St Peter's Anglican Cathedral

cnr Dangar & Tingcombe Streets, Armidale

FIRST ORGAN: George Fincham, Melbourne, 1878
1 manual, 11 speaking stops, 1 coupler, mechanical action
PRESENT ORGAN: A. Hunter & Son, Clapham, London, 1896,
incorporating 8 stops by Fincham from the previous organ
Installed 1896 Charles Richardson, Sydney
Restored 1996 Peter D.G. Jewkes Pty Ltd, Sydney
2 manuals, 22 speaking stops, 6 couplers, tubular-pneumatic action

St Peter's Anglican Cathedral, Armidale
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (September 2007)]

Historical and Technical Documentation by Richard Ward¹
© OHTA 2014 (last updated April 2014)

The Anglican Diocese of Grafton and Armidale was established in 1863 and the cathedral church in Armidale was opened in 1875. This was the first building in the New England region to have a pipe organ, installed by George Fincham in 1878 and replaced with a larger instrument by Alfred Hunter and Son in 1896.

The original St Peter's Church, a timber building, was opened in 1850 near the site of the present cathedral. The foundation stone for the cathedral, designed by Canadian Architect, J. Horbury Hunt, was laid in 1873. The building is of Armidale blue brick, made from clay dug from Mr F.J. White's property at Saumarez, with New England granite blocks from Uralla used in the foundations, steps and keystones of the arches.² The brickwork is some of the finest to be seen in Australia with special craftsmanship needed in the laying of the purpose-moulded bricks, the toothed lancet windows, decorated arches and the construction of the "scissor-truss" roof. The tower, although included in Hunt's design, was not added until 1938.³

The Tower and West Door of St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale
[Photographs by Trevor Bunning (September 2007)]

Even before the new cathedral was opened on 3rd June, 1875, the need for a pipe organ was recognised and a concert in aid of "the speedy erection of an organ worthy of the new Anglican Cathedral" was held on 4th March, 1875.⁴ Another fund-raising concert took place on 1st June "in the presence of, if not numerous, a select and fashionable audience, capable of thoroughly appreciating the efforts of those taking part in the performance."⁵

The Armidale Express of 22nd March, 1878 commented that:

It had been the subject of general remark for some time that the harmonium in St. Peter's was not of sufficient compass to fill with the necessary volume of sound the "long-drawn aisle and fretted vault" of the Cathedral, whereupon the members of the Church of England decided to replace the harmonium by an instrument that should be effective in the celebration of the choral and other services of the Church.⁶

In August 1877, a contract was entered into with the firm of George Fincham of Melbourne, to supply an organ of one manual and pedals, with 10 speaking stops, at a cost of £265 at the factory.⁷

George Fincham (1828-1910) is recognized as Australia's greatest organ builder of the nineteenth century. He came from a family of organ builders in England where he served his apprenticeship with the London organ builder Henry Bevington. He emigrated to Victoria in 1852 and set up as an organ tuner and repairer before establishing his own business in 1862 and completing his first pipe organ in 1864. His skill as an organ builder and businessman enabled him to be very successful, becoming the most prolific organ builder of his time in Australia.⁸ He built around 200 organs for cathedrals and churches in Australia and New Zealand.⁹

The 1878 George Fincham organ (on the right)
St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale
[Photograph from St Peter's Cathedral Archives]

 

Fincham made his own metal pipes and voiced these for his own requirements, as well as supplying clients throughout Australia and New Zealand. He was later assisted in the voicing of pipes by his employees Alex Ground and George Collings¹⁰ though, even in 1900, Fincham still did practically all the voicing, regulating and finishing of his organs:

Fincham voiced his diapason choruses with a clear virile tone which was partly due to the type of nicking he used. This resulted in an instrument with character and brilliance.¹¹

The Fincham organ, his second sent to New South Wales, was dedicated by the Bishop of Grafton and Armidale, The Right Revd Dr James Francis Turner, on 14th March, 1878 and the Armidale Express records that there were 600 people present at the service:

The organ was presided over by Mr. Schofield , whose very talented performance elicited the full powers of the instrument, both in the full choral service which was celebrated and in the voluntaries.¹²

The organ was transported to Armidale by Alex Ground by road. (The Northern Line of the railway was not extended to Armidale until 1882.)¹³ The wet weather presented some difficulties near Quirindi:

The organ was brought to Armidale from Victoria by Mr. Ground, under very considerable difficulties, for from the time the cases containing the instrument reached Warrah the rain set in, and the greatest care and attention were consequently required to prevent damage. Mr. Ground, since his arrival, has been engaged in erecting the organ, and that he has most faithfully completed the work the instrument itself testifies.

