The 1764 John Byfield II organ at St. Mary Rotherhithe, LondonClick on the dropdown button to translate. Translate this page: You can translate the content of this page by selecting a language in the select box. |
Photographs of the church and organ
The interior of the church in 1826, from a watercolour by George Yates, showing the high box pews in both the nave and in the gallery around the organ, and the upper tier of galleries for the children on either side of the organ. The organist must have felt quite boxed in with so much woodwork and people surrounding the console.
The clock is contemporary with the organ (1765), and is still wound by hand every Sunday after the morning service. The stonework visible on the wall to either side of the organ is all that remains of the mediaeval tower. 'The Reverend Mr. Negus, Rector of St. Mary, Rotherhithe', was a subscriber to William Riley's 'Parochial music corrected' (1762)
The present music desk used to be the vertical panel at the back of the original Byfield console. Notches can be seen for the adjustment of Byfield's music desk. The elegant brass scallop-shell lampshade, which fits so well with the curves of the carving, disappeared many years ago and was replaced by a utilitarian fluorescent tube. The screw-holes for the scallop-shell are still visible in the woodwork.
A history of the organ
The Vestry decided to rebuild St Mary's as early as 1705, but a faculty was not applied for until 1714; and although on 9 March 1715 it was recorded that 'the parish church is now finished in Pewing', not until 1746 did they decide to complete the tower and in the following year to provide it with bells. A further eighteen years elapsed before the new church was provided with an organ. Until then a small band of musical instruments led the singing of hymns and psalms.
John Byfield II 1764
The history of the organ begins with a vestry minute of 24 April 1764: -
'Whereas many of the Parishioners have expressed their desire of having an Organ erected in this Church which they apprehend would be not only a very decent Ornament but also add to the Solemnity of Divine Service, we do unanimously agree that an Organ will make a very useful and agreeable addition to this Church and therefore authorise and desire the Churchwardens to erect the same as soon as possible.'
The vestry also agreed that the expense of erecting the organ should be met by public subscription and at a subsequent meeting that the organist's salary be defrayed from the annual rate. The Churchwardens lost no time in starting the process of obtaining the necessary faculty from the Bishop of Winchester (of which diocese Rotherhithe was a part). The faculty was granted on 22 July, it was decided that the organ was to be placed in the west gallery and to measure 21 ft high, 12 ft wide and 6 ft 9inches deep with a further 2 ft for the organist's seat. It was necessary to state these dimensions precisely to help establish that no regular worshipper would lose his or her seat through the space taken up by the instrument!
The organ is enclosed at the front by a polished mahogany case and at the back by dark stained wainscoting of pine standing between the case and the west wall. The breadth and depth of the organ as it stands today are exactly the same as the measurements stated in the faculty (organ stool excepted) leading to the unavoidable conclusion that the organ has occupied the same west gallery floor area right from the beginning and that the wainscoting was part of the original construction.
It seems likely that the Churchwardens had already contacted John Byfield II, as the accounts for 1764 record payments relating to 'Expenses of attending Mr. Byfield' and finally 'Mr. Byfield...for erecting and compleating the Organ as per Contract...£400' (£59,850 at 2012 values).
The organ was already under construction during spring 1765, as 4 shillings was paid for the bells to be rung on 29 May 'when the Organ Case was fixing up that it might not be incommoded by the rocking of the Steeple at the time of ringing the bells.'
The bells were rung again on 29 September 1765 when, as a local newspaper reported: 'Sunday was opened by Mr. Worgan, at St. Mary Rotherhithe, the new Organ built by Mr. John Byfield, Organ-Builder in Ordinary to his Majesty, which gave a general satisfaction to a polite and crowded Audience.'
Neither the original contract nor list of subscribers have survived, but an inscription on the front of the gallery records that the organ was erected by subscription of some of the inhabitants.
Byfield looked after the organ from 1766 to 1803. As the original contract does not survive, the earliest specification we have is from James Henry Leffler's early nineteenth century notebook.
Hugh and Timothy Russell 1816/1828-29
The firm of Hugh Russell and Son took over the care of the organ from 1805 to 1859. Two items of substantial repairs and maintenance took place during this period. £40 was paid for 'cleaning and repairing' in 1816, and substantial work was commissioned in 1828/29. Russell's quote was £137, the actual cost rising to £166 by the time his bill was paid on 16 February 1830 (£16,056.72 at 2012 values). As Hugh died in 1825, the 1828/29 work was undertaken by his son Timothy, who lived to 1861.
