Charles Furley Cross, 1841-1916

by Brian Stevenson
last updated November, 2022

Amateur microscopist C.F. Cross prepared slides for exchange during the mid-1880s (Figures 1-3). Most of his known slides are thin sections of minerals such as fossil wood in coal, which he specifically described in 1887 (Figure 3). He appears to have also mounted biological specimens. Cross lived in Oldham, Lancashire, England, where he would have had ample access to fossils from the local coal mines.

Figure 1. “Fossil wood from coal”, mineral thin-section by Charles F. Cross

Figure 2. Magnified view of “fossil wood from coal” (Figure 1). Photographed with a 3.5x objective lens and C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope.

Figure 3. Exchange offers by C.F. Cross, from “Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip”. Cross initially requested to swap fossils, but by 1886 was offering “micro slides” in exchange. He did not advertise before 1885 nor after 1887, suggesting that his major slide-making period was the three year span between 1885 and 1887.

Charles Furley Cross was born during January, 1841, in Owston Ferry, Lincolnshire. He was the send son, and third child, of Henry and Mary Ann Cross. Father Henry was described in census as being an “auctioneer” and “agent and valuer”. The family lived a fairly comfortable life, with each decade’s census recording them as having live-in servants.

The 1861 census listed twenty year-old Charles as living with his parents (now in Gainsborough, Lincolnshire), and working as a “railway clerk”.

By the end of the 1860s, Charles’ job had taken him to Wakefield, Yorkshire, where he worked as a “railway goods agent” for the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway.

On July 26, 1870, Charles married Mary Ross. Mary was originally from Ropsley, Lincolnshire, but she and her parents were then living in the London area. Charles and Mary were married by banns at St. Pancras All Saints Church.

During the early 1870s, Charles and Mary Cross moved to Oldham, Lancashire. There, they had three children, all girls. Census records state that the family enjoyed the benefits of live-in servants.

Charles was in his mid-40s when he first posted an exchange offer in the popular science magazine, Hardwicke's Science-Gossip (Figure 3, 1885). He initially requested “Silurian and Devonian Fossils, in exchange for Ferns, Calamites, &c., from Lancashire coal measures”. This suggests that Cross was spending his free time poking around the spoil tips of nearby coal mines, which were rich in coal-associated fossils.

The next year, in 1886, he offered to provide either coal fossils or “micro slides”. The slides were presumably of his own making.

During 1887, Cross sought pieces of Dytiscus diving beetles, which were popular subjects for microscope slides. His request for multiple parts of the insect suggests that he planned to prepare a number of slides, probably for subsequent exchanges.

At the end of 1887, Cross declared “I prepare rocks and other hard substances for the microscope”. These were undoubtedly the thin-sectioned mineral microscope slides that are Cross’ best-known products, such as shown in Figures 1 and 2.

C.F. Cross did not advertise in Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip after 1887. His period of prolific slide-making may thus have lasted from only 1885 until 1887.

I have not found any connections between C.F. Cross and microscopical or other scientific societies.

Charles F. Cross died on February 15, 1916 at his home, 56 Winneth Hall Road, Oldham.

References

The Annual Directory of the English Church Union for the Year (1896) “Cross, Charles Furley, 56 Winneth Hall-road, Oldham”, page 529

England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1883) Vol. 19

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1884) Vol. 20

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1885) Exchange offer from C.F. Cross, Vol. 21, page 240

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1886) Exchange offer from C.F. Cross, Vol. 22, page 216

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1887) Exchange offers from C.F. Cross, Vol. 23, pages 24, 96, and 283

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1888) Vol. 24

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1889) Vol. 25

Marriage record of Charles Furley Cross and Mary Ross (1870) Parish records of St. Pancras All Saints Church, accessed through ancestry.com

Probate of the will of C.F. Cross (1916) “Cross Charles Furley of 56 Winneth Hall-road Oldham died 15 February 1916 Probate London 8 March to Gertrude Mary Elizabeth Cross spinster. Effects £494 9s 6d”, accessed through ancestry.com

White’s Directory of Leeds and the West Riding (1870) Wakefield: “Cross Charles Furley, Railway goods agent (M.S. & L.), 12 Drury Lane”, page 538