The organ had mechanical (tracker) action, with a manual compass of 56 notes and a pedal board of 30 notes. All ranks apart from the Open Diapason and pedal Bourdon were enclosed in a swell box. The specification for the Fincham instrument was as follows:

3 composition pedals.¹⁴    
 

The Armidale Express reported on the impression that was made by the new organ:

 . . . the open diapason is very full and round in tone; the four-foot flute is very clear and precise in quality; the dulcimner (sic) very sweet, with the true Cathedral intonation, and in the concluding voluntary, has a very fine effect; likewise the gamba, which is of a very reedy quality. The cornopean is exceedingly powerful, and comes with a grand crash in a voluntary. The pedal Bourdon is of a deep full quality, and the effect fine when used in conjunction with the other stops; and the same may be said of the swell. The whole of the material and workmanship in the organ is Australian. The front of the organ is very handsomely illuminated, the colours blending harmoniously, and very materially relieving the somewhat sombre portion of the Cathedral where the organ is erected. The case or frame is of clear pine, stained and ornamented, of a light colour.
 

The full specification of the organ, as written in the George Fincham letter books, gives some additional details (below).
 

Original specification of the Fincham Organ
George Fincham Letter Book 2, p. 25
[Illustration by kind permission of the State Library of Victoria]

By 1895, the Fincham organ was considered to be inadequate for the cathedral and the specification for a large 2 manual instrument was drawn up by the Cathedral organist, George Edward Coomber. The organ was ordered from Hunter & Son of London and in his letter to the editor of the Armidale Chronicle of October 1895, giving the specification for the new organ, George Coomber refers to Alfred Hunter as his "old friend." It is interesting to note that George Coomber requested that 8 ranks of pipes from the Fincham organ be incorporated into the new organ, presumably to keep down the cost:

 I do not think the Armidale church people can be otherwise than pleased with the value they are getting for their money. When I sent home this specification, I hardly expected to obtain all that I asked for, notwithstanding I knew my old friend Mr. Hunter would do his best for me. For its size the new organ will be a most effective instrument, and I sincerely hope it will prove a means of raising the musical taste of Armidale generally, as well as of improving the musical portion of the church service at S. Peter's.¹⁵

The A. Hunter & Son nameplate on the organ
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (September 2007)]

At least 11 organs built by Alfred Hunter and his son Robert were imported into Australia during the 19th century. The firm was established in London in 1827 and continued until 1937 when it was taken over by Henry Willis & Sons.

Organs by Hunter & Son have traditional tonal schemes with "bold and lively diapason choruses." The firm developed tubular-pneumatic actions for their organs at an early stage and this was used in the organ built for St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale.¹⁶

In March 1896, it was reported in the Armidale Chronicle that the arrival of the organ in Armidale was imminent:

The new organ for St. Peter's Cathedral was some weeks ago placed on board the S.S. Ninevah which is now in Australian waters, and will be in Sydney Harbour in a few days. As only a portion of the funds necessary to pay for this new instrument has been provided it has been decided to hold a musical festival in connection with the opening of it . . . The cost of the organ in London was £350.¹⁷

When the organ arrived in Armidale in April 1896, it was found that some building alterations needed to be made:

The new Organ for St. Peter's Cathedral has arrived and most of it was placed in the old wooden schoolroom on Wednesday last. The cases containing it were exceedingly bulky and filled three of Wright Heaton's large lorries. The consignment weighed six tons. On opening the cases the contents were found to be in excellent condition . . . In order to accommodate this fine new instrument it has been found necessary to make some alterations in the Cathedral, and the archway in which it will stand is being raised two feet six inches and has also to be widened eighteen inches.¹⁸

The alterations were speedily completed and the Armidale Chronicle of 2nd May reported that:

The alterations to brick work in St. Peter's Cathedral have been finished by Mr. G. Nott, under the supervision of Mr. W. H. Lee , Architect, and the organ-builder, Mr. Richardson of Sydney, who arrived on Thursday morning, has commenced the work of erecting the new instrument, which will probably be completed within a fortnight.¹⁹

The opening and dedication of the new organ by the Primate, the Most Reverend Dr Saumarez Smith, took place on Sunday, 17th May, 1896.

