Figure 1. Microscope slides by Albert D. Michael. Left, mounts of oribatid mites, with custom printed labels that include Michael’s name, both dated March, 1889. Right, fluid mount of a hydrozoan, with hand-written labels.
Albert Davidson Michael, 1836 – 1927
by Brian Stevenson
last updated January, 2025
The advent of high-quality microscopes during the 1800s opened up new fields of the natural world for investigation. An avid microscopist and naturalist, A.D. Michael recognized that very little was known about mites (acarina), an expansive group of tiny arthropods. He quickly became a world-renowned expert, publishing numerous research papers and several books on mites.
Michael served as President of both the Royal Microscopical Society and the Quekett Microscopical Club, Vice President of the Ray Society and the Linnean Society, and was a Member of the Zoological Society and the Royal Horticultural Society.
A.D. Michael prepared a large quantity of microscope slides of mites for use in his studies. His collection was donated to the Natural History Museum upon his death. However, a number are in private collections, probably results of gifts and exchanges between Michael and his colleagues.
Figure 1.
Microscope slides by Albert D. Michael. Left, mounts of oribatid mites, with custom printed labels that include Michael’s name, both dated March, 1889. Right, fluid mount of a hydrozoan, with hand-written labels.
Figure 2.
“Damaeus femoratus” (correct name: Arthrodamaeus femoratus, Koch) from Algiers, prepared in March, 1889, by A.D. Michael (see Figure 1). The small size of the mite allowed Michael to suspend the whole animal in balsam mountant without compressing it.
Figure 3.
Undated photograph of Albert D. Michael, adapted from his 1927 obituary that was published in “The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club”.
Albert Davidson Michael was born on May 5, 1836, in the Camden area of London. He was the youngest of six children of Jacob and Rosetta Michael. Father Jacob worked as a solicitor. The family was relatively wealthy, with censuses recording that they employed multiple live-in servants.
Albert followed into his father’s legal career, also becoming a solicitor.
He married Anne Smith on April 3, 1865. Anne was the sister of the wife of John Matthews, who was a microscope enthusiast and later served as President of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1874 and 1875). It may be that Albert’s relationship with Matthews helped direct him towards microscopy as a hobby. Anne was certainly a major contributing factor, being described as having “keen interest in the subject, and became his most devoted helper in all his microscopical work. Without her assistance, in fact, it would probably have been impossible for him to have carried out the researches into the life-histories of the Acari.”
A.D. Michael had become very serious about microscopy and the study of mites by the middle of the 1870s. He joined both the Royal Microscopical Society and Quekett Microscopical Club in 1877, and the Linnean Society in 1878. He published his first three papers on mites in 1878. Many more papers followed over the next several decades, often in collaboration with fellow acarologists such as Edwin Bostock (1838-1901) and Charles Frederick George, (1833-1923), whose works are also described in this web series.
Financial circumstances permitted Michael to retire from his solicitor job in the mid-1880s, and focus full-time on acarological studies. This may have been associated with his father’s death in 1882. Financial independence also freed him up to travel around Britain, Europe, and parts of Africa.
Volume 1 of Michael’s British Oribatidae was published by the Ray Society in 1884, followed by Volume 2 in 1888.
A.D. Michael was elected President of the Quekett Microscopical Club for three consecutive terms, 1885, 1886, and 1887. This was followed by four terms as President of the Royal Microscopical Society, elected 1893 through 1896.
Another book, The Oribatidae, was published in 1898. Two volumes of British Tryoglyphidae were published in 1901 and 1903.
Albert and Anne moved to Studland, Dorset during the mid-1890s. Anne died there in 1909.
A colleague, David J. Scourfield, wrote that “during the last few years of (A.D. Michael’s) long life his memory, unfortunately, failed him to such an extent that he could no longer take interest in his scientific pursuits. He died on May 29th (1927) in a nursing home at Swanage, and was buried at Studland.”
Scourfield further wrote, “As one of the many who, in years gone by, received encouragement and advice from him, (I) would like to bear testimony to Mr. Michael’s sound common sense, his unfailing willingness to help others and his intense devotion to the highest ideals of scientific work.”
Figure 4.
Drawings of mites by A.D. Michael, from his 1881 “Observations on the Life-histories of Gamasina, with a view to assist in more exact Classification”.
Figure 5.
Illustrations by A.D. Michael, from his 1895 “A Study of the Internal Anatomy of Thyas petrophilus, an unrecorded Hydrachnid found in Cornwall”.
Resources
Baker, R.A., and M.J. Colloff (2006) Albert Davidson Michael (1836-1927) and his wife Anne, partners in acarology and microscopy, Quekett Journal of Microscopy, Vol. 40, pages 229-242
Baptism record of Albert Davidson Michael (1836) Parish records of St. George the Martyr, Camden, accessed through ancestry.com
England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com
Marriage record of Albert Davidson Michael and Anne Smith (1865) Paris records of St. Mary-in-the-Castle, Hastings, accessed through ancestry.com
Michael, Albert D. (1878) On Glyciphagus palmifer, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 29-32
Michael, Albert D. (1878) On some peculiarities in the reproductive system of certain of the Acarina, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 223-230
Michael, Albert D. (1880) On two species of acarina believed not to have been before recorded as British, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 107-120
Michael, Albert D. (1881) Observations on the life-histories of Gamasina, with a view to assist in more exact classification, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London: Zoology, pages 297-309
Michael, Albert D. (1880) On sea side collecting, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 233-243
Michael, A.D. (1883) Observations on the anatomy of the Oribatidae, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, pages 1-25
Michael, A.D. (1884) British Oribatidae, Ray Society, London
Michael, Albert D. (1886) Observations upon a species of Gamasus supposed to be unrecorded, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 260-268
Michael, A.D. (1888) British Oribatidae, Vol. 2, Ray Society, London
Michael, Albert D. (1888) Parasitism, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 206-224
Michael, A.D. (1891) On the association of gamasids with ants, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, pages 638-653
Michael, A.D. (1892) On the variations in the internal anatomy of the Gamasinae, especially in that of the genital organs, and on their mode of coition, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London: Zoology, pages 281-285
Michael, A.D. (1894) The progress and present state of our knowledge of the Acari, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, pages 18-33
Michael, A.D. (1895) The history of the Royal Microscopical Society, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, pages 1-20
Michael, A.D. (1895) A study of the internal anatomy of Thyas petrophilus, an unrecorded hydrachnid found in Cornwall, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London, pages 174-209
Michael, A.D. (1898) Oribatidae, R. Friedlander, Berlin
Michael, Albert D. (1900) Acari of Lake Urmi, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London: Zoology, page 407
Michael, A.D. (1901) British Tryoglyphidae, Vol. 1, The Ray Society, London
Michael, A.D. (1903) British Tryoglyphidae, Vol. 2, The Ray Society, London
Michael, A.D. (1907) Unrecorded Acari from New Zealand, Transactions of the Linnean Society of London: Zoology, Vol. 30, pages 134-149
Michael, A.D., and C.F. George (1879) A contribution to the knowledge of British Oribatidae, Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society, pages 225-251
Nature (1927) Mr. A.D. Michael, Vol. 120, page 89
Probate of the will of A.D. Michael (1927) “Michael Albert Davidson of The North Swanage Nursing home Burlington-road Swanage Dorsetshire died 29 May 1927 Probate London 18 July to Norah Murdock Jackman (wife of James William Jackman) and Percy Brandon gentleman. Effects £21443 5s 2d”, accessed through ancestry.com
Scourfield, David J. (1927) Albert Davidson Michael 1836-1927. Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, Series 2, Vol. 15, pages 367-368