St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Nambour
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (c.2010)]
St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Nambour
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (c.2010)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2012 (last updated November 2012)
Nambour is situated in the foothills of the Blackall Range, and is the most southern of Queensland's sugar towns. The earliest white settlers in this area (first known as Petrie's Creek) arrived in the 1870s, but the town of Nambour (named in 1891 after an early cattle run by that name) began to develop only when the railway connection from Brisbane was completed in 1890.1
The first Church of England services in Nambour were held in 1901 at the School of Arts, and later at the Court House. The first church was opened and dedicated in 1903 – a wooden structure that stood at the top of the hill across the road from the much larger brick Catholic Church in Currie Street.2 The last services in the old church were held in 1958, and the present St John's Church, designed by the architect Horace Driver of Brisbane, was opened and dedicated on 3 October 1959.3
Foundation stone of the present church
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
Interior of the present church
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
First organ (probably a reed organ).
There was reportedly a hand-blown pipe organ in the old church in the 1950s,4 although both its origins and its fate remain a mystery. References in the parish records to an 'organ' or 'organist' before 1925 most probably refer to a reed organ.5 This instrument was given to the new church at Palmwoods in 1925 when it was opened. In April that year, prices for a new organ at Nambour had been obtained 'from Brisbane firms' and it was agreed that 'steps be taken to procure a new organ for the Nambour church, same not to exceed £150'.6 By June, it was agreed that 'the new organ be insured with the Diocesan Council for the sum of £180'.7
There appears to be no reference to this instrument in the records of Whitehouse Bros, and it is likely that it was obtained from W.H. Paling Ltd. There is reference in 1927 to a 'charge of £3-3-0 for attention to the church organ by Palings Ltd,' and a further reference to repairs costing £12-10-0 in 1939.8 Repairs and the installation of an electric blower around 1955 appear to have been undertaken,9 and the blower was moved by 1956 to a position under the church.10
The only other reference to the 'old organ' was a month before the new church was opened in 1959. The new organ was apparently expected by Christmas that year, and Whitehouse Bros were requested 'to attend to [the] old organ or provide [an] organ on loan'.11 Despite the report that there was a 'pipe organ' in the church during the 1950s, there is every liklihood that it was a reed organ, perhaps with a pipe front.
Present organ.
Negotiations to provide an organ for the new church had commenced in April 1959, and it was reported by June that Whitehouse Bros of Brisbane had offered to provide an instrument for approximately £1600.12 The new organ was installed by Whitehouse Bros in July 1960.13
Comprising just four ranks spread over a six-stop specification, the tonal design with no stops above 8ft might be compared with the firm's much earlier small pneumatic-action instruments, such as that at St Barnabas' Anglican Church, Ithaca (1913), but now employing electric action. The specification was identical with that at the Presbyterian Church, Kedron (1961). The use of a Cello 16ft rather than a Bourdon 16ft on the Pedal was an unusual feature of both the latter instruments, and can be observed earlier at the Baptist Church, Wynnum (1952).
The 1960 Whitehouse Bros organ
[Photograph from The Organ Voice, vol. 26, no. 2 (June 2000), p. 27]
| GREAT Open Diapason Dulciana SWELL Salicional Gedact PEDAL Cello Flute COUPLERS Swell to Great Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Super Swell Super Octave |
8 8 8 8 16 8 |
B A B A |
Tremulant
Electro-pneumatic action
Detached stop-key console
Compass: 61/30.14
Towards the end of 1974, a committee was formed to raise funds for a special project to improve the organ.15 Additions to the Great and Pedal were provided in 1976 by Walter Emerson of Toowoomba, with a view to providing additions to the Swell at a later date when funds permitted. Additional Swell stop tabs were provided, although these stops have never been added. The Pedal Bourdon 16ft was a second-hand Walker rank (obtained from Roger Pogson), which Emerson extended with his own pipes to provide a Bass Flute 8ft on the Pedals and a Stop Diapason 8ft on the Great. The pipework for the Principal 4ft and Fifteenth 2ft came from Aug. Laukhuff, West Germany.16
Console of the 1960 Whitehouse Bros organ
including additions by Walter Emerson, 1976
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
The present specification is as follows:
| GREAT Open Diapason Stop Diapason Dulciana Principal Fifteenth SWELL Gedackt Salicional [Rohr Flöte] [Gemshorn] [Sifflöte] PEDAL Bourdon Cello Bass Flute [Quint] COUPLERS Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal Swell to Great Swell Super to Great Swell Super Octave |
|
|
[1976] [1976] [1976] [prepared for] [prepared for] [prepared for] [1976] [1976] [prepared for?] |
Tremulant
Electro-pneumatic action
Detached stop-key console
Compass: 61/30
Balanced swell pedal.17
Console details of the present organ
[Photographs by David Vann (August 2012)]
A new case was constructed by Ian Brown & Associates of Ballina in 1998-99, using existing (speaking) pipes, with pipe shades designed and made by Jennifer Brown.18 The organ was formally re-dedicated on Sunday 30 January 2000.19
The 1960 Whitehouse Bros organ after
the addition of new casework by Ian Brown & Associates in 1999
[Photograph by David Vann (August 2012)]
______________________________________________________________________
1 Maroochy Shire Council, Heritage Library website, © 2001.
2 St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Nambour: Centenary 1903-2003 (Nambour: St John's Anglican Parish, 2003), pp. 4-5, 13.
3 Loc. cit., pp. 23-29; 'Dedication of the Church of St. John The Baptist, Nambour', The Church Chronicle (1 December 1959), pp. 358-59.
4 Personal communication to John Maidment from Revd Ron Beattie, Beachworth, based on information from Revd David Shand, Vicar of Nambour at the time.
5 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 3 March 1914, 23 January & 24 September 1919, Minutes of Easter Meetings, 1921 & 1924 (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).
6 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 14 April 1925 (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).
7 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 25 June 1925 (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).
8 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 19 July 1927 & 27 April 1939 (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).
9 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 3 August 1953, 7 February 1955, 11 July 1955 & 1 August 1955.
10 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 10 September 1956; St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Nambour, op. cit., pp. 14, 46.
11 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 07 September 1959 (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).
12 Minutes of Parochial Council Meeting, 8 April & 29 June, 1959 (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).
13 Nambour Chronicle (8 July 1960), cited in St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Nambour, op. cit., p. 46; Church Wardens Report, 31 March 1961 (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).
14 Specification noted by G. Cox, May 1974.
15 St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Nambour, op. cit., p. 47.
16 Personal communication to G. Cox from Les Rub, Sept. 2007.
17 Specification noted by G. Cox, May 1974. Subsequent additions notified to G. Cox by Les Rub, Sept. 2007. Details of 'prepared for' stops from photographs by D. Vann (August 2012).
18 The Organ Voice, vol. 26, no. 2 (June 2000), p. 27; St John the Baptist Anglican Church, Nambour, op. cit., p. 47.
19 Sunday Bulletin (30 January 2000) (Anglican Diocese of Brisbane Records and Archive Centre).