 

The 1896 A. Hunter & Son organ,
St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale.
[Photograph from St Peter's Cathedral Archives]

A description of the erection of the new organ is given in the Armidale Chronicle:

The work of erection was entrusted to Mr. Charles Richardson, organ builder, of Sydney, who has performed his portion of the work to the entire satisfaction of the organist and the executive committee. Mr. Richardson has shown himself a perfect master of his art, by his skilful adaptation of the instrument to the all too limited space in which it has had to be placed, some important alterations in the arrangement of the different parts having been found necessary. For nearly three weeks Mr. Richardson and his very promising and youthful assistant, Charles Leggo, have been engaged in the work of erecting, adapting and tuning the organ, spending on an average about 15 hours a day at their work, and wasting no time either. Mr. Richardson informs us that the organ, which is built on the most modern and effective system of tubular pneumatics, by Messrs. Hunter and Son, of London, and supplied with the builders patent pneumatic coupling chamber, is fully worth £100 more than the price charged for it in London, and that in all respects it is a first-class organ. He particularly praises the excellent quality of the Horn and Voix Celeste stops and thinks that the specification drawn up for it by Mr. Coomber does that gentleman credit. He adds that the instrument is such that the greatest care need be exercised in tuning it, for if this work should ever be entrusted to inexperienced hands, a very undesirable and regrettable state of affairs would certainly be the result.²⁰

The Armidale Chronicle report further gives the following details of the organ:

 The organ as now complete consists of two manuals and pedals, with 22 sounding stops, and 6 couplers, 1 tremulant, 7 combination pistons, etc.

The following are the names of the different stops with number of pipes to each, and the speaking length of the largest pipe. Those marked* are taken from the old organ.

COUPLERS, ETC.
1. Great to Pedals
2. Swell to Pedals
3. Swell to Great
4. Swell Octave
5. Swell Octave to Great
6. Swell Suboctave
7. Swell Tremulant

3 pneumatic pistons to Great Organ
3 pneumatic pistons  to Swell Organ
1 pneumatic piston  acting on coupler 1.
   
NUMBER OF PIPES
  Great Organ … …  492  
  Swell Organ … …  592  
  Pedal Organ … …   48  
    _____  
  Total                1168 (sic)

Although this report indicates that only 2 ranks from the Fincham organ were incorporated into the Hunter organ, George Coomber's Letter to the Editor of 16th October, 1895 stated that Hunter had accepted his specification and that 8 ranks "would be taken from the old organ."²¹ There has been much speculation on this point and Dr Warren Newman convincingly argues that Coomber persuaded his "old friend" Alfred Hunter to allow for the use almost all of the Fincham pipes in the new organ. This would account for the low cost of the organ (£350 in London). Dr Newman points out that, in addition, Alfred Hunter and George Fincham were close friends as they served apprenticeships together with Henry Bevington in London, and Hunter would have been aware of the high quality of Fincham's pipework and happy to utilize this in his organ.²²

The value of the organ at the time of its opening was stated to be £650²³ but this figure would have included shipping costs, the cost of the services of organ builders Charles Richardson and Charles Leggo in erecting the organ, and the value of the Fincham pipes used.

