Cracknell Road Uniting Church, Annerley
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
Cracknell Road Uniting Church, Annerley
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 1989, 2007, 2011 (last updated August 2011)
The organ formerly in this church is currently in storage. It was built originally for the Wharf Street Congregational Church, Brisbane, which had been opened in 1860, enlarged in 1872 and renovated in 1883 with the addition of a schoolroom.1
Wharf Street Congregational Church, Brisbane, c.1909
[Photograph: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland]
An organ for the Wharf Street church was described in January 1899 as 'nearing completion' in the workshop of Messrs Whitehouse & Marlor of George Street, Brisbane, where it was being built 'directly under the personal supervision' of Mr B.B. Whitehouse:
ROUND THE SHOPS.
MESSRS. WHITEHOUSE AND MARLOR.
One of the business features of the New Year is the important stock of pianos and musical instruments now on view at the establishment of Messrs. Whitehouse and Marlor, of George-street, and immediately opposite the Treasury Building. The firm are agents for the famous Bell planes, which for durability, tone, and workmanship are said to occupy a high position. True, there are many other patterns of pianos to choose from, all possessing that brilliancy of tone and finish characteristic of up-to-date pianos. The organ department is also a branch of the business in which Messrs. Whitehouse and Marlor excel. At the present time they are building a large two-manual and pedal pipe organ to the order of the Wharf-street Congregational Church. The instrument, which is nearing completion, is built entirely of Queensland timbers, and is being constructed directly under the personal supervision of Mr. B. B. Whitehouse, one of the great "Willis" men, which fact justifies the expectation of the success of the Instrument. Mr. J. S. Marlor, the well-known and popular flautist, has charge of the military and orchestral instrument department, where some finely finished instruments are on view, stamped with the renowned name of Rudall, Carie and Co., London. Included in Messrs. Whitehouse and Marlor's large and varied musical stock are violins by G. Mougenot, maker to the Royal Conservatoire of Music, Brussels. Accordions and other popular goods are in strong evidence, and have been imported direct from the factories.2
This report reveals, interestingly, that Benjamin B. Whitehouse claimed his organ-building lineage from the Willis firm. Having arrived in Brisbane in 1883, he had worked initially for two other firms before setting up his own business in 1895, and then forming a business partnership in 1896 with John S. Marlor as 'Whitehouse & Marlor' at 185 George Street, Brisbane. This partnership continued until September 1902, when the firm became known as 'B.B. Whitehouse & Co.' at the same address.3 Benjamin was joined in Brisbane in 1897 by his younger brother, Joseph Howell Whitehouse (1874-1954),4 who was also undoubtedly involved in the construction of the Wharf Street instrument. Although it was described at the time as having been built by 'Whitehouse & Marlor,' both in The Brisbane Courier and in the church records,5 it bears the unique nameplate 'B.B.Whitehouse, Organ Builder, Brisbane'.
The builder's nameplate on the organ
[Photograph by John Maidment (October 2007)]
The organ was opened with a sacred concert on Thursday 16 March 1899.6 The organist for the occasion was Mr S. G. Benson, R.A.M. (at that time organist of the Albert Street Methodist Church in Brisbane), and he was joined by Miss Theo. Benson (violinist), Mr J. Marlor (flautist), four vocal soloists and the church choir. Organ works in the programme included Wely's Grande Offertoire, Guilmant's Cantilene Pastorale and Lemmens' Marche Triumphale. The vocal items appear to have included a sacred song by Benson himself, "I will sing of Thy great Mercy", which was sung by Mrs Spencer Browne.7 The flautist was Mr John S. Marlor, with whom Benjamin Whitehouse worked in partnership.
Programme for the opening of the organ
at the Congregational Church, Wharf Street
[supplied by David Vann]
A photograph of the organ was published in 1906, along with the following description:
WHARF-STREET CONGREGATIONAL
The organiste at this church is Mrs. Harry Reeve, and the choirmaster is Mr. G. Gordon Searle. This organ was built by B.B. Whitehouse and Co., Brisbane and was opened in March 1899. The cost of the instrument was £420, and it contains 16 stops: 6 on swell organ; 5 on great organ; 1 on pedals (pneumatic action) and tremulant, and 3 couplers and 4 composition pedals.8
The accompanying photograph shows the console separated from the case with the pulpit in between.
