Andrew Pritchard

FRSE Fellowship of the Royal Society of Edinburgh (FRSE) is an award granted to individuals that the Royal Society of Edinburgh, Scotland's national academy of science and letters, judged to be "eminently distinguished in their subject". This soci ...

(14 December 1804 – 24 November 1882) was an English naturalist and natural history dealer who made significant improvements to

microscopy Microscopy is the technical field of using microscopes to view objects and areas of objects that cannot be seen with the naked eye (objects that are not within the resolution range of the normal eye). There are three well-known branches of micr ...

and studied microscopic organisms. His belief that God and nature were one led him to the Unitarians, a religious movement to which he and his family devoted much energy. He became a leading member of Newington Green Unitarian Church in north London, and worked to build a school there.

Early life

Andrew Pritchard was born in Hackney, then a village just north of

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on 14 December 1804, the son of John Pritchard and his wife, Ann Fleetwood. He was educated at

St Saviour's Grammar School St Saviour's Grammar School was a free grammar school for boys located in the borough of Southwark, south of the River Thames in London, England. It existed as a separate entity from 1559 until 1896, when it was amalgamated with St Olave's Gra ...

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

Microscopy

Pritchard set up as an optician, and also sold

microscopes A microscope () is a laboratory instrument used to examine objects that are too small to be seen by the naked eye. Microscopy is the science of investigating small objects and structures using a microscope. Microscopic means being invisibl ...

and microslide preparations. These slides he prepared by studying the microscopic organisms that he saw, and identifying and labelling them. Starting in 1830, he collaborated with C.R. Goring to produce beautifully illustrated books showing the " animalcules" visible through the microscope. His shops were in

central London Central London is the innermost part of London, in England, spanning several boroughs. Over time, a number of definitions have been used to define the scope of Central London for statistics, urban planning and local government. Its characteris ...

, more towards The City than the West End, variously at 162

Fleet Street Fleet Street is a major street mostly in the City of London. It runs west to east from Temple Bar at the boundary with the City of Westminster to Ludgate Circus at the site of the London Wall and the River Fleet from which the street was na ...

, Pickett Street and 312 & 263 The Strand. The ''

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography The ''Dictionary of National Biography'' (''DNB'') is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'' (''ODNB'') was published on 23 September ...

'' says his ''List of 2000 Microscopic Objects'' (1835) "is very important in the history of microscopy... his ''History of the Infusoria'' (1841) was long a standard work, and the impetus it gave to the study of biological science cannot be overestimated." (" Infusoria" is a term then current for aquatic micro-organisms.) This latter book was enlarged and revised by

John Ralfs John Ralfs (13 September 1807 – 14 July 1890) was an English botanist. Born in Millbrook, near Southampton, he was the second son of Samuel Ralfs, a yeoman of an old family in Hampshire. He has been commemorated in the names of many plant gro ...

and other botanists; Pritchard in turn condensed Ralfs's contribution on the diatomaceæ (

diatom A diatom (Neo-Latin ''diatoma''), "a cutting through, a severance", from el, διάτομος, diátomos, "cut in half, divided equally" from el, διατέμνω, diatémno, "to cut in twain". is any member of a large group comprising sev ...

s, a type of

phytoplankton Phytoplankton () are the autotrophic (self-feeding) components of the plankton community and a key part of ocean and freshwater ecosystems. The name comes from the Greek words (), meaning 'plant', and (), meaning 'wanderer' or 'drifter'. Ph ...

), and wrote many books and articles on "natural history as seen through the microscope, on optical instruments, and on patents"

Religious ties

Pritchard held various Dissenting religious views over his lifetime, holding that science and religion were one. Through the Varleys he attended a Sandemanian church, where he became acquainted with

Michael Faraday Michael Faraday (; 22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English scientist who contributed to the study of electromagnetism and electrochemistry. His main discoveries include the principles underlying electromagnetic inducti ...

. In the end he joined a Unitarian congregation, because religious freedom and self-improvement were the watchwords of

the movement The Movement may refer to: Politics * The Movement (Iceland), a political party in Iceland * The Movement (Israel), a political party in Israel, led by Tzipi Livni * Civil rights movement, the African-American political movement * The Movemen ...

, which still struggled against

civil disabilities Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and political life of ...

. Money aside, Pritchard would not have been able to attend an English university as a young man, for example, because the only two, Oxford and Cambridge, restricted entry to members of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

. "No-one exists divorced from immediate and larger social environments. Dissenters led educational reform, especially in giving "lower orders" scientific knowledge and skill." Pritchard joined the congregation of Newington Green Unitarian Church, an establishment long connected with scientific enquiry (

Joseph Priestley Joseph Priestley (; 24 March 1733 – 6 February 1804) was an English chemist, natural philosopher, separatist theologian, grammarian, multi-subject educator, and liberal political theorist. He published over 150 works, and conducted exp ...

