Microscope Museum

Collection of antique microscopes and other scientific instruments

 

      

Microscope 129 (Cooke, Troughton and Simms; general purpose microscope M102; early 1930s)

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The parent British companies of Cooke, Troughton and Simms Ltd. had a long history with John Troughton (senior) opening a business as an instrument maker in 1756. William Simms became a partner of Edward Troughton, and the name of Troughton and Simms was established in 1824. CTS was formed in York when Thomas Cooke and Sons Ltd (founded in 1837 and controlled by Vickers since 1915) purchased Troughton and Simms Ltd in 1922. The company was completely taken over by Vickers in 1924 but retained their own name. In 1963 they became part of Vickers Instruments Ltd. Cooke, Troughton and Simms Ltd. ceased trading in 1988. The company had a systematic way of designating their microscope range:  M1005/1025 (student's microscope), M1000 (general purpose microscope; introduced 1946); M2000 (microscope for routine and research investigations; introduced 1942); M3000 (as for the M2000 but with vertical adjustment to the stage; introduced 1946); M4000 (universal stand for visual and photographic examination; introduced 1944); M6000 (stereoscopic microscope; introduced 1946); M7000 (polarising microscope; introduced 1947). Microscope 129 is signed on the tube by ‘Cooke, Troughton and Simms Ltd., York, England’. Also engraved on the tube is ‘Distributers, Hawksley & Sons Ltd., London, W.I.’. There is also indication in several places of the microscope and its wooden box that this instrument belonged to the Botanical Department of Leeds University. The serial number is 921, which is different from the serial number system explained above. The microscope should be dated from the early 1930s and corresponds to the CTS’s general-purpose microscope M102 (Figure 1).

 

 

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Figure 1. CTS’s general-purpose microscope M102 as pictured in a catalogue from the company from the 1930s.

 

References

The Cooke, Troughton and Simms M2000 (http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artsep98/cts.html), last accessed on 21.09.2020

 

LAST EDITED: 26.07.2021