British Organ Archive

The British Organ Archive (formerly English Organ Archive) is an extensive collection of records and publications relating to organs and organ builders which has been accumulated under the auspices of the British Institute of Organ Studies (BIOS).

The bulk of the BOA comprises business records of various organ builders, including minutes, estimate books, order books, accounts, contracts, correspondence, employee records and technical drawings. The technical drawings are particularly extensive; they principally arise from the work of Hill, Norman and Beard (including its pre-amalgamation constituents, Hill and Son and Norman and Beard) and from Jardine and Co. The Hill, Norman and Beard drawings relate to about 1,800 locations spanning the period from the 1870s to the 1970s and were retained for reference when an organ was undergoing restoration or rebuilding in later years. Many of the sequences of these business records are incomplete. Records of the following organ builders are held in the Archive; the list below gives the date range of the records (further details are given in the Handlist of the British Organ Archive, see 'Finding Aids' and 'Document' below):

Bellsham Pipe Organs, [c 1997]-2007;
Bevington and Sons of London, 1905-1931;
Blackett and Howden of Newcastle-on-Tyne, 1902-1916;
Cousans and Co of Lincoln, 1917-1975;
Percy Daniel and Co, 1919-1941 (see 'Copies');
A. E. Davies Ltd of West Drayton, Middlesex, 20th century;
Forster and Andrews, 1844-1951 (see 'Copies');
Grant, Degens & Bradbeer of Northampton, 1960-c 1997;
Gray and Davison of London, 1821-1945;
Griffen and Stroud of Bath, c 1903-2015;
Harrison and Harrison, 1873-1929 (see 'Copies');
Hill, Norman and Beard of London and Lewes, 1916-1973;
Hill, William and Son of London (including Elliot & Hill partnership accounts), 1827-1916;
Hope-Jones and Co of Norwich, c 1889-1901;
Ingram and Co of Hereford
Jardine and Co of Manchester, 1845-1976;
Laycock and Bannister of Yorkshire, 1909-1916;
T. C. Lewis and Co of London, 1865-c 1922;
Liddiatt and Sons of Leonard Stanley (Glos), 1919-1940;
Nicholson and Co Ltd, c 1894-1939;
Norman and Beard of Norwich, 19th-20th century;
Noterman and Co of London, 1970-1975;
Osmond and Co (formerly J. E. Minns) of Taunton, 1890-1934;
Pendlebury Organ Co of Leigh (Lancashire), 1899-1983;
Pipecraft of Norfolk, organ pipe makers, 1967-2004;
Charles Smethurst of Manchester, 1950s-late 20th century;
Wadsworth and Co of Manchester, 1861-1946;
Henry Willis and Co of London, c 1872-1930s;
Roger Yates of Michaelstowe, Bodmin, Cornwall, mid-late 20th century.

In addition to the records of organ builders, there is a small sequence of records of individuals engaged in ancillary activities:
Donald Wright (d 2005), organ consultant and adviser: consultancy papers, late 20th century;
Downes, Ralph William (1904-1993), organ designer, scholar and organist: papers 1860s-1991;
Graebe, David (1937-2016), organ case designer: drawings, c 1982-c 2003

The BOA also includes personal records of antiquaries, scholars, organists and others relating to their interest in organs and organ builders. The material includes photographs, organ specification and other notebooks, scrap albums and research and other papers relating to both UK and continental European organs and organ cases and organ builders. These collections supplement and complement the business archives in the BOA

Up until October 2018, the British Organ Archive was arranged in five parts, according to an arrangement established prior to deposit in Cadbury Research Library:
/ business archives of firms, or individual, organ builders
/ personal records of antiquaries, scholars and others relating to their interest in organs and organ builders
/ organ builder folders
/ organ location folders
/ publications relating to organs and organ builders

An additional division was introduced in October 2018, such that the papers are now arranged in six parts, including:
/ records of individuals and businesses engaged in activities ancillary to organ building

Digital copies of glass plate negatives of photographs taken by Rev Andrew Freeman and subsequently photographed by Greg Chandler can be seen through Cadbury Research Library online archive catalogue (enter 'Freeman' as the finding number).

