Margaretta Cottage

Leichhardt Street, Glebe

Residence of the Late Dr Vincent Sheppard (1922-1987)

Built around 1850 Hermanus Knipscheer, Netherlands.  
Restored 1955 D.A. Flentrop.  Imported by Dr Vincent Sheppard around 1957.
1 manual, 5 speaking stops, no pedals, mechanical action

Margaretta Cottage, Glebe
(photograph from Wikimedia Commons)




Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: drawing room
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])



Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA, 2020 (last updated October 2020)

Architect Graham Jahn describes Margaretta Cottage as "wonderful and unassuming". It is a single-storey stucco cottage with a central dormer in the slate roof with dentils to eaves, a wide north-facing verandah with a draped metal roof, and cast iron columns. The present owner believes the French doors were part of the subsequent remodelling. There is a small addition to the west end. The building is set well back on a block replete with lawn and cottage garden, a cast iron fence and stone gateposts. Margaretta Cottage is the venue for some of the concert performances in the annual Glebe Music Festival.¹

The architect of Margaretta Cottage, Michael Golden arrived in Sydney from Ireland with his family as an assisted migrant in 1840. He was employed as a carpenter and joiner but within a few years he had modified his surname from Golding to Golden and by 1850 upgraded his trade from carpenter to architect.²

Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])

The organ is a chamber instrument built around 1850 by Hermanus Knipscheer II (1802-1874), who was a leading organbuilder of the period in the Netherlands based in Amsterdam.³ It is the only instrument of its type in Australia and was imported by the late Dr Vincent Sheppard, around 1957, at the time he was overseas.⁴ Some minor restoration work had been carried out in 1955 by D.A. Flentrop, of Zaandam although it is not shown in the firm's work lists. It was used for a time in Christ Church Cathedral, Newcastle before being placed in the drawing room of Margaretta Cottage.

The longest wooden pipes of the organ are laid horizontally in the roof of the organ. The metal pipes have been fitted with tuning slides and have impressed mouths with Indian ink note markings. The instrument has an attractive case in mahogany with carved gilded pipeshades.

Compass: CC-f, 54 notes
mechanical key and stop action⁵

Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ – left hand stop jamb
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])




Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ – right hand stop jamb
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])




Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ - keyboard
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])




Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ - internal pipework
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])




Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ - wooden pipes at top of organ
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])




Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ – detail of pipe inscriptions
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])



 
Margaretta Cottage, Glebe: Knipscheer chamber organ – detail of carved pipe shades
(photograph by Mark Fisher [6 May 2010])

1. https://glebewalks.com.au/?tb_walk_stop=margaretta-cottage-quoted-variously-as-c1929-361845-remodeled-1860

2. https://izi.travel/en/adbe-margaretta-cottage/en

3. https://nl.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hermanus_Knipscheer, https://www.christies.com/lotfinder/Lot/a-dutch-ivory-mounted-mahogany-organ-secretaire-a-4934880-details.aspx

4. The organ was present in Australia in 1958: Nepean Times, 4 September 1958, p.3

5. Specification noted from photographs taken by Mark Fisher 2010