{"id":21,"date":"2026-08-13T15:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-08-13T15:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gk5l0g06kd.onrocket.site\/?page_id=21"},"modified":"2026-09-13T15:58:28","modified_gmt":"2026-09-13T15:58:28","slug":"history","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.prior.com\/ja\/about\/history\/","title":{"rendered":""},"content":{"rendered":"
Home<\/a><\/span> \u00bb About<\/a><\/span> \u00bb History<\/span><\/span><\/div>\n\n\n

History<\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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1919<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W.R Prior Co LTD was founded in London by Walter Robert Prior and Andrew Physicks as a manufacturer of microscopes.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1941<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During WW2 the Blitz destroyed the factory building. The company subsequently relocated to a new facility in Bishop\u2019s Stortford.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1947<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Marked the passing of Walter Robert Prior.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1953<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W.R Prior Co LTD began manufacturing a variety of micromanipulators for several well-known and established companies, including the likes of Marconi.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1956<\/p>\n\n\n\n

W.R Prior Co LTD relocated to a new state-of the art factory on London Road, Bishop\u2019s Stortford.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1957<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Both the science master microscope and the Prior monocular dissecting microscope were widely supplied for educational use.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1962<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior supplied the imperial Cancer Research Fund in London with the Mark 2 version of their modular inverted microscope.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1970<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction of the modular Priorlux laboratory microscope.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1975<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Leading the market with cost effective solutions, Prior introduced their new Student 400 series microscope at a fraction of the average microscope cost, opening the doors for more young aspiring scientists.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1978<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Douglas Fielding, who has been an investor in the McArthur microscope, purchased W.R. Prior Co LTD. The Company was then changed to Prior Scientific Instruments LTD.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1980<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. Fielding purchased James Swift & Sons, a leading polarizing microscope manufacturer, and merged the two companies.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1981<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior launched a new modular series of Stereomicroscopes \u2013 the S2000 series, further showing their commitment to customizable OEM solutions.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1984<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first handheld fiber optic inspection microscope was manufactured in collaboration with British Telecom (BT).<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1987<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior manufactured their first motorized XY microscope stage. Made for FOSS electric, revolutionizing the methods of screening milk for bacteria samples.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1988<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Disaster struck and a fire destroyed the Bishop\u2019s Stortford factory building. Prior relocated to its present home in Fulbourn, located just outside of Cambridge, UK.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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1991<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior expanded its presence in the USA with a new facility in Rockland, Massachusetts.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2008<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior opened an office in Jena, Germany and launched their PL200 Robotic Slide Loader.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2010<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior Scientific Instruments opened an office in Tokyo, Japan.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2014<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior introduced its first linear motor stage, the HLD117.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior Scientific Instruments LTD purchased Queensgate Instruments and opened an office in Suzhou, China.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior Scientific Instruments LTD celebrated its 100th year in business.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The PureFocus850 laser autofocus system was launched.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2020<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The OpenStand modular imaging system was launched.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2022<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SL160 Slide Loader was launched.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n
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\"Kinetic<\/figure>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior Scientific acquired Kinetic Systems Inc, a vibration isolation specialist based in Boston, MA.<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n
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Events and Exhibitions<\/h2>\n\n\n
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\"Red,<\/a><\/figure>

09\/09\/2026<\/p>

China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE) 2026<\/h3>
View Event<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\"Colourful<\/a><\/figure>

10\/09\/2026<\/p>

Chinese Neuroscience Society 2026<\/h3>
View Event<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\"W3+<\/a><\/figure>

23\/09\/2026<\/p>

W3+ Fair<\/h3>
View Event<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n
\"Semicon<\/a><\/figure>

13\/10\/2026<\/p>

Semicon West<\/h3>
View Event<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
View All Events<\/a><\/div><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

History Events and Exhibitions 09\/09\/2026 China International Optoelectronic Expo (CIOE) 2026 10\/09\/2026 Chine […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":9,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-21","page","type-page","status-publish","entry","has-post-thumbnail"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nHistory | Prior Scientific<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Prior Scientific has manufactured microscopes and optical imaging equipment since 1919. 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