The organ in its original location at the Wharf Street Congregational Church
[Photograph: The Daily Mail (Brisbane, 10 March 1906), p. 13]
The organ in its new location after 1927
at the Cracknell Road Congregational Church
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
As was the case with later Whitehouse organs, the pipework appears to derive from A. Palmer & Son of London, and the console fittings from Thomas Harrison of London.9 There is no casework above the impost, and the façade pipes (which were originally stencilled) have 'French' mouths, as distinct from the 'bay-leaf' mouths found on later Whitehouse organs such as that at Wesley Church, Kangaroo Point (1903).
[Photograph by John Maidment (October 2007)]
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)
The organ was installed at the Congregational Church, Cracknell Road, Annerley, by Whitehouse Bros in October 1927,10 when the Wharf Street church was replaced by the Congregational Church Hall, Adelaide Street.11 It was recessed into the floor at Cracknell Road in order to fit within the sanctuary arch, and the mechanical action was possibly modified in order to accommodate the positioning of the console. Whitehouse Bros carried out repairs to the Great soundboard in November 1935 at a cost of £40, and further repairs in October 1951 at a cost of £220.12 The instrument was overhauled by David Hudd in 1985.13
[Photographs by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
| GREAT Open Diapason Dulciana Clarabella Principal Lieblich Flute Fifteenth SWELL Open Diapason Salicional Voix Celeste Lieblich Gedact Gemshorn Harmonic Piccolo Oboe PEDAL Bourdon COUPLERS Swell to Great Swell to Pedal Great to Pedal |
8 8 8 4 4 2 8 8 8 8 4 2 8 16 |
Compass: 56/30
Drawstop console (with telltale)
2 composition pedals to Swell Organ
2 composition pedals to Great Organ
Swell tremulant
Trigger swell lever
Pedalboard: radiating & concave
Mechanical action (manuals); pneumatic action (pedals).14
The Annerley church is now used by the Fijian congregation, and the instrument was listed for sale in 2001.15 It was purchased around 2008 by Mr David Vann, and has since been in storage.
Pipework of the Great Organ, showing the stopped metal pipes
of the Lieblich Flute 4ft
[Photograph by John Maidment (October 2007)]
Swell key action and bellows
[Photograph by John Maidment (October 2007)]
Stop action and windchest of the Great Organ
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (October 2007)]
_____________________________________________________________________
1 E.J.T. Barton, ed. Jubilee History of Queensland: a Record of Political, Industrial, and Social Development, from the Landing of the First Explorers to the Close of 1909 (Brisbane: H.J. Diddams, [c.1910]), p. 145.
2 The Brisbane Courier (7 January 1899), p. 9.
3 Geoffrey Cox, 'B.B. Whitehouse and the First Organ Built in Queensland,' OHTA News, vol. 35, no. 1 (January 2011), pp. 19-24.
4 Queensland State Archives, cited in Graeme D. Rushworth, Historic Organs of New South Wales (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1988), pp. 203-04.
5 The Brisbane Courier (16 March 1899), p. 5; City Congregational Church records, cited by David Vann.
6 The Brisbane Courier (15 March 1899), p. 8.
7 Original concert programme supplied from City Congregational Church records by David Vann, 2001.
8 The Daily Mail (10 March 1906), p. 13.
9 Personal communication to G. Cox from W.J. Simon Pierce, October 1989.
10 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1922-1940), pp. 187, 354.
11 David G. Vann, 'History of the City Congregational Church Organs' (pamphlet, c.1974); also in Organ Society of Queensland Newsletter, vol. 1, no. 4 (July 1974), pp. 2-4.
12 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1940-1954), pp. 458, 608.
13 Personal communication to G. Cox from David Hudd, c.1986.
14 Specification noted by G. Cox, 1973 & 1989.
15 The Organ Voice, vol. 27, no. 1 (March 2001), p. 6.