Figure 1. Microscope slides by Charles F. Beale. The slide on the right is dated 16 November, 1885. From the author’s collection or adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from an internet sale site.
Charles Fisher Beale, 1862 - 1895
by Brian Stevenson
last updated December, 2025
Charles F. Beale, of Rowley Regis, England, was an active amateur scientist during the mid-1880s. He was a member and Vice President of the Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union. Beale produced a number of high quality microscope slides during that brief period, showing skillful preparation of the specimens and ringing of the slides (Figure 1).
Figure 1.
Microscope slides by Charles F. Beale. The slide on the right is dated 16 November, 1885. From the author’s collection or adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from an internet sale site.
Charles Fisher Beale was born in July, 1862, in Westminster (now within London). He was the first child of Charles and Anne Fisher Beale. They later had two more sons, and two daughters. The family moved to Belper, Derbyshire in the late 1860s, to Dudley, Worcestershire in the 1870s, and to Rowley Regis, Staffordshire ca. 1881.
Father Charles worked as a civil engineer and architect, and was an amateur scientist/historian. His main interests were geology, fossils, and artifacts from other cultures. He published requests to exchange materials in popular magzines and The Naturalist’s Directory throughout the 1880s. He was a member of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, the Practical Naturalists’ Society, and the Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union, serving as President of the latter group from 1884 to 1887. He can usually be distinguished from his son by lack of a middle initial (e.g. “C. Beale”) or incusion of his engineering title (e.g. “Mr. Beale C.E.”).
Our microscopist, Charles F. Beale, was less conspicuous that was his father. He was also a member of the Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union, and served as Vice President from 1887 through 1888. He regularly made presentations to the group, primarily of fossils, snail shells, and unusual foreign plant specimens. On June 28, 1887, he read a paper on "Ancient flint and stone implements", then read another paper on the "Natural history of a trilobite" on February 21, 1888.
Charles F. Beale resigned his Vice Presidency in 1888, in anticipation of a move to Argentina. On April 2, 1889, the Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union“ presented to Mr. C. Beale, C.E., on the occasion of his leaving England, a handsomely bound copy of Longfellow's Poems, with an illuminated address on the title page, as a testimonial of the esteem in which he was held, and in recognition of his many kindnesses to the Society”.
The 1890 Naturalist’s Directory listed Charles Beale (the father) in Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentina. He was interested in collecting and exchanging “coal measure fossils or Upper Silurian” and “mound implements or remains”, items that he had previously listed from his English address. It is notable that the son, Charles F. Beale, was never included in The Naturalists’ Directory, implying a lower level of enthusiasm than that of his father.
The 1881 cenus of England had listed Charles Beale as “civil engineer”, and Charles F. Beale as “civil engineer’s assistant”. The 1895 census of Argentina listed the father as being an engineer. Presumably, the son had also worked as an engineer, alongside his father. Charles F. Beale died on August 2, 1895 in Rosario de Santa Fe, at the age of 33.
Figure 2.
“Hoof of Pig, transverse section”, by Charlles Fisher Beale (see Figure 1). Imaged with crossed polarizing filters, 3.5x objective lens, nd C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope.
Resources
Argentina census records, accessed through ancestry.com
Baptism record of Charles Fisher Beale (1862) Parish records of St Stephen, Westminster, July 5
Beale, C. (1884) The basalt of Rowley Regis, The Midland Naturalist, Vol. 7, pages 109-112 and 126-131
England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com
Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1883) Exchange offers from C. Beale, page 192
Kelly's Directory of Staffordshire (1884) “Beale Charles C.E. inspector of huisances & surveyor to the Local Board, Church road”, page 247
Kelly's Directory of Worcestershire (1880) Dudley, “Beale Charles C.E. Cawney hill”, page 1068
The Midland Naturalist (1886) Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union, Vol. 9, pages 26-27
The Midland Naturalist (1887) Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union, Vol. 9, pages 87, 115-116, 143, 171, 227, and 335
The Midland Naturalist (1887) Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union, Vol. 10, pages 27 and 50
The Midland Naturalist (1888) Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union, Vol. 10, pages 51, 107-108, 192, 295-296, and 315
The Midland Naturalist (1889) Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union, Vol. 11, page 164
The Naturalist’s Directory (1882) “Beale, Charles, Civil Engineer, Rowley Regis, near Dudley, Worcestershire, Eng. Geol. Palaeo. Coal plants and fish remains. C. Ex. Offers series of coal measure fossils or upper silurian”, page 389
The Naturalist’s Directory (1890) “Beale, Charles, C.E., 83 Calle Progress, Rosario de Santa Fe, Argentine Republic. Geol. C. Ex. Offers series of coal measure fossils or Upper Silurian. Wants mound implements or remains”, page 211
The Practical Naturalist (1883) “C. Beale, Lime Tree House, Rowley Regis, Dudley” Vol. 1, page 7
Probate of the Will of Charles F. Beale (filed 1913) “Beale Charles Fisher of Rosario Santa Fe Argentine Republic died 2 August 1895 Administration (limited) London 11 January to John Lee Bromley Williams solicitor. Effects £100”, acccessed through ancestry.com
Probate of the Will of Charles Beale (filed 1912) “Beale Charles of Rosario province of Santa Fe in the Argentine Republic died 10 March 1898 Administration (limited) London 16 December to John Lee Bromley Williams solicitor attorney of William Herbert Beale. Effects £106”, acccessed through ancestry.com
Report of the Annual Meeting of the British Association for the Advancement of Science (1889) Members, “1886. Beale C. Lime Tree House, Rowley Regis, Dudley”, Vol. 58
The Yearbook of the Scientific and Learned Societies of Great Britain and Ireland (1884) Birmingham Microscopists’ and Naturalists’ Union … President: C. Beale, C.E., page 97