NOTES AND QUERIES

Whilst looking for the origin of the 1684 Wymondham Harris-Glasspoole organ (Reporter Vol. 1, 4 and Vol. 2, 1) I found that somewhere near the turn of the cen- tury an old organ, which had been taken down and stored by Rector Scott of Orford when the west gallery was removed during the usual 'restoration' of the church, was sold 'for a very small sum' by his successor. Since then, successive rectors have been trying to find out about it and where it went, without result. From my original informant came a note written in 1944 by someone who had seen it. "The old case was made of oak and the front gold pipes in good order. . .well made and good carving. . . it is most deplorable that such a fine case should be almost given away. " On being shown Freeman's book on organ cases he had picked out Enfield and S. Botolph Aldgate as being "something like'' Orford. This is a bit contradic- tory '. But as Aldgate is a Harris, I wrote to the Rector of Orford to ask whether 1684 had-any significance there, and was there any picture ? From a kind reply via the organist I gather that nothing has yet come to light about the organ: but an inscription survives - "'This organ and gallery were erected at the sole expense of the Rt. Hon. Francis, Earl of Hertford. 1772.'' So - unless the organ came from elsewhere in 1772, we have not stumbled upon the source of the Glasspoole instru- ment, and it is to be hoped that we may be able to unearth something for Orford.
As regards these East Anglian queries, it is just possible that the papers and pho- tographs collected by the late John Rayson the tenth, organ builder of Ipswich, might contain some clues if we could only find out where they went.
A picture is enquired for of the Jordan organ in S. Antholin, Watling Street destroy- ed in 1875. Hilary Davidson is anxious to trace any descendants of John Gibson (1815-1892) brother-in-law of G. F. Bodley, who was Rector of Kings Stanley 1858- 1886, where he designed the organ and supervised its construction in the rectory stable loft by Liddiatt, the local carpenter, who was thus launched on his organ- building career.
Various other enquiries about builders have come in - can anyone help ? Mr. Ac- ton of Nottingham is believed to have purchased an historic organ second-hand in 1842. Who was he, and what did he do with this old Swarbrick from Stratford-on Avon ? Other builders enquired about include Thomas Matthews of London; James Newth of Dusley (Berkeley, 1838) ; Hadfield & Earee (Ampfield) of 199 Hackney Road, and T . Jennings (Salford , Beds) of the same address; R. Ryecroft ; E. Ken- dall of Kensington; William Sprague of Finsbury Pavement; all more or less early nineteenth century: three Bristol men, Lane (Chepstow 1820); S. Palmer (Mister- ton 1880); and Keeler: Thomas Chanatt (Fradswell, 1869); G. Hawkins of New- ton Abbot; and E. R.Tyrrell of S. Ives, Cambs.
I found a John Keeler 1831 at Chepstow Roman Catholic in 1 945; the late A. R. Davies, Canon of St Albans, told me that at his first incumbency of Comberton , near Cambridge, a war-memorial organ was installed by Tyrrell in 1920, and that Hilton was also by him; Kendall was ''near the Church, Kensington" and made a chamber organ now in S.Paul's Cathedral . Otherwise, I cannot say anything about those listed.
It is noticeable that the queries are usually about small or unknown men. This is natural, for there is something to work on with the better-known ones, but nothing at all with the others, some of whom come to light with small organs of good qual- ity and some with near-rubbish. However, there are numerous tangled problems about the famous ones.
For example, the Englands. There were three - John, George, and George Pike. George and John were almost certainly brothers, and such an indeterminate phrase as "the elder England'' might refer to either, though it is always assumed to mean George - probably because, until recently, John had slipped from notice (1). Georg Pike has been assumed to be the son of George. But by his own evidence this is not so. He built an organ in 1791 for the Adelphi Chapel . This chapel was moved to Hackney Road, opposite the hospital, and the organ rebuilt by Eagles. The build-ing ultimately became a cinema, and when the organ was dismantled a trade card was found and came into the possession of Noel Mander. It reads "son and success- or and late partner to John England. "
This information has been made public on numerous occasions in the last two d cades, and is noted in Sumner (2), but not all writers have yet caught up with it. More problems follow. George is said by Grove, by H. & R. (3), and by Freeman (1) to have been apprentice and son-in-law to Bridge, himself said by Rimbault (4) to have been apprenticed to Renatus Harris . G. P. has been claimed to be Bridge's grandson; but unless this is an assumption from the idea that he was George's son, which seems most likely, it can only have been true if it were John who married Miss Bridge - unless there was a double wedding'. But an old cutting, source un- known, apparently quoting from an unspecified nineteenth century account of the Great Yarmouth organ, says that G. P. E . was grandson of Jordan.
I suppose this could have been an assumption; when he worked on it in 1812 he might
have remembered that his grandfather built it in 1732. The consortium Byfield, Jor dan. & Bridge seems to have been involved (5) but the actual contract was signed by Jordan, and the local press spoke of it as by "Messieurs Jordan and Harris" (6). But it could be fact. We know that G. P's mother was Miss Pike. Could her mo- ther have been a Jordan? The again, a writer in the Christian Remembrancer in 1834, with reference to S.Stephen Walbrook, says that "England" was apprentice to Shrider , presumably the elder, and this is repeated in the Musical Journal in 1841 (7). To add to the melange, Jordan Junior and the Shriders were in some sort of partnership (8) from about 1727 till Jordan's death, as, apparently, was Jordan Junior with John Harris 1732-1741 - for example, an estimate was not accepted at S. Helen Bishopgate from "Abra Jordan John Harris & Co. " signed ''A. Jordan & Comp, " and dated from Budge Row "March ye 2 1741" (9). To add fur- ther complications, John Harris and John Byfield were said to be in partnership 1724-1743, and in 1742, Jordan and Bridge worked together at Exeter (10).
Some links were doubtless temporary and ad hoc; some overlap confusingly; and church accounts sometimes only enter the partner who dealt with them on the busi- ness side, which can mislead. It is clear that a lot of sorting out needs to be done. To return to the Englands, the tangles do not cease with G. P. E's death. On his plate at Midsomer Norton Methodist W. A. A. Nicholls claims to be "son-in-law and successor to the late Mr. G. P. England. " James Butler, another of G. P's men, having started on his own in 1821, claimed to have taken over from Nicholls in 1823 (11). J. W. Walker was apprentice to Nicholls, says Grove, and succeeded him. It has also been claimed that Walker was apprenticed to England. George
Parsons on his trade card inside the organ at the Finnish Chapel in Cardiff, calls himself "Conductor of the Business of the late celebrated Mr. G. P. England for 14 years" (12).
But enough, before we become totally obfuscated. And as we started with Renatus Harris , let us end with him. The late A. G. Hoar in 1934 visited Wood Street Congregational, Barnet, and was told that a recent organist, Mr. C.W.Harris, was a descendant of Renatus.

Notes

(1) Organ XX pp. 137-9
(2) 4th edition, p. 177
(3) H. & R. 1877 p.154
(4) op. cit. p. 144
(5) Pearce Notes p. 88
(6) Norwich Gazette 8.December 1733
(7) Vol. I, p. 163
(8) Musical News II ppl37-8
11 July 1903; 27 Feb 1909, re Westminster AbbAey;
(9) Cox, J.E. Annals of St. Helen's Bishopgate (1876) ppl52-155
(10) Cathedral Chapter Act-Book No. 10
(11) Musical Standard 2 Feb 1863 (obituary); All Hallows the Great, Vestry Min-utes 1786-1833 p.465 (1827).
(12) ex inf R.U.Gill, organ-builder, Cardiff, in 1954

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