The A. Hunter & Son organ,
St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (September 2007)]

The opening and dedication of the Hunter organ was followed by an organ recital:

 After the close of the service an organ recital was given by Mr. Coomber, the programme including the following: -

1.     Overture in F (Morandi)
2.     Ave Maria (Schubert)
3.     Rienzi's Prayer (Wagner)
4.     Andante in G (Batiste)
5.     Offertoire in D minor (Batiste)

The recital gave an opportunity of showing the power, variety, sweetness and excellence of combination of the organ's tones, while exhibiting for the first time here the marked ability possessed by Mr. Coomber in dealing with an organ so infinitely superior to that which this noble instrument has replaced.²⁴

In 1904, repairs to the organ were necessary and the Armidale Chronicle reported that:

The re-opening of St. Peter's Cathedral organ will take place on Sunday to-morrow. The organ has been in the hands of Mr. Richardson, organ-builder, for about six weeks undergoing repair, and is vastly improved in tone and mechanism.²⁵ 

By 1910, major work was necessary and Charles Richardson was called on to make an inspection after which he reported that:    
      

The Instrument requires a thorough overhaul, some of the draw stops do not act properly owing to the pneumatic connections not working – causing some of the Stops to remain on when the Stop is drawn and others do not go off, and some only work half way so that many of the pipes do not get sufficient wind and therefore do not give off their proper tone and are badly out of tune and having a terrible effect on other stops . . . The Water Engine was found to be working very badly, and sometimes the Organ could only be used when playing very softly . . . The pneumatic action on the pedal Organ is very imperfect. Many of the notes are not sounding . . . The Key pneumatic action throughout wants attention and also the pneumatic action to the front pipes.²⁶

Richardson felt that the problems with the pneumatic action were caused by the "climatic influence" during the enlargement of the building. (The chapter house and vestry were built during this time.) The problem with the hydraulic engine could be eliminated by bolting it down to a "sufficiently heavy stone bed placed on the earth" and by replacing the connector rod between the engine and rocking shaft.

Over the years, the organ continued to provide music for the services though affected at times by drought, flood and fire. In 1920, a shortage of water meant that the hydraulic engine could no longer be used:

The failure of the Armidale water supply has brought all sorts of unpleasant consequences in its train. It supplied the power to blow the Cathedral organ. Now man-power has to take the place of hydraulic power and the stream of water which had hitherto flowed through the pipes finds its counterpart in the stream which trickles down the faces of the men at the lever of the bellows! More honour to them for their voluntary and self-denying labours! Such a state of things cannot go on for ever. The Cathedral Council has had before it a suggestion to establish an electric plant of sufficient power to both light the church and supply power to blow the organ. The cost might be £300 to £400. But the money could no doubt be borrowed; and, if so, the work need not be long delayed. There is no other solution of the difficulty at present in sight".²⁷

The A. Hunter & Son organ in the Sanctuary,
St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (September 2007)]
 

It was not until 1924 that an electric blower could be installed:

Through the generosity of Mr. F. J. White and Mr. Blaxland , a great improvement has been effected in the working of our organ by the installation of an electric rotary blower. Hitherto we have been the victims of a rather restricted water supply, and for months at a stretch the beautiful organ has been voiceless. To celebrate the latest victory over nature, Mr Denniss gave a recital on May 15th, which was much appreciated by a large audience.²⁸

The electric blower was installed in April 1924 by Whitehouse Bros of Brisbane at a cost of £135.²⁹ By this time, Whitehouse Bros had the tuning contract and continued to tune and maintain the organ until the 1970s.

A number of times, over the years, overflowing roof drainage has caused much water damage to the organ. In 1925, it was recorded that heavy rainfall caused flooding in the organ:

During last year flood rains got into the organ and inflicted considerable damage. Neither in that case could repairs be postponed and the Council had to find over £100 to effect them. Additional precautions were also taken to render the roof water-tight, and we believe that the organ is now as safe as it can be made.³⁰

Again, in 1939, water damage occurred and £152 was paid for repairs to the organ on 31st March.³¹

In 1942, the organ was out of action for some time due to a fire in the organ:

Misfortune overtook the Cathedral organ on 16th October, when a short circuit on the control switch caused a fire, damaging the motor of the blower. Fortunately, the fire was discovered in the day time and was extinguished by the fire brigade without damage to the organ itself. The musical recital arranged by Mr. Pritchard  for the following Sunday had to be cancelled. It will be several weeks before the motor can be restored.³²

By the 1960s, the organ was "not as good as it could be"³³ and in 1967 a rebuild was considered at the cost of $12,000, along with the possibility of moving it to a loft at the western end of the cathedral.³⁴ It has been a point of argument, many times over the years, that the organ does not sound its best because of its location in an enclosed chamber. Only a few ranks of pipes from the Great stand in front of the chamber. There is no doubt that the organ would give a bigger sound in a less enclosed space, however, this could not be achieved in the present building without destroying the integrity of the instrument.

