Edgar Cuzner, 1880 - 1947

by Brian Stevenson
last updated January, 2026

Edgar Cuzner was a school teacher and amateur microscopist / photographer, being a long-term member of the Royal Microscopical Society and the Quekett Microscopical Club. His microscope slides are often well-finished (Figure 1). He used off-the-shelf labels for his slides, with his name usually hand-written on an oval white label. A number of lantern slides by Cuzner are known, and are generally of microscopical images (Figure 2).

Figure 1. Microscope slides by Edgar Cuzner. The slide on the left is dated 1911. The slide on the right is labeled with “E. Cuzner, F.R.M.S.”, indicating production after 1913, when he joined the Royal Microscopical Society. Cuzner was especially interested in hydrozoa and other aquatic organisms, such as the specimen in the right-hand slide, which was originally mounted in 4.5% formalin, but has long since dried out.

Figure 2. Magic lantern slides that were made by Edgar Cuzner from photographs that he took through a microscope. The bottom two slides are color images of crystals visualized between crossed polarizing filters. The slides are not dated, but Cuzner is known to have exhibited lantern slides that match these descriptions in 1917-1919. Adapted for nonprofit, educational purposes.

Edgar Cuzner was born on August 13, 1880, in Beckington, Somerset. He was a twin, with brother Horace also living a full life. They were children of George and Clara Lavinia (nee Naish) Cuzner. An elder brother had been born about one year earlier, and a younger brother followed in two years. Father George was an iron and brass worker. The 1891 national census recorded the Cuzner family as living two doors down from “The Academy”, a school that was operated by George’s father, Daniel Cuzner. That early exposure to academics may have influenced Edgar’s decision to teach school.

Edgar was not with his parents and siblings at the time of the 1901 national census, and is not recognizable in records elsewhere. It may be that the twenty year-old was student-teaching elsewhere in the country. He shows up in the 1905 elections register of London, renting “one room, first floor, furnished” at 36 Trothy Road, Bermondsey, Southwark, London. He lived at that address through the mid-1920s. He was probably teaching school at that time, with a 1907 record noting that he worked at Peckham Secondary School. In addition, he was still taking classes, passing the Stage 1 examination in general biology in 1907. The 1911 census listed his occupation as “assistant school teacher, London Council”. A colleague later recalled that Cuzner “was a skilful artist, in fact, it was as an art master that he started life, though he later taught other subjects”.

Cuzner joined the Quekett Microscopical Club on May 18, 1906, and was elected Fellow of the Royal Microscopical Society in 1913. His obituary in The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club noted that, “Mr. Cuzner … was a familiar and popular figure at meetings for many years. His interests were many and included photomicrography, marine biology and chess. He had specialized in the study of the Hydrozoa and had mounted many fine specimens … Stereoscopic photography and the drawing of complex stereoscopic geometric designs attracted him, as did the preparation of cellophane designs for large polariscopes”.

The Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club also noted that “during the 1914-81 war (Cuzner) was one of the team of Club members who went round from camp to camp, transporting heavy equipment, lecturing in army recreation huts on the popular and spectacular side of microscopy”.

Further combining his interests in microscopy and education, Edgar Cuzner gave a presentation at the first meeting of the School Nature Study Union’s Microscopic Section in October, 1914. The group’s journal summarized this, “From the dimly-lighted streets, away from the shrill cries of the newsboys, far from the noise of the traffic into a room of peace, with many people gazing at marvellous sights not to be seen without the aid of a microscope, was the scene upon which one gazed at the inaugural meeting of the Microscopic Section of the School Nature Study Union. The meeting was held on October 28th, at Graystoke Place Day Training College. The meeting proved a great success. A general talk preceded the lecture, which was opened by Miss Holmer, Chairman of the Section, who explained what were the aims and hopes of the Section. Dr. Tierney spoke briefly on the work which is possible with a very simply constructed microscope. A lecture was given by Mr. E. Cuzner, F.R.M.S., who, with the aid of some excellent lantern slides, and a large number of instruments of all kinds, demonstrated the structure and use of the microscope”. In addition, “Several members of the Quekett Microscopical Club were present, and during the evening initiated beginners into the mysteries of the work. Among the members of the club who gave valuable help were Messrs. Banham, Taylor, Cook, Coxhead, Emsley, Rev. F.R. Jones and Rev. Whitfield. These gentlemen brought their own microscopes and many slides, also many specimens of pond life from their own aquaria. Messrs. Watson and Sons lent microscopes and various pieces of apparatus used in the work. There were also exhibited a large number of excellent micro-photographs taken by Mr. Cuzner and members of the club. At the end of the lecture, the meeting resolved itself into a conversational one, and beginners received valuable help from the specialists present”.

