St Thomas' Anglican Church

Lawrence Street, North Ipswich

James Cole, Manchester, c.1878
Installed 1878 Wesleyan Church, Albert Street, Brisbane
Installed in present location c.1889
Restored 1937 Whitehouse Bros, Brisbane
Partially rebuilt 1968 John Hamer-Howorth
2 manuals, 12 speaking stops, mechanical action

St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Ipswich
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (November 2011)]

Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox¹
© OHTA 1989, 2003, 2011 (last updated November 2011)

St Thomas' Church was built in 1887-89 and opened and consecrated by Dr Webber, the Bishop of Brisbane, on 11 March 1889. The building was designed by the Brisbane Diocesan architect, J. H. Buckeridge,² whose other timber buildings in similar style included St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Bulimba (1888) and Christ Church Anglican Church, Milton (1891). The interior, including the distinctive carved wooden rood screen and wooden paneling, remains essentially intact, although the wooden exterior of the building was clad in brick in 1969 and 1980.

St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Ipswich, c.1966
[Photograph supplied by Revd Bill Redman (2004)]

The nameplate on the organ records that it was built by "James Cole, Manchester, England." It was installed originally in the second Albert Street Wesleyan Church, Brisbane, which had been opened in 1856 on the site between Burnett Lane and Adelaide Street.³ The organ arrived in time for the re-opening of that church after repairs in November 1878.⁴

The builder's nameplate on the organ
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2004)]

The second Wesleyan Church, Albert Street, Brisbane, c.1883
[Photograph: John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland]

A full account of the organ and the re-opening of the church appeared at the time in The Weekly Advocate in Sydney:

Brisbane. - Albert -street - The Wesleyan church in Albert-street is one of the old landmarks of Brisbane, having been built about twenty years ago; but though commodious in size, and serving a very good turn, it has never, to this date, been completed according to the original intentions of the builders. Some months ago, however, it was determined by the trustees and the congregation to make a bold step in that direction, and a sum of £1200 was devoted to the work, with what result will ere long be seen. As regards the building itself, the most important change is the substitution of slates for the old shingles on the roof, and the erection of a gallery across the end of the building nearest to Albert-street. Besides this, the appearance of the interior of the roof has been greatly improved by the addition of small pillars as corbels to the arches supporting the roof.

The most pleasing change, however, is the substitution of a fine church organ for the old harmonium which did such good service in days gone by. The new instrument, which is of rich, beautiful tone, and considerable volume, was built for the trustees by James Cole, of Manchester, according to specifications furnished by Mr. James Lord, who has himself, at considerable personal inconvenience, erected it in its place in the church, thus saving the trustees much expense, and proving himself to be thoroughly acquainted with the mechanical part of his profession. The organ has in all seventeen stops, and is in every way suitable for the purpose for which it is designed. The following synopsis of it will doubtless prove interesting to those of our readers acquainted with the details of such instruments:-

 

GREAT ORGAN. Stopped diapason, bass Stopped diapason, treble Dulciana, treble Open diapason Principal Flute Fifteenth SWELL ORGAN. Bourdon Gedact Viol di Gamba Gemshorn Piccolo Cornopean PEDAL ORGAN. Bourdon

8 ft. 8 ft. 8 ft. 8 ft. 4 ft. 4 ft. 2 ft. 16 ft. 8 ft. 8 ft. 4 ft. 2 ft. 8 ft. 16 ft.

12 pipes 44 pipes 44 pipes 56 pipes 56 pipes 44 pipes 56 pipes 56 pipes 12 pipes 44 pipes 56 pipes 56 pipes 56 pipes 30 pipes

Total number of pipes ... 622

Swell to great.
Swell to pedals.
Great to pedals.
Three combination pedals to great organ.

It is erected on a platform at the end of the church opposite to the gallery, and a space for the choir is to be railed-off with cast-iron balustrading similar to that used in front of the gallery, . . .

The church was re-opened on Sunday, November 10th, the Rev. F. T. Brentnall preaching in the morning, and the Rev. W. Wilson in the evening. On Tuesday, the 12th, the anniversary tea-meeting was held in the schoolroom, and after tea a public meeting in the church, the chair being occupied by the Hon. J. S. Turner.