In 1978, Whitehouse Bros carried out major repair works and in May 1982 a new blower was installed by Peter Jewkes, working for J.W. Walker & Sons, who had taken over tuning and maintenance of the organ.³⁵

During the following years there was further deterioration of the organ and in the late 1980s an Organ Committee was formed to consider a full restoration of the organ.

In 1989, an inspection was carried out by historic organ consultant Ray Holland, who reported on the significance of the organ:

As one of the six surviving instruments by A. Hunter & Son in New South Wales, this is one of the best preserved. It is unique in that pipework by an Australian organbuilder (George Fincham) is incorporated into an organ by an English builder. Its historic value is further underlined by the following characteristics:

1.   All of the original pipework is present except for one pipe of the Great Fifteenth.

2.   The original case has been retained with minor alteration.

3.   The original console has been retained, and includes many components typical of the Hunter style, such as stopknobs, keyboards, keyboard cheeks, composition pedals, nameplate of builder and organ bench. The original stop labels are not typical of the other Hunter organs in NSW, being photoengraved in the style of Bevington .

4.   All of the original key, stop and combination actions have been preserved.

5.     The original double-rise bellows has been retained.

6.     Original cone tuning has been retained on most of those metal flue pipes which are not slotted.

7.     The craftsmanship of the entire organ reflects the excellence of organbuilding technique usually associated with this firm.³⁶

A submission was made to the NSW Heritage Council in 1989, through the efforts of Dr Lionel Gilbert, and this resulted in the offer of a grant of $40,000 on a dollar-for-dollar basis for restoration of the organ.

In 1993, the Cathedral Parish Council called for three quotes and on the 8th December, 1994 a contract for $95,825 was signed with Peter D.G. Jewkes Pty Ltd of Sydney.

The Organ Restoration Appeal was launched in August, 1994 with a fortepiano concert in the Ursuline Chapel with conductor and soloist Geoffrey Lancaster. Other fund-raising activities included concerts, luncheons, street stalls, a coach tour, a melodrama, a garden tour and a craft display and the final result was a sum of $112,000 for the restoration.

The New England Heritage Plaque, 1996
[Photograph by Trevor Bunning (September 2007)]

The organ was dismantled in January 1996 and a full restoration was carried out in the workshop of Peter D.G. Jewkes Pty Ltd in Sydney. Work included:

·		Cleaning and repair of pipework.
·		Overhaul of windchests and soundboards.
·		Restoration of console including re-covering of keys with synthetic ivory resin and repair to the damaged stop-knob inserts which were re-engraved from the remaining originals.
·		Overhaul of mechanical and pneumatic action couplers, pneumatic key and pedal actions, pneumatic drawstop actions and primary note actions.
·		Re-covering of bellows and overhaul of wind ducts.
·		Re-fitting of Swell box louvres to give maximum crescendo and diminuendo.
·		Repair, stripping and re-polishing of the organ case.37

Celebrations to mark the restoration of the organ included a recital by Warwick Dunham of the Music Department at The Armidale School on 18th September 1996, a recital by Terry Norman of the Music Department at the University of New England on 20th, and a Grand Organ and Choral Concert with Christopher Dearnley (formerly organist of St Paul's Cathedral, London) and conductor Mrs Wendy Huddleston of Armidale High School on 21st. These were followed by a service of re-dedication of the organ on 22nd September.

The disposition of the organ today is identical (though some of the stop names differ slightly) to that described in the Armidale Express article of 20th May, 1896:

* Fincham stops taken from the old organ, according to George Coomber in the Armidale Chronicle (16 October 1895).


Lever swell pedal
6 combination thumb pistons
1 reversible thumb piston Gt/Ped
Compass: 56/30
Mechanical/pneumatic action manuals
Pneumatic action to pedals

Console details of the A. Hunter & Son organ
[Photographs by Trevor Bunning (September 2007)]

It is remarkable that this organ has survived in such an unaltered state for over 110 years. The integrity of the organ has been kept by resisting the pressures to move or rebuild it. It is also significant that the instrument preserves much of the pipework (now 130 years old) made by the Australian organ builder, George Fincham, even though the organ itself was built by Alfred Hunter & Son of London.

