Edgar Ribton Newmarch, 1886 – 1966

by Brian Stevenson
last updated July, 2022

E.R. Newmarch produced a large number of microscope slides during his long involvement with microscopy. A number of these are recognized by his labels that bear his ca. 1914 to ca. 1938 address of 4 The Drive, Walthamstow (England) (Figure 1). Brian Bracegirdle’s Microscopical Mounts and Mounters, plate 28, shows images of two Newmarch slides that have labels without his address and are dated 1934 and 1943, which may have been for his personal use. Bracegirdle states that Newmarch advertised his slides in a popular science magazine during the 1920s, and that he also produced commercial quantities of slides for W. Watson & Sons during the 1930s. Newmarch owned a book-binding business as his primary employment.

Newmarch was a Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society, and a member of the Quekett Microscopical Club and the Photomicrographic Society.

Figure 1. A microscope slide that was prepared by Edgar Newmarch. His personal label has his ca. 1914 to ca. 1938 address of 4 The Drive, Walthamstow. The address suggests that this was prepared for sale or exchange. Since the specimen description and his name are on separate labels, the name label could easily be lost or removed, so it is very likely that a number of Newmarch’s productions are not readily identifiable as his work. Plate 28 of Bracegirdle’s "Microscopical Mounts and Mounters" shows two Newmarch slides that have labels without an address, which may have been for his personal use.

Figure 2. Figure 2. Edgar Ribton Newmarch, from his 1966 obituary in the Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club.

Edgar Ripton Newmarch was born in early October, 1886 in Buckhurst Hill, Essex, and christened on October 3. He was the third child, and second son, of Francis and Olive Newmarch. Father Francis worked as a bank clerk. The family was relatively well-to-do, as both the 1891, 1901, and 1911 censuses record their employment of domestic servants. The Newmarch family moved to 4 The Drive, Walthamstow during the time between the 1901 and 1911 censuses.

Edgar Newmarch joined the Quekett Microscopical Club on June 15, 1906. His address was then “St. Albans”, 54 Upper Walthamstow Road. He was 19 years old, so it may have also been his parent’s home.

Newmarch allowed his membership in QMC expire within a year or two, and he was not included in the 1908 list of members.

The 1911 census records that Edgar then boarded at 30 Church Row, Walthamstow. He was working as a clerk for a rubber merchant.

Newmarch joined the QMC a second time, being elected to membership on May 27, 1913. The 1914 list of QMC members parents’ home of 4 The Drive, Walthamstow, as his address. I do not know whether he actually lived there at that time, since Newmarch joined the Army in 1914. He served in France as a private throughout World War 1, first with the Royal Warwickshire Regiment, and later with the Royal Berkshire Regiment. A pension was awarded, suggesting that he was injured during the war. An obituary wrote, “He had seen service with the infantry in France during the first world war, and though he was lucky enough to come through, the winters in the trenches had affected him seriously”. Edgar’s younger, brother, Owen, was killed in the war, on May 9, 1915.

Newmarch was apparently released from the Army in 1920, whereupon he moved in with his parents at 4 The Drive. Most, if not all, of his slides with that address probably date from the end of World War 1 to around 1938, when he moved to a different home.

He joined the Royal Microscopical Society in 1921. The 1922 list of QMC members included the initials “F.R.M.S.” with Newmarch’s name, although reports from 1923 onward did not use that designation, suggesting that Edgar resigned from the RMS after only 1 or 2 years.

He was also elected to membership in the Photomicrographic Society, in January, 1923. That group consisted of people interested in producing photographs of microscopic objects. For example, February 28, 1923, Edgar Newmarch “showed lantern slides of drawings and photomicrographs of Pond-life objects, and described his methods of narcotizing such subjects before mounting”.

Newmarch made similar presentations to the QMC, including a talk entitled “Narcotising and killing Polyzoa” on January 9, 1923. His papers in the Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club included “Notes on the freshwater Polyzoa” (1935), “Polyzoa in a micro-aquarium” (1945), “In search of fresh-water Polyzoa” (1946), and “A simple technique for mounting fresh-water Polyzoa” (1947). His QMC obituary noted, “He specialized in fluid mounting methods, and his slides of Polyzoa gained a wide distribution. In later life he took great pride that these mounts, put up in the thirties, stand up so well.”

