Wadsworth Family and Companies

EDWARD WADSWORTH

UPBRINGING

Edward Wadsworth was born on 2nd July 1839 in Chorlton, Manchester, the second son of George Wadsworth, an estate agent.   He was baptised in the local Unitarian Church.  As the family grew – there was eventually six children (five boys and a girl) – they moved house regularly around Manchester, increasingly in to the better suburbs.  Their last child was Ernest, of whom more later, was born on 30th Sept 1850.  A Family Tree is shown below.

Wadsworth chart 200424

A NEW COMPANY

Edward Wadsworth, initially trained with Kirtland & Jardine, but soon after completing that, then aged 22, left and set up his own organ-building company in about 1861. This was the beginning of the boom in church-building, and Wadsworth was one of many such enterprises, building small to medium sized instruments suitable for chapels and parish churches (and also many for use in larger houses).  In less than 10 years, by 1870, he was employing 20 men and 6 boys, one of whom would have John Wardle,   John joined as apprentice in about 1867, and would be apprenticed for about 5 years.  He left for a while to join another organbuilder, John Porritt, but returned to Wadsworth’s after a short while.

THE MARKET FOR ORGANS

The market for organs was stimulated by a number of factors:

ANDREW CARNEGIE
  • First, whereas many Anglican churches has embraced the use of music and organs, the Presbyterian churches initially banned music.  In Scotland, the Church of Scotland only approved their use in 1865, and the Free Churches held off until 1883.  So there was increased competition between churches for better music.
  • Secondly, the religious revival in the mid 1800s was partly based on rousing hymn singing, and authoring of uplifting words and the composition of memorable hymn tunes – many still in use today – changed the nature of church-going.  Organs provided a very suitable encouragement to rousing singing.
  • Thirdly, the generosity of Andrew Carnegie, the American industrialist and founder of the Carnegie Foundation, who offered donations to match pound for pound the monies raised by congregations.  A great incentive for focussed fundraising.

It also became fashionable for large houses to have an organ in the main room to add to the evening’s entertainment.

THE COMPANY EXPANDS

A few years later, in 1874, Edward’s brother, Ernest (younger by some 13 years) gave up his career as a first class cricketer for Lancashire, and joined the company. The name was changed to Messrs.Wadsworth and Brother.

Edward Wandsworth was one of many entrepreneurs who entered into this rapidly expanding market.  He manufactured smaller organs (usually only one or two manuals) and sold mainly in the North of England.  The expansion into the Scottish market in the prosperous North East filled a gap that the large organ building companies, concentrating on Scotland’s Central Belt, missed out.

The one page specification for Banchory Episcopal Church organ

A SKILLFUL TRADE

It is clear from what still exist of the company’s records, that organ building, its design, its manufacture and the eventual installation was very much a large mixture of skills and crafts. The order for an organ was often no more than one page in the workshop book. An example is shown on the right.  Some of those crafts, such as rolling out the molten metal to make the pipes, are still in use, almost unchanged, today.   John Wardle was sent to Aberdeen in 1877 to fill the gap left by the death of the only local organbuilder, Joseph Wishart, in 1876, and soon after, John started sending regular orders back to Manchester.

John Wardle, being a journeyman organbuilder, would have had the all skills needed.  However, to cope with the volume of orders, it appears that he had the main parts (the pipes, keyboard, action) made in Manchester, but the casings – the woodwork supporting the mechanisms – were made locally, and he set up a workshop in Hardgate in the centre of Aberdeen, next door to furniture makers and metalwork craftsmen, and later, electricians.

EDWARD PASSES CONTROL TO ERNEST

After a period of prosperity, in which the Aberdeen and London branches were established, difficulties arose. Edward went through a difficult divorce in 1886, and his wife then committed suicide. He went over to Montreal, Canada where he set up a short-lived branch office, remarried, but on his return did not rejoin the company.   Ernest stayed in charge until his death in 1918,  after which the company was run by the employees.

During their 85 years of existence, the Wadsworth companies made over 1000 organs, mainly for churches in the North of England. John Wardle sold 161 (and maintained many others) in Scotland. mainly in the North-East.   They were also active, as was John Wardle, in refurbishing and rebuilding organs originally manufactured by other makers.  A interactive map of his efforts is shown separately on this web site.

Because organs (in those days) were relatively simple mechanical, pneumatic or electrical machines, it was, and still is, common practice for organbuilders to adapt and alter another manufacturer’s products.  The robustness and quality of manufacture, prompted by the expectation of churches that the machines would last many years, is reflected in the fact that the St James’ organ, now historically listed, has been in use, with very little modification for almost 140 years, and is still played every week, with minimal maintenance.

DECLINE AND CLOSURE

The Great Depression and the Second World War saw declining church attendances and revenues, and the demand for organ building and repair declined with it. The business was eventually taken over by Jardine & Co, in 1946.