Austin Niland, in his monograph on the instrument, gives the following description of the work done by (Timothy) Russell: 1. extended the Great and Choir compasses from GG (short octave) - e3 to GG (long octave, no GG#) - f3; 2. added an octave and a half of pedals without pedal pipes (i.e. pulldowns to the Great, probably GG - c); 3. on the Great, suppressed the Cornet and substituted a second Open Diapason for the Nason; 4. on the Choir, substituted a TC Cremona for the Vox Humana; and 5. on the Swell, removed the Cornet and added a second Open Diapason, but left the compass unaltered [from tenor G upwards].
The resulting specification is given in Hopkins and Rimbault (1855).
The justification for a second Open Diapason on the Great can be seen in a voluntary written by Hugh's organist son William, where the Open Diapason on the Great is accompanied by the Swell Oboe. Experiment shows that Byfield's Open is not strong enough to balance the Oboe. The organist of the time, Robert Nottingham, obviously wanted the Rotherhithe instrument to keep abreast of changing fashions in musical style.
Gray and Davison 1881-82
Gray and Davison took over care of the instrument in 1864. The first work which they recorded as having carried out was: 'Cleaning the organ, repairing pipes, regulating and tuning, £15; improving the touch by altering the action and regulating movements £2; taking out bellows and thoroughly repairing, enlarging feeders, repalleting middleboard and refixing £7; tuning to equal temperament £5.'
A basic overhaul in 1876 was recorded by Gray and Davison as: 'cleaning organ through, repairing pipes, renewing wirework, cleaning casework and front pipes £40'.
A more substantial rebuild took place in 1881/82, including enlarging the Swell organ, converting all manuals to the German compass of C-f3, and providing a new pedalboard with Bourdon pipes C-e1; by 1882 also, the feet of the pipes in the organ case towers had been replaced with new ones of zinc. A new console was provided, which survives to this day, displaying Gray and Davison's ivory name-plate.
The cost of the works were £200 [£20,374.46 at 2012 values], plus £1.11s.6d for an organ stool (which still survives in the gallery). However, it seems that on 1 January 1887 a debt of £78.7s.6d. was still outstanding, and although on 19 December 1882 a sum of £5.9s.0d. was paid in cash, the balance of £72.18.6d. [£8,128.46 at 2012 values] seems to have never been paid to Gray and Davison, whose connection with the parish was severed after their last tuning of 24 June 1886.
After Gray and Davison's departure, no professional work was done to the organ from 1886 to 1959.
Two factors should be mentioned which contributed to the possibility of the 1959 restoration:
Firstly, in the 1930s there were plans for a destructive rebuild which would have made subsequent restoration impossible. Thankfully, lack of parish resources made such action impossible.
Secondly, admirable emergency repairs for the sum of £46 [£1,524.40 in 2012 values] were carried out by W.J. English in 1946/47 which halted the continuing deterioration of the organ.
Noel Mander 1959
Mander's work in 1959 was oriented towards the restitution of Byfield's tonal scheme as far as possible, and a thorough renovation of the mechanical action. Mander's changes were: Provision of a new Mounted Cornet on the Great, replacing that removed by Russell (but not the echo Cornet on the Swell, which has never been replaced). A secondhand Clarion (supposedly 1817, but actually ca.1870) on the Great, replacing Gray and Davison's Gamba. The provision of a bass octave for Russell's Choir Cremona, using the existing holes of Byfield's Vox Humana. The opening out of footholes closed by years of cone-tuning, and the provision of tuning slides. The provision of an electric blower, and the removal of all hand-blowing equipment, including the lever and feeder bellows.
The resulting specification was as close as possible to the original. The restored organ was reopened on 22 October 1959.
Restoration of the organ case took place in two stages. In 1960 some broken carving was repaired and the case was stripped to reveal the original rich mahogany. Details of the case were gilded. In 1975, the organ was cleaned and the front pipes (Byfield's original Open Diapason) were regilded.