Interest in photography led Cuzner to also join the Photomicrographic Society, a group devoted to photographing objects through microscopes. He made numerous presentations through the years, including “slides of photomicrographs of various crystals under polarized light, also various treble stained sections, etc., taken on Paget colour-plates” (February 28, 1917), “a number of lantern slides of groups of diatoms under ordinary and dark-ground illumination” (March 12, 1919) and “stereo-photomicrographs and transparencies of diatoms and marine biological subjects, also lantern slides of photomicrographs on the Paget colour-plate” (May 28, 1919) (see Figure 2).

At a 1920 meeting of the Royal Microscopical Society, Cuzner exhibited “microscopic marine studies and stereoscopic transparencies of the same”. In 1921, he presented microscope slides of “larva of May-Fly ; also Hydra fusca and Chara delicatula in fruit”.

Cuzner’s many interests included entomology; in 1919 he advertised to sell a “Watkins & Doncaster 14-drawer insect cabinet, containing 600 specimens of British butterflies and moths; good condition, £5”.

He gave a lecture to the Quekett Microscopical Club on May 9, 1922, on "Some studies in marine zoology", “with the aid of lantern-slides, stereo-photomicrographs, and prints, as well as many of the objects themselves that were shown under microscopes in the meeting room”. He presented a talk on “The respiration of aquatic organisms” on January 8, 1924.

Cuzner published an article entitled “A fascinating sea-shore study” in Watson's Microscope Record in 1924.

During the mid-1920s, Cuzner moved to Goodmayes, Essex. In the late 1930s, he moved to Surbiton, Surrey, living with his twin brother, Horace, and his family. Edgar Cuzner never married.

Cuzner’s obituary in the 1947 Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club stated, “he went to Wales two years ago, but his health, which had not been good for years, did not improve and, on 7 February 1947, he died at Ferndale, Glamorgan, aged 67 years.”

Figure 3. “Marram Grass ‘Ammophila arundiacea’, T.S. of leaf”, prepared in 1911 by Edgar Cuzner (see Figure 1). The plant is now known as "Ammophila arenaria". Imaged with a 10x objective lens and C-mounted digital SLR camera on a Leitz Ortholux II microscope, with (left) normal transmitted light, and (right) between crossed polarizing filters.

Resources

Cuzner, Edgar (1924) A fascinating sea-shore study, Watson’s Microscopical Record, pages 10-12

England census and other records, accessed through ancestry.com

English Mechanic and World of Science (1922) Sale offer from Edgar Cuzner, “Biss Photo-micrographic Apparatus, Biss Thorium Disc Lamp, and many Accessories, as described by F. C. Lambert, M.A., F.R.P.S., in Knowledge, Sept., 1913, £15-£18, according to accessories taken. Seen by appointment.-E. CUZNER, F.R.M.S., 36, Trothy Road, Bermondsey, S.E.1”, September 15 issue, page iii

Herlihy, Edward P. (1947) Edgard Cuzner, F.R.M.S., 1880-1947, Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club, pages 226-227

Journal of the Photomicrographic Society (1916) Minutes of April 26 meeting, page 67

Journal of the Photomicrographic Society (1917) Minutes of February 28 meeting, pages 32-33

Journal of the Photomicrographic Society (1919) Minutes of March 12 and May 28 meetings, pages 34 and 50-51

Journal of the Photomicrographic Society (1919) Sale and Exchange section, page 59

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1906) Minutes of the meeting of May 18, page 440

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1906) Members, “May 18, 1906 Cuzner, Edgar, 36, Trothy Road, Bermondsey, SE”

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1922) Minutes of the meeting of May 9, pages 362-364

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1922) Members, “May 18, 1906 Cuzner, Edgar, F.R.M.S., 36, Trothy Road, Bermondsey, S.E.1”

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1924) Minutes of the meeting of January 8, pages 118-120

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1927) Members, “May 18, 1906 Cuzner, Edgar, F.R.M.S., 13, Abbotsford Road, Goodmayes, Essex”

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1936) Members, “May 18, 1906 Cuzner, Edgar, F.R.M.S., 13, Abbotsford Road, Goodmayes, Essex”

Journal of the Quekett Microscopical Club (1939) Members, “May 18, 1906 Cuzner, Edgar, F.R.M.S., 174, Ewell Road, Surbiton, Essex”

Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (1920) Minutes of the December 15 meeting, pages 105-107

Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (1921) Minutes of the May 18 meeting, pages 218-220

Journal of the Royal Microscopical Society (1921) Ordinary Fellows, “1913 Cuzner, Edgar. 36, Trothy-road, Bermondsey, S.E.”

The London County Council Gazette (1907) Teachers’ classes – results of Board of Education examinations, 1907, page 192

London Electoral Registers (1905 and following years) accessed through ancestry.com

Probate of the will of Edgar Cuzner (1947) “Cuzner Edgar of 68 Duffryn-street Ferndale Glamorganshire died 7 February 1947 Probate Llandaff 20 March to Wilfred Jones gents outfitter. Effects £1528 8s 3d”, accessed through ancestry.com

School Nature Study (1914) The Microscopic Section, Vol. 9, page 107