In connection with the opening of the organ, a selection of sacred music was given in the church, on Friday, the 15th, when a well-chosen programme was excellently performed, under the direction of Mr. Lord. The building is peculiarly well adapted for sound, all the voices in solo having an unusually resonant effect. The usual choir of the church was supplemented with two or three well-known amateurs, and the choruses were rendered with great precision and spirit. The lady who sang "The Reaper and the Flowers," and the gentleman who followed with "He Wipes the Tear," were accorded a thoroughly well-deserved ovation. "Savious of Sinners" was excellently sung by another lady, and Spohr's magnificent anthem "As Pants the Hart" was rendered in a manner that reflected the highest credit on the ladies and gentlemen forming the choir.⁵

A parallel account appeared in the Queensland Evangelical Standard, where it is more clearly stated that the organ was erected at the back of the minister's platform.⁶ Pugh's Queensland Almanac mentions that, at the concert on 15th November, "a gold watch was presented to Mr. J. Lord, the organist."⁷

This is the only organ by James Cole of Manchester known to have been exported to Australia, although there was one by "Cole and Duckworth" in the 1880s for St James' Anglican Church, Toowoomba. Other English north-country builders who supplied organs for Queensland, but not elsewhere in Australia, were Joshua Porritt of Leicester (c.1883); Wadsworth of Manchester (1883); James Duckworth of Manchester (1884) and George Benson of Manchester (1888 & 1889).⁸ In the case of three of these instruments (this one by James Cole and the two by George Benson), there is a direct association with the Lancashire-born organist, James Lord, who had arrived in Brisbane in 1875.⁹

The organ from the old Albert Street church was moved to St Thomas' Church, North Ipswich,¹⁰ where it was probably installed around 1889. This was the year in which both St Thomas' Church and the new Albert-Street Wesleyan Church were opened.¹¹

By the end of the nineteenth century, church music at St Thomas' had reportedly reached a high standard, and the organ was being serviced twice a year. A hydraulic engine was used to pump the air for the organ at this time, but it was replaced by an electric blower in the 1930s.¹²

The organ was given little more than quarterly attention over several decades by Whitehouse Bros,¹³ but they carried out more extensive work in February 1937, when the following ledger entry was made:¹⁴

St Thomas' Ch of Eng. Ipswich

The nature of the work undertaken on the organ at this time was described as "restoration" on a memorial plaque installed in the church:

As this appears to have been the only major work carried out on the organ over many decades from the time it was installed until at least the middle of the last century, it can be surmised with reasonable certainty that changes of stop nomenclature occurred in 1937. Two sources of the 1950s (or earlier) record the specification with a high degree of consistency as follows:

Swell tremulant
Attached drawstop console
Pedalboard: straight & parallel
Hitchdown swell lever Mechanical action.¹⁶

Although the above details do not include any indication of separate bass and treble stops on either of the manuals, it is likely that merely the names on the stop-knobs had been changed by this time. The inclusion of a Horn Diapason 8ft on the Swell in one of the two sources adds to the confusion, and may be an error.

The James Cole organ, partially altered by John Hamer-Howorth
[Photograph by Howard Baker (October 1989)]

A partial rebuilding of the organ was commenced in 1968 by Fr John Hamer-Howorth (d.1988), who reported at the time that two sets of pipes in the Swell Organ were missing. His proposals included new Great and Pedal pneumatic soundboards, extension of the Pedal Bourdon to 8ft pitch, addition of a Swell Super Octave coupler, a new pedalboard, provision of a balanced swell pedal, new console fittings, and a revised specification in which the two manuals would be reduced to one.¹⁷

Hamer-Howorth's work in Queensland included several organs, all using second-hand English pipework: at St Andrew's Anglican Church, Caloundra (1967-73), St Alban's Anglican Church, Auchenflower (1971-72), and St David's Presbyterian Church, Toowoomba (1977). Inspection of the Ipswich organ in 1973, 1989 and 2004 suggests, fortunately, that few of Hamer-Howorth's proposals were carried out. New keyboards were fitted, but the original ones remained in storage at the church as late as 1989. The swell shutters were changed from horizontal to vertical, and the original hitchdown swell lever was replaced crudely with a balanced swell pedal.

