Uniting (former Methodist) Church

cnr Neil & Macarthur Streets, Ballarat

Previous organ (in earlier church building), chamber organ, present location unknown.
Present organ, built 1874 George Fincham for the Wesleyan Church, Ballarat
Organ used in the Australian Juvenile Industrial Ballarat Exhibition 1890-91
Installed present location 1892 Fincham & Hobday
Rebuilt & enlarged 1924 Geo.Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd (tubular-pneumatic action and new console)
Rebuilt 1956 Geo.Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd (electro-pneumatic action and new console)
2 manuals, 25 speaking stops, 8 couplers, electro-pneumatic action

Uniting Church, Neil Street, Ballarat – exterior
[photograph by John Maidment (2 November 2006)]


Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA (last updated March 2023)

The present Uniting Church building is the third on this corner site. The foundation stone was laid in December 1891¹ and the building opened in October 1892.² The architects were Figgis & Molloy and the building was constructed in brick with stucco dressings on a foundation of bluestone and concrete.³ The style is Gothic and the spacious interior incorporates transepts and an apse which houses the organ. The church closed for worship in early 2023.

Uniting Church, Neil Street, Ballarat – organ case
[photograph by John Maidment (2 November 2006)]

The organ was built by George Fincham for the Wesleyan Church in central Ballarat where it was opened in May 1874. The following description was published:⁴

The opening of the new organ at the Lydiard Street Wesleyan Church will be celebrated by an organ recital and sacred concert on Friday week. The organ was constructed by Mr George Fincham, of Richmond, and has two manuals, CC to G, fifty-six notes and pedal organ, CCC to F, thirty notes.

Great organ, ten stops : —
Open Diapason, 8 feet, 56 pipes
Stop Diapason (bass), 8 feet, 12 pipes
Clarabella 8 feet, 44 pipes
Dulciana, 8 feet, 44 pipes
Principal, 4 feet, 56 pipes
Flute, 4 feet, 56 pipes
Twelfth, 2 2/3 feet, 56 pipes
Fifteenth, 2 feet, 56 pipes
Sesquialtera, 3 ranks, 168 pipes
Trumpet, 8 feet, 56 pipes — in all, 604 pipes.

Swell organ, eight stops : —
Double Diapason, 16 feet, 56 pipes
Open Diapason, 8 feet, 56 pipes
Stop Diapason, 8 feet, 56 pipes
Keraulophon, 8 feet, 44 pipes
Principal, 4 feet, 56 pipes
Piccolo, 2 feet, 56 pipes
Cornopean, 8 feet, 56 pipes
Oboe, 8 feet, 56 pipes — in all, 436 pipes.

The Pedal organ has 2 stops : —
Open Diapason, 16 feet, 30 pipes
Bourdon, 16 feet, 30 pipes — in all, 60 pipes.

The total number of pipes is 1100.

The couplers are — Swell to great, great to pedals, and swell to pedals. There are three composition pedals to the great organ, and two to the swell organ.  The case was designed by Mr J. A. Doane, and carved by Mr T. Thompson, of Mair street; Mr Thomas Whitelaw being the decorator. For the opening celebration an excellent programme has been arranged. The organists on the occasion will be Mr P.C. Plaisted, of Melbourne, and Mr A. T. Turner.

At Neil Street, there was a pipe organ in one of the earlier church buildings. Fincham reported in 1889 that it was a chamber organ of indifferent quality.⁵

The 1874 organ was lent to the Australian Juvenile Industrial Ballarat Exhibition at Ballarat in 1890-91. In October 1892, it was installed at the new Wesleyan Church, Neil Street by Fincham & Hobday.⁶

The organ was rebuilt and enlarged in 1924 by Geo. Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd. A third manual was provided at the console for a future Choir Organ, but no stops were present.

*Additions to original scheme⁷

Uniting Church, Neil Street, Ballarat – console
[photograph by John Maidment (2 November 2006)]

The organ was rebuilt in 1956 by Geo. Fincham & Sons Pty Ltd. A new detached stopkey console was provided and the action converted to electro-pneumatic.

Compass: 61/30
Detached stopkey console
Electro-pneumatic action⁸

All of the 1874 pipework appears to survive. The original console was removed by 1924 but the openings remain in the organ case which has, together with the façade pipes, been overpainted to its detriment. The organ is of significance for the survival of its original 1874 Fincham pipework, windchests and the highly distinctive architect-designed case by Joseph Doane with its fine carving.

The organ is classified by the National Trust of Australia (Victoria):

File Number

B7124


Level

Regional

Statement of Significance

A two-manual instrument, originally of 20 speaking stops, built in 1874 for the earlier Wesleyan Church in Lydiard Street, Ballarat by George Fincham and moved to its present location in 1892. Although the action and console have been changed, the instrument is of significance for the survival of a large corpus of early Fincham pipework, its excellent location and sound in a fine acoustical environment, and particularly its casework designed by Ballarat architect J A Doane with carving by T Thompson. This is a rare example of an architect-designed case and incorporates elaborately clustered corbels suppporting the three towers, cusped cresting and crocketed pinnacles.
Classified: 07/05/2001

File Note: February 2008: Church redundant⁹

The future of the building and organ is uncertain at the time of writing and it is likely they will be sold.

Uniting Church, Neil Street, Ballarat – organ case detail
[photograph by John Maidment (2 November 2006)]

1 Ballarat Star, 12 December 1891, p.4

2 Ibid., 31 October 1892, p.2

3 Ibid., 12 August 1892, p.2

4 Ballarat Courier, 21 May 1874, p.2

5 E.N. Matthews, Colonial Organs and Organbuilders (Carlton: Melbourne University Press, 1969), p.159

6 Ibid.

7 Specification noted by John Cowan before 1956 and supplied to John Maidment

8 Specification noted by John Maidment 2006

9 National Trust Register accessed online 6 March 2023