Walter Ladlow, 1889 - 1962

by Brian Stevenson
last updated December, 2022

Walter Ladlow, of Lincoln, England, was a machinist by trade. He also operated a slide-making business for a period between the 1917 and 1934, and possibly before and after. His known slides show considerable skill (Figures 1 and 2).

I did not find any records of Walter Ladlow having been involved with the Royal Microscopical Society, Quekett Microscopical Club, or other scientific society.

Figure 1. Microscope slides that were prepared by Walter Ladlow. The slide on the right is dated March 23, 1934 (although the “4” in the year is overwritten with “6”). From the author’s collection or adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from an internet auction site.

Figure 2. Details of “shells etc. from various localities”, prepared by W. Ladlow (Figure 1).

To date, I have found only one record that identifies “W. Ladlow, preparer, Lincoln”: a 1918 advertisement that he posted in The English Mechanic and World of Science (Figure 3). This placed a microscope enthusiast named W. Ladlow at 31 Drake Street, Lincoln. Our microscopist‘s surname is rather uncommon, and there were very few people with that name in Lincoln. His father, Wells Ladlow, and an elder brother, Wilfred Ladlow, can be ruled out, as Wells died in 1931 (and thus could not have prepared the dated slide of shells shown in Figures 1 and 2), and Wilfred moved out of the family home of 31 Drake Street before 1901.

Walter Ladlow was born on April 5, 1889, in Lincoln. He was the seventh, and last, child of Wells and Sarah Ladlow. Father Wells was described in census records as “stationary engine driver” and “driller”. Most of his five sons followed their father’s path, working as users or makers of heavy machinery. It appears that Walter was spared from full-time work before the age of 11, as the 1901 census did not list an occupation for the boy. However, his next-eldest brother, 14 year-old Harold, was already working as an “iron turner / fitter”.

By the time of the 1911 census, Walter was working as a “fitter”. Walter served in the Labour Corps during World War 1, undoubtedly due to the value of his machining skills to the war effort. When he filled out the 1921 census, Ladlow initially wrote that he was employed as an “engine fitter” by Ruston & Hornsby, then crossed out the firm's name and wrote “out of work”. The 1939 register listed him as an “engine fitter (oil)”.

As noted above, Walter posted an advertisement to sell a microscope lens in 1917 (Figure 3). Brian Bracegirdle’s Microscopical Mounts and Mounters shows a Ladlow slide that is dated January 1, 1917 (plate 24-A).

Walter married Eveline Guillemard during the spring of 1920. They do not appear to have had any children.

The slide of shells, etc. shown in Figures 1 and 2 was dated 1934 (and 1936).

Walter Ladlow died on October 27, 1962.

Figure 3. 1918 advertisement from “The English Mechanic and World of Science”.

Acknowledgement

Thank you to Chris Wallage for sharing information on Walter Ladlow's 1921 census entry.

Resources

Bracegirdle, Brian (1998) Microscopical Mounts and Mounters, Quekett Microscopical Club, London, pages 61 and 15, plate 24-A

England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com

The English Mechanic and World of Science (1918) Advertisement from W. Ladlow, September 21 issue, page iii

World War I service record of Walter Ladlow (1918) accessed through ancestry.com