St George's Anglican Church
Glenferrie Road, Malvern
First organ, rem. Lutheran Church, Mount Gambier.
Present organ, B 1885 George Fincham. 2m, 12spst, 3c, tr.
Gt: 8.8.8.4.4.2. Sw: 8.8.4.III.8. Ped: 16.
Reb 1959 Hill, Norman & Beard (o/n V432);
addtn 1980 (great Tromba) Laurie Pipe Organs;
reb 1985 S.J. Laurie.
Pedal Open Diapason 16 added from
Littlejohn Memorial Chapel, Scotch College, Hawthorn.
2m, 24spst, 6c, elpn. Gt: 16.8.8.8.4.4.2.III.8.
Sw: 8.8.4.2-2/3.2.III.8. Ped: 32.16.16.16.8.8.4.4.
ST GEORGE’S ANGLICAN CHURCH, MALVERN
The foundation stone of the first section of St George’s Church was laid in 1865 and this was opened in 1869. The architect was S.H. Merrett whose design was in Early English Gothic and constructed from bluestone with freestone dressings. The building was later completed through the addition of transepts, choir and organ chamber to the design of Nathaniel Billing; these were opened in 1888. The apsidal St Martin’s Chapel was added in the 1924 to the design of Rodney Alsop. The interior includes excellent stained glass by Clayton & Bell, William Montgomery and others. The reredos, designed by Clayton and Bell, is of carved and gilded oak with panels of glass mosaic made by Salviati of Venice.
A single manual organ built by George Fincham was opened in 1869. This was removed in 1885 and must have been in another location until it was installed at the end of the 1890s in St Martin’s Lutheran Church, Mt Gambier, South Australia by an organbuilder named Smith, presumably George A. Smith. This instrument had suffered from insect infestation and only some of the metal pipework was used in a new organ built by Hill, Norman & Beard in 1965.
The 1885 organ at St George’s built by George Fincham was of two manuals and 13 speaking stops, with a further two stops prepared for. The cost was £345. It appears that the two spare slides were on the Swell.
GREAT |
8 8 8 4 4 2 8 8 4 III 8 16 |
It was moved into a new organ chamber in 1888 and remained unaltered until it was rebuilt in 1959 by Hill, Norman & Beard (Australia) Pty Ltd (order number V432). The action was converted to electro-pneumatic, a new detached drawstop console provided and a number of tonal additions and alterations took place. Later, several changes were made by S.J. Laurie Pty Ltd including a new hooded copper Tromba (1980), placed at the front of the organ, and the addition of a secondhand Pedal Open Diapason 16 of wood that came from the Hill, Norman & Beard organ formerly in Littlejohn Memorial Chapel, Scotch College, Hawthorn. The instrument was rebuilt in 1985 by the Laurie firm which installed new keyboards and increased the number of pistons.
No images survive either of the 1869 or 1885 organs.
GREAT |
16 8 8 8 4 4 2 III 8 8 8 4 2-2/3 2 III 8 32 16 16 16 8 8 4 |
A old Dulciana with stopped bottom two octaves spotted metal bass A old Swell Mixture B/C B C A B C B |
John Maidment
8 May 2009
Photos: Trevor Bunning (April 2009)
Three photos above: JRM