Edgar’s mother, Olive, died in 1928. His father, Francis, died in 1939. Edgar and the other adult children left the home at 4 The Drive before or at that time. The 1936 QMC member list showed Edgar at 4 The Drive, while the 1939 list had him at 77 Church Hill, Walthamstow.

The 1948 QMC member list gave his address as 37a Selborne Road, Walthamstow, In 1962, he lived at 9 Priory Avenue, Walthamstow. That was still his address when he died on January 21, 1966.

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club published the following obituary, written by colleague Edward P. Herlihy:

“Edgar Newmarch was elected to the Club in 1906 at the age of 20 (sic), during Dr. Spitta’s Presidency, and very few indeed, if any, can have had a longer membership. He had the great advantage of knowing some of the great men of that generation, and they encouraged his interest in pond life, which later became concentrated in the Freshwater Polyzoa, on which he acquired by constant observation an insight that books can never convey. He got to know the habitats round London, which were more numerous then than now, and for many years conducted the Club outings over some of his best collecting grounds.

He was a of a retiring disposition and never stood for office, but was always ready to put his knowledge and experience at the service of younger members. In 1956 he was elected to honorary membership of the Club. He built up his own book-binding business, and found in the Club the relaxation and friendship which proved a just balance for his active commercial life.”

Figure 3. “Spiracle of silkworm Bombyx mori”, prepared ca. 1920-1940 by E.R. Newmarch (see Figure 1). Photographed with a 10x objective lens, transmitted and top light, and a C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope.

Figure 4. A butterfly mounted under glass, as a paperweight, prepared in 1939 by E.R. Newmarch. Adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes from an internet retail site.

Resources

Bracegirdle, Brian (1998) Microscopical Mounts and Mounters, Quekett Microscopical Club, London, pages 70 and 160, and Plate 28

England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com

Herlihy, Edward P. (1966) Edgar Ribton Newmarch, 1886-1966, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 148-149

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1906) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1908) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1914) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1916) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1922) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1923) Summary of E.R. Newmarch’s presentation on “Narcotising and killing Polyzoa”, pages 33-34

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1936) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1948) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1962) List of members

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1939) List of members

Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (1921) List of Fellows

Military records of Edgar Ribton Newmarch, accessed through ancestry.com

Military records of Owen Geoffrey Newmarch, accessed through ancestry.com

Newmarch, Edgar R. (1934) Leptodora kindtii (or hyalina), pages 37-38 Newmarch, Edgar R. (1935) Notes on the freshwater Polyzoa, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 110-119

Newmarch, Edgar R. (1945) Polyzoa in a micro-aquarium, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 98-99

Newmarch, Edgar R. (1946) In search of freshwater Polyzoa, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, page 166

Newmarch, Edgar R. (1947) A simple technique for mounting fresh-water Polyzoa, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 179-186

The Photomicrographic Journal (1922) Advertisement: “Spencer 1/12” objective 1.8, nearly new, £5 10s, Approval. E.R. Newmarch, 4. The Drive, Walthamstow, E.17”, page 37

The Photomicrographic Journal (1923) Minutes of meetings, pages 22, 40, and 54-55

Probate of the will of Edgar Ribton Newmarch (1966) “Newmarch Edgar Ribton of 9 Priory Avenue Walthamstow Essex died 21 January 1966 at Whipps Cross Hospital Leytonstone London Probate London 7 June to Henry Gilbertson Smith C.B. OBE. M.C. T.D. D.L solicitor and Edward John Herlihey civil servant. £1842”, accessed through ancestry.com

Probate of the will of Francis Newmarch (1939) “Newmarch Francis William of 4 The Drive Walthamstow Essex died 22 June 1939 Probate London 12 August to Francis George Newmarch bank official and Olive Mabel Newmarch spinster. Effects £6667 13s 5d”, accessed through ancestry.com