Some business archives are closed and not currently accessible for research use; these access restrictions are indicated in the handlist. Furthermore, work on the listing of the records is on-going: RECORDS ON THE HANDLIST WHICH DO NOT HAVE A CORRESPONDING BOX NUMBER ARE NOT CURRENTLY AVAILABLE FOR RESEARCH; IN SOME INSTANCES, MICROFICHE COPIES ARE AVAILABLE IN THEIR PLACE (WHERE MICROFICHE ALTERNATIVES ARE AVAILABLE, THIS IS INDICATED ON THE HANDLIST).
With the exception of Forster and Andrews records, copyright of all unpublished material in the British Organ Archive rests with the British Institute of Organ Studies. Enquiries concerning copyright should be emailed to chairman@bios.org.uk or posted to BIOS c/o Cadbury Research Library: Special Collections. Readers wishing to make any published use of the Forster and Andrews material must seek permission from Hull History Centre, Worship Street, Hull, HU2 8BG (email: hullhistorycentre@hullcc.gov.uk). Readers wishing to make published use of the microfiche of the records of Percy Daniel and Co and of Harrison and Harrison, must seek permission from the County Archivist, Durham County Archives, County Hall, Durham DH1 5UL (email: Record.Office@durham.gov.uk).

• A more detailed listing of the collection, which supplements the information in this overview, is available entitled 'Handlist of the British Organ Archive'. To see an online copy of the Handlist, see http://calmview.bham.ac.uk
• A paper copy of the Handlist is also available in Cadbury Research Library. The Handlist gives the Box number for records in the Archive; when requesting material in the Cadbury Research Library Reading Room, or placing an order for copies, please include the BOA Box number (see 'Access Conditions' above).
• A list of the majority of drawings in the archive originating from the firms of William Hill and Son, Norman and Beard and Hill, Norman and Beard which was compiled by Chris Kearl (former BOA Honorary Archivist), is available as a pdf document attached to the catalogue record at http://calmview.bham.ac.uk; the drawings in the list are held in BOA boxes 501-603. A brief listing of the contents of 3 further boxes, 605-607, is also attached. Further unlisted drawings of these and other firms are also held in the archive.
• For researchers interested in a particular organ, please note that it is not possible to search the Handlist by name of organ. The Handlist is simply an expanded version of the overview given in the 'Description' field above and largely comprises a list of the organ builders whose records are held in the Archive with the type, date and extent of records available. However, a long-term project to index the records in the Archive is ongoing and a working database with the results of the indexing to date is available on CD for consultation in the Cadbury Research Library (last updated May 2017). The indexing means that it is sometimes possible to identify which of the records, papers and publications in the Handlist have information relating to a particular organ. The database contains entries for organ locations with cross links to primary source references, secondary source references and over 1,000 illustrations. It is also possible to search through the National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR) which is available online through the website of the British Institute of Organ Studies (follow the link in the URL field below).
• The book collection deposited with the British Organ Archive includes copies of periodicals published by the British Institute of Organ Studies. Indexes to the BIOS Journal and BIOS Reporter are available online through the BIOS website at www.bios.org.uk/publications.

The British Institute of Organ Studies was founded in Cambridge in July 1976 with the specific aims as follows: 'to promote objective scholarly research into the history of the Organ in all its aspects, and, in particular into the history of the English Organ; to make the primary and secondary sources for the history of the English Organ more easily available to scholars; to work for the preservation and, where necessary, the faithful restoration of historic English organs; to sponsor exchanges between British and Foreign scholars of the Organ which may lead to wider appreciation of the English Organ in other countries, and to a greater understanding of the historic continental and colonial schools of organ building in this country.'

• The Freeman-Edmonds directory of British organ builders (DBOB) was published in 2002 in three volumes and is also available on disc. This work was begun by the Rev. Andrew Freeman, the work being continued after his death by the Rev. Bernard B. Edmonds and completed under the guidance of David Wickens a former BOA Archivist and organ historian. The DBOB lists every known organ builder within the British Isles since the Middle-ages until about the year 1955 and is the starting place for information about named organ-builders.
• The National Pipe Organ Register (NPOR) at http://www.npor.org.uk hosts an index to the material in the British Organ Archive and a Directory of British Organ Builders (up to 1950) and these can be searched online.
• A facsimile of the Leffler manuscript was published in 2010: ‘The Leffler manuscript: facsimile edition’, Henry Leffler, Peter Williams and BIOS.