-1890s), 34 Chamomile Street and 89 Bishopsgate Street (1900s) and 34 Chamomile Street with 55 Bishopsgate Street, London, England. It is unclear if the firm actually produced their microscopes or were just retailers. In 2001, the company was acquired by Record Electrical Ltd, and now is part of Record Electrical Associates, formed to exploit the consolidated group strengths in Laboratory, Electrical Measurement and Indication and Sheet Steel Manufacturing.

Vickers (York, England)

The scientific instrument maker T. Cooke & Sons (1837 – 1922) was founded by Thomas Cooke in York in 1837. Thomas Cooke built his own factory on Bishophill, York, in 1855, producing a great range of spectacles, telescopes and other items. By the turn of the century defence products for the home market had also become an important field of the company. In 1915 the control of Cooke's was acquired by Vickers Ltd., an engineering firm of shipbuilding and aircraft, who had long had an interest in the military side of Cooke products. Cooke’s continued to expand in York and in 1922 they merged with the long-established instrument-making firm of Troughton & Simms of London (1824-1922). The new firm became Cooke, Troughton & Simms and in 1924 it became a wholly owned subsidiary of Vickers. After the war microscopes, survey equipment and engineers' measuring instruments became the main products. In 1963, following the acquisition of the C. Baker Ltd microscope factory, the new company of Vickers Instruments was formed. This company continued for many years, mainly selling microscopes, surveying instruments and micro measurement apparatus. In 1989 the business was sold to Bio-Rad Micromeasurements, an American company based in California, apart from the defence products, which were acquired by British Aerospace.

* Instrument kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

** Instrument kindly donated by David Harries (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

*** Item kindly donated by Crossness Engines Trust (London, England) in October 2025

W Aronsberg (Manchester and Liverpool, England)

The brothers Woolf Aronsberg and Maurice Aronsberg, originally from a region now within Latvia, established optical firms in the 1860s, respectively in Manchester and Liverpool. W. Aronsberg is also known to have operated a branch in Leeds in 1886. Both brothers sold microscopes, although most of the instruments were made by other manufacturers. Both of the Aronsberg businesses persisted for several decades.

W. J. Salmon (London. England)

William John Salmon made and sold a wide variety of instruments, including microscopes. The firm traded from 105 Fenchurch Street, London (1838 – 1845), 254 Whitechapel Road, London (1846 – 1853), and 100 Fenchurch Street, London (1854 – 1862). With the designation Salmon & Co, the firm traded from 85 Fenchurch Street, London (1865 – 1877), and 2 Aldgate High Street, London (1878 – 1881).

William Ladd (London, England)

William Ladd was a manufacturer of microscopes and other scientific instruments from the early 1840s until 1882. Ladd’s business was located at 10 Cleaver Street, London (until 1846), 29 Penton Place, Walworth (1846 - ca. 1856), 31 Chancery Lane (1857 – 1860), 11-12 Beak Street (as ‘W. Ladd’; 1860 - ca. 1871), 11-12 Beak Street (as ‘W. Ladd & Co.’; ca. 1871 – 1882), and 11-12 Beak Street and 199 Brompton Road (as ‘W. Ladd & Co.’; 1872 – 1882). Ladd retired and sold his business in 1882, being taken over by W.G. Harvey and W.F. Peak, and died in 1885.

W Matthews (London, England)

William Matthews was a manufacturer and retailer of surgical and other medical equipment and, from the mid-1850s, also microscopes. Matthew’s shop was located on Portugal Street and the adjacent Carey Street, which were close by King’s College Hospital (the firm was the official supplier to the hospital). He moved to 8 Portugal Street sometime during c. 1853. William died in June 1868 but two of William’s sons, Walter William and Henry, continued to supply microscopes into the 1870s as Matthews Brothers.

W & J George (Birmingham, England)

W & J George Ltd was a manufacturer of laboratory equipment and other scientific instruments that traded at Great Charles Street, Birmingham. The company was founded prior to 1897, when it was taken over by F E Becker & Co (with the company retaining the original name until the 1940s). The company traded as W & J George & Becker Ltd from 1944 to 1954, when it became Griffin & George (when W & J George & Becker Ltd merged with Griffin & Tatlock). The company made high quality microscopes and other scientific equipment from the 1900s to the 1960s. 

W R Prior (London, England)

WR Prior & Co Ltd was founded by Walter Robert Prior in 1919. The company was originally located at Eagle Street, Holborn, London and later at Devonshire Street, London. Little is known about the Company during this time and no records or catalogues exist as to when and why they began to produce microscopes under the Prior name. A WR Prior catalogue of microscopes and accessories dated 1950 gives the location of the office as Devonshire Street and the factory as Bishop’s Stortford, Herts., England, where manufacturing was carried out from 1942 to 1957. On 10 January 1947 Walter Robert Prior died at the early age of 55. The company relocated to a new factory at London Road, Bishop Stortford in 1956 and continued to produce and develop new microscopes. In 1978 WR Prior & Co Ltd was acquired by The Gwyndann Group of Companies and the name of the company was changed in 1979 to that of Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd. In 1981 Prior Scientific Instruments Ltd merged with James Swift and Son Ltd (founded in the mid 19th century). Fire at the Bishop Stortford factory in 1988 meant the company had to relocate to its present site in Fulbourn, Cambridge, England, offering precision mechanical engineering, optics, electronics and precision assembly. Expanding its operation further the company opened a new office in 1991, Prior Scientific Inc, based in the USA, in 2008 Prior GMBH in Jena, Germany, in 2010 Prior KK in Tokyo, Japan and in 2018 Prior China.

* Instrument kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

W Stanley (London, England)

William Ford Stanley (1829 – 1909) became a wealthy entrepreneur and inventor, and one of the leading men of Croydon. Stanley began manufacturing and retailing mathematical and drafting tools in 1854, 3 Great Turnstile, Holborn, London. Either before the opening or shortly thereafter, Stanley partnered with a cousin, Henry Robinson, and the business was known as Stanley and Robinson. A second retail shop was soon opened at 3 Holborn Bars. Within 10 years, he had expanded his product line to include microscopes. In 1875, Stanley opened his “Stanley Works” in South Norwood, Surrey, a considerable factory he designed for efficient production of scientific and engineering instruments. Stanley’s business was incorporated as W.F. Stanley and Company, Limited, in 1900. William retained the majority of stock. At about 1905, a new shop was opened at 286 High Holborn. The company continued to produce instruments until it was liquidated in 1999.

W Watson & Sons (London, England)

W. Watson & Sons were opticians and camera makers trading from London and Edinburgh. The company was originally founded in 1837 by William Watson at 71 City Road, and the business continued at this address until 1861, when it moved to 313 High Holborn. In 1867, the name was changed to W. Watson & Son. In 1882, the name was changed to W. Watson & Sons. In 1900 the company acquired the John Browning and Co., and in 1908 the firm became W. Watson & Sons Ltd. In 1929 they published an advert in the British Industries Fair Catalogue as an Optical, Scientific and Photographic Exhibit, highlighting the manufacture of microscopes for medical, industrial, and educational purposes. Into the 1950s, the company changed their address to 25 West End Lane, Barnet, Hertfordshire, where they stayed until the late 1960s. In 1957 the company was acquired by Pye of Cambridge and ten years later, taken over by Philips. By 1970, the manufacture of microscopes was over.

* Instrument kindly donated by Dave Levell (Pembrokeshire, Wales) in May 2023

** Instrument kindly donated by Kathryn Giles (Worthing, England) in September 2026