St Fidelis’ Catholic Church
Moreland, Victoria

Fincham & Hobday 1891, 1m., 10 sp. st., tr.

This organ was built by Fincham & Hobday for the Methodist Church, Mount Alexander Road, North Essendon at a cost of £295.00 and opened on 17 July 1891. The instrument was designed so that a second manual (Great Organ) could be subsequently added to the existing Swell Organ, but this has never happened, although space exists within the instrument for the addition, together with the provision of stencilled façade pipes and conveyance holes in the casework. A quotation was received in 1894 to complete the Oboe to CC and add the Cornopean; only the former took place. In 1975, George Fincham & Sons carried out a renovation that included the replacement of the pedal action in metal and installation of a single-rise reservoir. In 2006 the organ was given to St Fidelis’ Church by the trustees of the North Essendon church, which has closed. The organ was refurbished by Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd at the time of its installation. New side panelling, based upon Fincham models, was made for the casework, the slider chest was overhauled, and the console refurbished and cleared of electrical fittings.

The instrument is of some significance as the second largest example of a single manual organ built by the firm before 1900, with a generous range of flute and diapason colours. It has been installed at St Fidelis’ with the assistance of an OHTA tax-deductible restoration appeal. Here it sounds well in a spacious and reverberant church designed by Fritsch & Fritsch, the foundation stone of which was laid in 1937.

MANUAL Double Diapason Open Diapason Claribel Dulciana Angelica Principal Clear Flute Fifteenth Cornopean Oboe Swell to Pedal PEDAL Bourdon

16 8 8 8 8 4 4 2 8 8 16

TC gvd bass TC prepared for

Compass: 56/30
Mechanical key and stop action
3 composition pedals
Lever swell pedal

Photos: JRM