Historical and Technical Documentation by John Maidment
© OHTA (last updated May 2011)
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston : exterior from south
[photograph by Peter Dowde (9 January 2011)]
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston : exterior from south
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (29 April 2011)]
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston : interior with organ
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (29 April 2011)]
The first plan for a church on this site appeared in January 1837; this was a small wooden structure erected for £250. The building was later enlarged to the designs of local architect Peter Mills and built by contractors Messrs. Lloyd & Douslin. This consisted of a Chapel and Sunday School and was opened on 31 October 1858.1
In June 1889 a new Wesleyan Sunday School building was opened, which was designed and built by Messrs J. & T. Gunn.2 The building has a distinctive Classical facade, with diminutive twin towers, almost in a mannerist idiom, crowded with architectural detail. This building was also used as a church, known as Margaret Street Methodist Church.
On 23 April 1917 a scheme was launched to remodel the Sunday School as a church. The architect was Harold Masters and the contractors were Hinman, Wright and Manser. It was opened on 27 January 1918. An extension was made to the building to accommodate the organ.3 Earlier, in 1911, Alexander North had provided plans for an entirely new church building in a very progressive style resembling his later Trinity College Chapel at the University of Melbourne.
Organ shown in its original home at the Methodist Church, Paterson Street, Launceston
[photograph by Trevor Bunning from original held by Pilgrim Uniting Church (29 April 2011)]
The organ was built by George Fincham for the Wesleyan Church, Paterson Street, Launceston and was opened there in June 1880. A contemporary description read:
The organ, which was built by Mr G. Fincham, of Melbourne, contains two manuals, viz. Great organ with a compass from CC to G of 56 notes, and swell organ of the compass from CC to G of 56 notes. The bellows are of ample dimensions, containing double feeders, with inverted ribs and improved pallets, etc. The swell box is double lined, the space between the inner and outer lining being filled in with sawdust. There is also a separate pedal sound board, a radiating and concave pedal clavier, the compass being from C to F of 30 notes. There are also composition pedals for combinations. The anti-concussion valves are attached to the swell and great sound boards. The organ front is constructed of blackwood, French polished, and is of a most handsome design. In the centre of the woodwork and over the covering of the keys is fixed a silver plate from the Grubb gamily, in affectionate remembrance of the late Hon. W.D. Grubb. The front pipes are illuminated in blue and gold, and give a very pretty effect to the instrument. The case ends are of deal, stained and varnished to match the blackwood front. The organ contains the following stops : - Great organ: open diapason (metal), CC to G, 56 pipes, 8ft; stop diapason, bass clarabella (wood) CC to G, 56 pipes, 8ft ; dulciana (metal), CC to G, 56 pipes, 8ft; principal (metal), CC to G, 56 pipes, 4ft; flute (wood), CC to G, 56 pipes, 4ft; 6 twelfth (metal), cc to G, 56 pipes, 22/3ft; 7 fifteenth (metal), CC to G (56 pipes), 2ft. Swell organ : double diapason (wood), CC to G, 56 pipes, 16ft. tone; open diapason (metal and wood), CC to G, 56 pipes; stop diapason (wood), CC to G (56 pipes), 8ft; keraulophon (metal), tenor C to G, 44 pipes, 8ft ; principal (metal), CC to G (56 pipes), 4ft ; mixture (metal), CC to G, 112 pipes, two ranks; oboe (metal), CC to G. 56 pipes, 8ft. Pedal Organ – Pedal open diapason (wood), CCC to F, 30 pipes, 16ft; pedal Bourdon (wood), CCC to F, 30 pipes, with couplers, swell to great, swell to pedal, and great to pedal. There are also three composition pedals to great organ, and two to swell organ. The number of drawstops is 19, and the number of pipes in the organ, 888. A somewhat novel feature to the organ, and we believe the only one in use in Tasmania, is that the bellows are blown by a hydraulic engine.4
The specification of the organ, recorded in 1970, read:
| GREAT Open Diapason Open Diapason Claribel Dulciana Principal Flute Twelfth Fifteenth Swell to Great SWELL Double Diapason Open Diapason Stop Diapason Gamba Voix Celeste Principal Mixture 17.19 Cornopean Oboe Vox Humana Tremulant PEDAL Open Diapason Bourdon Bass Flute Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal5 |
8 8 8 8 4 4 2-2/3 2 16 8 8 8 8 4 II 8 8 8 16 16 8 |
large, on separate chest, 1920 1920 1920 TC 1920 1920 A A 1920 |
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston – organ from gallery
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (29 April 2011)]
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston – organ from floor
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (29 April 2011)]
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston – detail of organ case
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (29 April 2011)]
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston – detail of organ case
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (29 April 2011)]
Trinity Uniting Church, Launceston – detail of organ case and console
[photograph by Trevor Bunning (29 April 2011)]
In 1975, the organ was rebuilt by K.R. Davis. The action and console were upgraded at this time to electro-pneumatic. Further work in 1987 by Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, of Keysborough, Victoria, consisted of overhauling the slider windchests, tonal regulation and remaking of the 1920 Swell Cornopean as a Trumpet.
| GREAT Open Diapason no 1 Open Diapason no 2 Claribel Dulciana Principal Flute Twelfth Fifteenth Swell Sub Octave to Great Swell to Great Swell Octave to Great SWELL Double Diapason Open Diapason Stopped Diapason Viola da Gamba Viole Celeste Principal Flageolet Mixture 19.22 Trumpet Oboe Tremulant Swell Sub Octave Swell Octave PEDAL Open Diapason Bourdon Principal Bass Flute Octave Quint Fifteenth Flute Nachthorn Great to Pedal Swell to Pedal |
8 8 8 8 4 4 2-2/3 2 16 8 8 8 8 4 2 II 8 8 16 16 8 8 5-1/3 4 4 2 |
A 1-12 new TC 1-2 new new new remade B A B B A B A |
Compass: 61/30
Detached stopkey console
Electro-pneumatic action6
Church during Harvest Festival
Photo supplied by Trevor Bunning (year unknown)
1 G. Ikin and Lewis E. Barnard, Margaret Street Methodist Church (Launceston: the church, 1938), p.6; details courtesy of the State Library of Tasmania
2 Launceston Examiner, 25 June 1889, p.3
3 The Mercury, 19 January 1918, p.15; pers.comm. Marion Sargent, Launceston Reference Library, January 2011
4 Launceston Examiner, 25 June 1880, p.2
5 Noted John Maidment 1970
6 Specification supplied by Robert Heatley, Australian Pipe Organs Pty Ltd, January 1995.