Thomas Turnell, 1861 - 1951

by Brian Stevenson
last updated January, 2024

Thomas Turnell was a pharmaceutical chemist, and exhibited interest in microscopy from around 1884 through 1899. His well-made microscope slides with personalized labels and neatly-written descriptions probably date from that time (Figures 1 and 2).

Figure 1. Dry-mount slide of foraminifera and sand from the west coast of Ireland, prepared ca. 1884 – 1899 by Tom Turnell.

Figure 2. Foraminifera and sand from Ireland. Imaged with a 3.5x objective lens, oblique lighting and a C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope.

Turnell seems to have preferred the first name “Tom”. He was born in early January, 1861, third child of Jabez and Louisa Turnell, in Guyhirn, Cambridgeshire. The Turnells were a fairly affluent farming family, with censuses recording their property to be 100-150 acres. The 1871 census reports that all 6 of the Turnell children were “scholars”, meaning that they went to school, rather than working at jobs, as would lower class children. The farm hired two men and a boy to assist with chores.

Tom Turnell began training as a pharmaceutical chemist during the mid-1870s. The 1881 census reported that he was a “chemist’s assistant” in Lambeth, London.

During 1884, Turnell advertised to sell or exchange microscope slides, which he presumably made himself (Figure 3). He was then working in the chemist’s shop of Daniel White, at 19 Park Terrace, Regent’s Park, London. Pharmaceutical chemists of the time often sold microscopy supplies, including pre-made slides, which may have inspired Turnell’s interest. The three exchange/sale offers of 1884 that are shown in Figure 3 are the only such advertisements that I located for that time period, which suggests that Turnell’s attempts to sell and trade slides was relatively short lived.

By early 1886, Turnell had moved to Stroud, Kent, where he managed a chemist’s shop. In March of that year, Tom married Sarah Ann Speechly. They had one child, Beatrice May, born in July, 1887.

During the mid-1890s, the Turnells moved to Brasted, Kent, where Tom took ownership of a chemist’s business on High Street.

In 1899, Turnell sought to sell “a fine binocular microscope by Crouch, with numerous accessories”, and a “walnut cabinet and about 600 slides”. This implies that Turnell had continued his microscopical interests since 1884, and had made / acquired a large number of slides, while also suggesting that he now wanted to quit that hobby. Framed by his earlier exchange/sale offers, I suggest that Tom Turnell was actively making microscope slides between 1884 and 1899, and that surviving slides date from that time period.

The 1901 census listed Turnell’s occupation as “chemist and photographer”. I located two examples of his landscape photography in a book on Westerham, Kent (Figure 4).

A 1921 directory indicated that Turnell’s was the only chemist’s shop in Brasted. He sold the business in 1922.

Sarah Ann Turnell died in early 1939. Their daughter, Beatrice, remained single and took care of her father.

Tom Turnell died on September 30, 1951, when he was 90 years old.

Figure 3. Exchange and sale offers from Tom Turnell, published in 1884 and 1889.

Figure 4. Brasted Green, photographed by Tom Turnell ca. 1899. From “Wolfe-land: A Handbook to Westerham and Its Surroundings”.

References

England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com

English Mechanic and Mirror of Science (1884) Exchange and sale offers from Tom Turnell, Vol. 39, May 23 issue, pages v and vi

Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip (1884) Exchange offer from Tom Turnell, page 96

Kelly's Directory of Chemists and Druggists (1921) page 89

The Pharmaceutical Journal and Transactions (1875) Preliminary examinations, page 71

Probate of the will of Thomas Turnell (1951) “Turnell Tom of 7 Wynn-road Whitstable Kent died 30 September 1951 Probate London 17 January to Beatrice May Turnell spinster. Effects £5203 1s”, accessed through ancestry.com

The Registers of Pharmaceutical Chemists and Chemists and Druggists (1885) page 27

Science-Gossip (1899) Exchange offer from Tom Turnell, New series, Vol. 5, page 352

Thompson, Gibson (1899) Wolfe-land: A Handbook to Westerham and Its Surroundings, J.A. Hughes, Westerham, pages 13 and 25

Transactions of the Pharmaceutical Meetings (1922) “Mr. T. Turnell, of Brasted, Sevenoaks, has disposed of his business to Mr. W. R. Moore, of Folkestone”, Vol. 55, page 18