), education (

Mary Wollstonecraft Mary Wollstonecraft (, ; 27 April 1759 – 10 September 1797) was a British writer, philosopher, and advocate of women's rights. Until the late 20th century, Wollstonecraft's life, which encompassed several unconventional personal relationsh ...

), and political dissent ( Richard Price). He is described in the church's history as "the leading member of the congregation". From 1850 to 1873 he was its treasurer, during which time donations doubled. Before the passage of the

Elementary Education Act 1870 The Elementary Education Act 1870, commonly known as Forster's Education Act, set the framework for schooling of all children between the ages of 5 and 12 in England and Wales. It established local education authorities with defined powers, autho ...

compulsory schooling Compulsory education refers to a period of education that is required of all people and is imposed by the government. This education may take place at a registered school or Homeschooling, at other places. Compulsory school attendance or compuls ...

did not exist, so the church started a school to offer education to the village children. He led the Newington Green Conversation Society, membership restricted to 16, a successor to the Mutual Instruction Society. Faraday was a frequent visitor.

Death

Pritchard died in Highbury in London on 24 November 1882.

Family

He married Caroline Isabella Straker in 1829 and they had several children. His wife was chair of the chapel organisation, and after a few decades there were 20 Pritchards involved in the chapel. Their son Henry Baden Pritchard (1841–1884) was a chemist, traveller, and photographer. Their son Andrew Goring Pritchard, a solicitor, was a leading light of the Association of Municipal Corporations; his son, Clive Fleetwood Pritchard, a barrister, became mayor of

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, and extends from Watling Street, the A5 road (Roman Watling Street) to Hampstead Heath, a large, hilly expanse of parkland. The area forms the northwest part of the Lon ...

; ''his'' son Jack Pritchard (1899-1992) co-founded the

Isokon The London-based Isokon firm was founded in 1929 by the English entrepreneur Jack Pritchard and the Canadian architect Wells Coates to design and construct modernist houses and flats, and furniture and fittings for them. Originally called Wells ...

design company, famous for the

Lawn Road Flats Isokon Flats, also known as Lawn Road Flats and the Isokon building, on Lawn Road in the Belsize Park district of the London Borough of Camden, is a reinforced concrete block of 36 flats (originally 32), designed by Canadian engineer Wells Coa ...

. Andrew and Caroline's son, Ion (died 1929) and daughter Marian (died 1908), continued the work of their parents at the Newington Green Unitarian Church. The cause of

liberal religion Religious liberalism is a conception of religion (or of a particular religion) which emphasizes personal and group liberty and rationality. It is an attitude towards one's own religion (as opposed to criticism of religion from a secular position, ...

in general, and the development of the General Assembly of Unitarian and Free Christian Churches, were overarching themes. Ion was President of the Sunday School Association, one of the precursors to the General Assembly. Marian in particular is described as an unsung heroine, and "one of the leaders of modern Unitarianism". She set up Oxford Summer Schools for the training of Sunday School teachers, and Winifred House Invalid Children's Convalescent Home.Thorncroft, p28, and throughout ch7 "The Lights Go Out".

Works

*1830 with C.R. Goring. ''Microscopic illustrations of a few new, popular and diverting living objects with their natural history'' London, Whittaker, Treacher, & Co *1834 ''The natural history of animalcules : containing descriptions of all the known species of Infusoria : with instructions for procuring and viewing them'' London, Whittaker and Co. *1837 with C.R. Goring. ''Micrographia : containing practical essays on reflecting, solar, oxy-hydrogen gas microscopes; micrometers; eye-pieces, &c. &c.'' London, Whittaker & Co. *1847 MICROSCOPIC OBJECTS, animal vegetable mineral *1854 with C.R. Goring. ''Notes on aquatic microscopic subjects of natural history : selected from the 'Microscopic Cabinet' ...illustrated by ten coloured engravings'' London : Whittaker & Co.

References

Sources

*Bracegirdle, Brian (1998) ''Microscopical Mounts and Mounters'', Quekett Microscopical Club, London *Nuttall, Robert (2006) "Marketing the achromatic microscope: Andrew Pritchard’s engiscope", ''Quekett Journal of Microscopy'', 40:309–330.

External links

Special collection at the Whipple Library
Early 19th-century natural history and the diamond lens microscope: microscope books of Dr C.R. Goring (1792–1840) and Andrew Pritchard (1804–1882)

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pritchard, Andrew English naturalists

Optics Optics is the branch of physics that studies the behaviour and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behaviour of visible, ultraviole ...

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