Console of the organ, altered by John Hamer-Howorth
[Photograph by Howard Baker (October 1989)]

By 1989, the stop nomenclature at the console was recorded as follows:

Compass: 56/30
Balanced swell pedal [not original]
Pedalboard: radiating and flat [not original]
3 composition pedals to Great Organ
Mechanical action.¹⁸

Despite two changes of stop nomenclature over a period of more than a century, it appears that most of James Cole's 1878 organ has survived intact. The soundboards and most of the original playing mechanism remain in place. There is certainly one spare slide at the front of the swell box (perhaps for a small Mixture or another reed), although there is no evidence that either ever existed. There is also sufficient space at the rear of the swell box to accommodate another slide (perhaps a Bourdon 16ft), for which no mechanism is now visible on the outside of the box.

Assuming that a Bourdon 16ft was originally present in the Swell, as suggested by the specification published in 1878, it is possible that the same specification omitted the Gedact Treble 8ft that is still present. The pipework is now in appalling condition, but it all appears to be original. The top octave of the Great Fifteenth 2ft is entirely missing. Closer inspection of markings on the pipework is needed to confirm its authenticity, and particularly to determine whether the original Swell Bourdon 16ft now appears as an 8ft stop, or whether it has been removed.

Despite its chequered history, this instrument must be regarded as a prime candidate for restoration along strictly historical lines. Its significance lies not only in its association with the Albert Street Wesleyan Church, but also with the rarity of Cole's work in Australia, and the fact that it is one of very few mechanical-action organs to have survived in Queensland from this period without the destruction of its original mechanism.

[Photographs by Revd Bill Redman (c.2003)]

____________________________________________________________________

1 An earlier version of this article appeared as "The Historic Organ at St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Ipswich," OHTA News, vol. 27, no. 3 (July 2003), pp. 16-18; subsequent letter in OHTA News, vol. 28, no. 2 (April 2004), pp. 2-3.

2 The Centenary of St Thomas' Anglican Church, North Ipswich, 1889-1989 [privately printed, 1989].

3 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. 141.

4 "Diary of Events" for 10 Nov. 1878 in Pugh's Queensland Almanac ... for 1880.

5 The Weekly Advocate (Sydney, 22 November 1878), p. 280.

6 The Queensland Evangelical Standard (16 November 1878).

7 "Diary of Events" for 10 Nov. 1878 in Pugh's Queensland Almanac ... for 1880.

8 These were for St James' Anglican Church, Toowoomba; St Paul's Anglican Cathedral, Rockhampton; St Paul's Anglican Church, Maryborough; Wesley Church, Maryborough (now at Ss Peter & Paul's Catholic Church, Bulimba; Surface Hill Methodist Church, Gympie & the Wesleyan Church, Albert Street, Brisbane.

9 W. Frederic Morrison, The Aldine History of Queensland (Sydney: Aldine, 1888), II, Appendix, p. 220.

10 Personal communication to Mr Edward Salisbury from Mr Joseph Whitehouse, Snr (undated), and thence to G. Cox, c.1973.

11 The Brisbane Courier (9 November 1889), p. 2.

12 The Centenary of St Thomas' Anglican Church, op. cit.

13 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1922-1940), pp. 71-72, 204, 438; Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1940-1954), pp. 172-74.

14 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1922-1940), p. 558.

15 Plaque noted by G. Cox, January 2004, and reported in OHTA News, vol. 28, no. 2 (April 2004), pp. 2-3.

16 Collected Organ Specifications of Bernie Brohan (c.1952) & Notebooks of Mr E. R. Salisbury (n.d.). This specification is also given in Organ Society of Queensland Newsletter, vol. 15, no. 2 (October 1987), p. 4, and is incorrectly described as "original" in The Organ Voice, vol. 25, no. 2 (June 1999), p. 6.

17 John Hamer-Howorth, "Survey of the Pipe Organ in St Thomas's Nth Ipswich" (1967-68) - presented to St Thomas' Parish, 1 April 1968; Personal communication to G. Cox from John Hamer-Howorth, January 1973.

18 Specification noted by G. Cox, 1973, 1989 and 2004.