___________________________________

1 The material presented here was published originally as part of: Richard Ward, 'The Organs and Organists of St Peter's Cathedral, Armidale,' The Sydney Organ Journal, vol. 41, no. 2 (Autumn 2010), pp. 25-31.

2 Jean Newall, St Peter's Armidale, NSW (Church Leaflet, 2008).

3 Peter Reynolds, Lesley Muir & Joy Hughes, John Horbury Hunt: radical architect, 1838-1904 (Sydney: Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, 2002).

4 'Organ Fund Concert,' Armidale Chronicle (11 March 1875).

5 'Concert in Aid of St. Peter's Organ Fund,' Armidale Chronicle (3 June 1875).

6 'Opening of the New Organ, St. Peter's Cathedral, Armidale,' Armidale Express (22 March 1878).

7 George Fincham, Letter Book 2, p. 25 (State Library of Victoria).

8 Graeme D. Rushworth, Historic Organs of New South Wales (Sydney: Hale & Iremonger, 1988), pp. 179-180.

9 John Henwood, 'Fincham, George (1828-1910),' Australian Dictionary of Biography, vol. 4 (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1972), p. 167.

10 Enid N. Matthews, Colonial Organs and Organbuilders (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p. 29.

11 Matthews, op. cit., pp. 64-65.

12 'Opening of the New Organ, St. Peter's Cathedral, Armidale,' Armidale Express (22 March 1878); partially reprinted in The Maitland Mercury & Hunter River General Advertiser (26 March 1878), p. 3.

13 Armidale & District Historical Society, Journal & Proceedings, Railway Issue, no. 20 (January 1977), p. 55.

14 Fincham, op. cit.

15 G.E.M. Coomber, 'The New Organ for S. Peter's Cathedral,' Letter to the Editor, Armidale Chronicle (16 October 1895); reproduced in The Sydney Organ Journal, vol. 26, no. 4 (Spring 1995), p. 26.

16 Rushworth, op. cit., pp. 290-291.

17 'St Peter's New Organ,' Armidale Chronicle (25 March 1896).

18 'New Organ,' Armidale Chronicle (25 April 1896).

19 'St Peter's New Organ,' Armidale Chronicle (2 May 1896).

20 'The Primate at St Peter's Cathedral. Opening of the New Organ,' Armidale Chronicle (20 May 1896).

21 Coomber, op. cit.

22 Warren Newman, 'History of St Peter's Cathedral Organ, Armidale, New South Wales,' The Sydney Organ Journal, vol. 26, no. 4 (Spring 1995), pp. 23-26.

23 'The Primate at St Peter's Cathedral,' op. cit.

24 Loc. cit.

25 'St Peter's Cathedral,' Armidale Chronicle (29 October 1904).

26 Charles Richardson, 'St Peter's Cathedral Organ, Armidale, September 23, 1910, Report on the Organ by Charles Richardson, Organ Builder, Church Hill, Sydney.' (Manuscript in St Peter's Cathedral Archives Centre.)

27 'Parish Notes,' Diocesan News (July 1920), p. 15. 28 'Parish Notes,' Diocesan News (June 1924), p. 15.

28 'Parish Notes,' Diocesan News (June 1924), p. 15.

29 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1922-1940), p. 177.

30 Diocesan News (April 1926), p. 12.

31 Whitehouse Bros Ledger (1922-1940), p. 490.

32 'Fire in the Cathedral Organ,' Armidale Parish Gazette (November 1942).

33 Fisherman (February 1962).

34 Fisherman (April 1967).

35 Personal communication to Richard Ward from Peter Jewkes, 7 July 2008.

36 Ray Holland, 'St Peter's Anglican Cathedral, Armidale, NSW, Standard documentation of pipe organ built by A. Hunter & Son 1896' (report in Cathedral Archive Centre, 1989).

37 Peter Jewkes, Quotation, 3 March 1994 (copy in Cathedral Archive Centre).