Albert Newton, 1863 - 1950

by Brian Stevenson
last updated March, 2025

Albert Newton was an amateur microscopist and naturalist who lived in the vicinity of Manchester, England, active from ca. 1880 until the second or third decade of the twentieth century. He was a member of the Mounting Section of the Manchester Microscopical Society, and presented a number of demonstrations to that group. Newton’s skills in sectioning, staining, mounting, and finishing are evident in the good quality of his slides (Figures 1-3). Newton often ringed his slides with colorful paints.

Figure 1. Microscope slides by Albert Newton. These probably date from his time in the Manchester Microscopical Society, ca. 1906 – 1920.

Figure 2. Transverse section of a rose stem, prepared by A. Newton (see Figure 1). Imaged with transmitted light with crossed polarizing filters with a 3.5x objective lens and C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope, from 3 overlapping photographs.

Albert Newton was born on April 20, 1863, in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire. He was the only child of Uriah and Elizabeth Newton. Both parents worked in the region’s fabric mills, Uriah as an overseer, and Elizabeth as a cotton weaver. Elizabeth’s widowed mother lived with the family, which would have been very helpful in raising Albert.

The 1881 national census listed 17 year-old Albert as a “teacher pupil”, indicating that he was then studying to become a teacher. He was to undergo several career changes in his life.

Newton joined the Practical Naturalist Society ca. 1883. His interests at the time included bird studies, which then used different methods than today’s passive birdwatching. For example, in 1884, he published this exchange offer in Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip: “Offered, skins of magpie, rook, starling, robin, greenfinch, sky-lark, blue tit, wren, swallow, hedge sparrow, &c., for eggs of hawk, tits, seacoast birds, &c.”

In 1885, he also offered to exchange a “50-inch bicycle, with fittings” for a “centre fire breech-loading gun”, probably to aid in his collection of birds and other wildlife.

When Albert married Jane Roebuck on August 11, 1889, he listed his occupation as “hatter”. He still worked as a hatter at the time of the 1891 census. Jane was recorded as being a “retired hat trimmer”. They then had a four month old daughter, which probably accounted for Jane’s retirement from outside work. Two years later, they later had another child, also a girl.

Albert and Jane evidently separated during the 1890s, although theyr remained officially married. The 1901 census listed Albert as living with his parents, now working as a “rent and debt collector, money lender”. Jane lived with the two girls and her widowed mother, and owned a grocery shop.

Albert Newton joined the Manchester Microscopical Society in 1906. He displayed slides at numerous Society meetings. Joining the Mounting Section, he made several presentations, including “mounting insects’ parts” (October 15, 1908), “narcotizing” (October 21, 1909), and “preparing insect parts for the microscope” (December 16, 1909).

A 1910 article by Abraham Flatters cited Newton, “The Hydra is a carnivorous animal, and will seize and swallow objects of relatively large size, so that the body will bulge to twice or thrice its normal diameter. In this connection, Mr. Albert Newton, of the Manchester Microscopical Society, found, when Hydra had been deprived of food for a day or two, they would distend their body-walls enormously in attempting to swallow young fishes several times their own size”. Note that a Newton slide of a hydra is shown in Figure 1, which may date from his studies at that time.

Another 1910 article in The Micrologist cited Newton’s expertise in working with fixed tissues, “Mr. Albert Newton of the Manchester Microscopical Society, working on Celloidinized sections, found that the Celloidine was dissolved by practically all the samples of bergamot he tried as a clearing agent. He therefore consulted Mr. Charles Turner of the same society on the matter, who recommended Terpineol for clearing Celloidinized preparations. This agent has been thoroughly tested by both Mr. Newton, and also by ourselves in our own workrooms, and it is found quite satisfactory for the general work of the Microscopist”.

The 1911 national census showed that Albert and Jane continued to live apart, and keeping the same occupations. Jane now had a third daughter, born ca. 1904.

The Journal of Micrology published a note in 1915 on cilia of Volvox, “At a meeting of the Mounting Section of the Manchester Microscopical Society, Mr. Albert Newton gave a demonstration showing how to overcome the difficulty of making the cilia of Volvox globator visible when the alga was mounted. The material is passed through several changes of water until quite clean, and then fixed by the addition to the water of a few drops of a 1% solution of osmic acid. The organisms are then dried on the slip or cover glass and mounted dry in a cell made of a cardboard ring stuck to the slip and covered with asphaltum, the edges being left so that any moisture can dry out”.

Newton gave a demonstration on sectioning specimens for the microscope in 1917, which was highlighted in "i>The Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society.

Jane died in August, 1919. Albert remarried on July 17, 1920, to Alice Shaw. His daughter, Jennie, witnessed the wedding. On the marriage document, Albert stated that he was a “retired property agent”. The couple settled into Alice’s house in Dukinfield, Cheshire.

Albert Newton died at home in Dukinfield on August 13, 1950.

Figure 3. “Lilac flower bud”, stained and cut longitudinally by Albert Newton (see Figure 1). Imaged with transmitted light, a 3.5x objective lens, and C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope, from 4 overlapping photographs.

Resources

England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com

Flatters, Abraham (1910) The Hydrozoa, The Micrologist, page 80

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1884) Exchange offer from Albert Newton, page 24

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1885) Exchange offer from Albert Newton, page 24

Journal of Micrology (1915) Cilia of Volvox, page 162

Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (1917) Preparation of the knife for section cutting, page 166

Marriage record of Albert Newton and Jane Roebuck (1889) St. Thomas Parish Church, Manchester, accessed through ancestry.com

Marriage record of Albert Newton and Alice Shaw (1920) St. Luke Parish Church, Dukinfield, accessed through ancestry.com

Manchester Microscopical Society Annual Report and Transactions (1907) April 2 Exhibits, “Foot of Sarcophaga carnaria - Mr. Albert Newton”, pages 11-12

Manchester Microscopical Society Annual Report and Transactions (1908) Members, “1906, Newton, Albert, 76 (sic), Ryecroft Place, Ashton-under-Lyne” (actual address was 2 Ryecroft)

Manchester Microscopical Society Annual Report and Transactions (1908) February 1 Exhibits, “Mask of larva of dragon fly - Mr. Albert Newton”, pages 11-12

Manchester Microscopical Society Annual Report and Transactions (1908) Report of the Mounting Section, pages 23-24

Manchester Microscopical Society Annual Report and Transactions (1909) Report of the Mounting Section, pages 25-26

Manchester Microscopical Society Annual Report and Transactions (1916) Members, “1906, Newton, Albert, 7, Martin Street, Guide Bridge, near Manchester”

The Micrologist (1910) page 115

The Practical Naturalist (1983) The Practical Naturalist Society, members, “Albert Newton, 24, Ryecroft Place, Ashton-under-Lyne"

Probate of the will of Albert Newton (1950) “Newton Albert of 14 Combermere-street Dukinfield Cheshire died 13 August 1950 Adminstration (with Will) Manchester 6 November to Alice Newton widow. Effects £6783 16s 1d”, accessed through ancestry.com