Henry Willis

Henry Willis
For other people named Henry Willis, see Henry Willis (disambiguation).

Henry Willis (27 April 1821 – 11 February 1901), also known as "Father" Willis, was an English organ player and builder, who is regarded as the foremost organ builder of the Victorian era.[1] His company Henry Willis & Sons remains in business with a good reputation.

Early life and work

Willis was born in London, the son of a North London builder, and with George Cooper, later sub-organist of St Paul's Cathedral, he learned to play the organ with some help from Thomas Attwood, St Paul's organist.[2] In 1835, Willis was articled to organ builder John Gray (later Gray and Davison) for seven years. During this time, he invented the manual and pedal couplers which he used throughout his later career.[2] He also became organist of Christ Church Hoxton, the first of a series of organist posts; Christ Church, Hampstead from 1852 to 1859, where he had built the organ; and then the Chapel-of-Ease, Islington (now St Mary Magdalene Church) for nearly thirty years. He was renowned for always arranging his business trips so he could return by Sunday to play for the service.

Following his apprenticeship he worked for three years in Cheltenham, assisting an instrument maker, W.E. Evans, who specialised in free reed instruments. Willis later attributed his personal skill in reed voicing to this experience. Willis met Samuel Sebastian Wesley at Cheltenham, and this led to the re-building of the Gloucester Cathedral organ in 1847. Willis had become an independent organ builder and commented, "It was my stepping stone to fame... I received £400 for the job, and was presumptuous enough to marry."[2]

Family

He was born to Henry Willis (1792–1872) and Elizabeth. He married Esther Maria Chatterton on 7 April 1847 in St Andrew's Church, Holborn and they had the following children

Esther died in 1893 and on 7 August 1894 he married Rosetta Chatterton (1831–1912) at St Thomas' Church, Camden Town.

Growth of his reputation

For the Great Exhibition of 1851, Willis erected the largest of the organs exhibited. He introduced several novel features, which had a significant effect on organ design. Piston buttons were inserted between the manuals to allow automatic selection of blocks of "stops", and Barker lever servo action was used on the manuals to overcome the constraints of tracker action connecting rods for an instrument of such size and complexity. After the exhibition ended, the instrument was erected as a cut-down version in Winchester Cathedral.

The foremost Victorian organ builder

The Exhibition organ led to the contract for St George's Hall, Liverpool, where the virtuosic playing of W.T. Best drew large crowds, and also spread the fame of Willis as a builder still further. In a long career stretching to the end of the 19th century, Willis subsequently built the organs at the Alexandra Palace, the Royal Albert Hall, and St Paul's Cathedral. Among the approximately 1,000 organs that he built or re-built were the cathedral instruments at Truro, Salisbury, Carlisle, Exeter, Canterbury, Lincoln, Durham, Glasgow, Wells, Gloucester, and Hereford. In addition there were a large number of concert and parish church organs of note, including the organ at Windsor Castle. The last major instrument which he personally supervised was at St Bees Priory in 1899, which he voiced himself, although approaching his 80th year.

St Bees Priory organ 1899

Legacy

Willis died in London in 1901. His instruments can be found across the world, particularly in the former British Empire, and his superb reed voicing and excellent mechanical craftmanship can still be experienced on many instruments today.

Four generations of the Willis family continued the family tradition of organ building until 1997, when Henry Willis IV retired and the first non-family Managing Director was appointed. On 28 November 1998 the total shareholding of the Willis family was acquired. The Company, founded in 1845, Henry Willis & Sons, Ltd. still makes organs in Liverpool.

References

  1. ↑ George Laing Miller (1913) The Recent Revolution in Organ Building, Charles Francis Press, New York
  2. 1 2 3 The Musical Times, Vol. 39, No. 663 (May 1898)

Sources

External links

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