Goetze and Gwynn 1991
The 1991 overhaul provided new roofs to Great, repaired G&D actions, restored Great Sesquialtera to original composition; and replaced stopped rank on the Great Cornet with a copy of the contemporary example at St. George, Gravesend, the 1959 pipes having deformed sufficiently to make them untunable. The tuning system is now Young's. A new adjustable bench was provided, to replace the Gray and Davison bench.
The Vestry decided to rebuild St Mary's as early as 1705, but a faculty was not applied for until 1714; and although on 9 March 1715 it was recorded that 'the parish church is now finished in Pewing', not until 1746 did they decide to complete the tower and in the following year to provide it with bells. A further eighteen years elapsed before the new church was provided with an organ. Until then a small band of musical instruments led the singing of hymns and psalms.
John Byfield II 1764
The history of the organ begins with a vestry minute of 24 April 1764: -
'Whereas many of the Parishioners have expressed their desire of having an Organ erected in this Church which they apprehend would be not only a very decent Ornament but also add to the Solemnity of Divine Service, we do unanimously agree that an Organ will make a very useful and agreeable addition to this Church and therefore authorise and desire the Churchwardens to erect the same as soon as possible.'
The vestry also agreed that the expense of erecting the organ should be met by public subscription and at a subsequent meeting that the organist's salary be defrayed from the annual rate. The Churchwardens lost no time in starting the process of obtaining the necessary faculty from the Bishop of Winchester (of which diocese Rotherhithe was a part). The faculty was granted on 22 July, it was decided that the organ was to be placed in the west gallery and to measure 21 ft high, 12 ft wide and 6 ft 9inches deep with a further 2 ft for the organist's seat. It was necessary to state these dimensions precisely to help establish that no regular worshipper would lose his or her seat through the space taken up by the instrument!
The organ is enclosed at the front by a polished mahogany case and at the back by dark stained wainscoting of pine standing between the case and the west wall. The breadth and depth of the organ as it stands today are exactly the same as the measurements stated in the faculty (organ stool excepted) leading to the unavoidable conclusion that the organ has occupied the same west gallery floor area right from the beginning and that the wainscoting was part of the original construction.
It seems likely that the Churchwardens had already contacted John Byfield II, as the accounts for 1764 record payments relating to 'Expenses of attending Mr. Byfield' and finally 'Mr. Byfield...for erecting and compleating the Organ as per Contract...£400' (£59,850 at 2012 values).
The organ was already under construction during spring 1765, as 4 shillings was paid for the bells to be rung on 29 May 'when the Organ Case was fixing up that it might not be incommoded by the rocking of the Steeple at the time of ringing the bells.'
The bells were rung again on 29 September 1765 when, as a local newspaper reported: 'Sunday was opened by Mr. Worgan, at St. Mary Rotherhithe, the new Organ built by Mr. John Byfield, Organ-Builder in Ordinary to his Majesty, which gave a general satisfaction to a polite and crowded Audience.'
Neither the original contract nor list of subscribers have survived, but an inscription on the front of the gallery records that the organ was erected by subscription of some of the inhabitants.
Byfield looked after the organ from 1766 to 1803. As the original contract does not survive, the earliest specification we have is from James Henry Leffler's early nineteenth century notebook.
Hugh and Timothy Russell 1816/1828-29
The firm of Hugh Russell and Son took over the care of the organ from 1805 to 1859. Two items of substantial repairs and maintenance took place during this period. £40 was paid for 'cleaning and repairing' in 1816, and substantial work was commissioned in 1828/29. Russell's quote was £137, the actual cost rising to £166 by the time his bill was paid on 16 February 1830 (£16,056.72 at 2012 values). As Hugh died in 1825, the 1828/29 work was undertaken by his son Timothy, who lived to 1861.
Austin Niland, in his monograph on the instrument, gives the following description of the work done by (Timothy) Russell: 1. extended the Great and Choir compasses from GG (short octave) - e3 to GG (long octave, no GG#) - f3; 2. added an octave and a half of pedals without pedal pipes (i.e. pulldowns to the Great, probably GG - c); 3. on the Great, suppressed the Cornet and substituted a second Open Diapason for the Nason; 4. on the Choir, substituted a TC Cremona for the Vox Humana; and 5. on the Swell, removed the Cornet and added a second Open Diapason, but left the compass unaltered [from tenor G upwards].
The resulting specification is given in Hopkins and Rimbault (1855).
The justification for a second Open Diapason on the Great can be seen in a voluntary written by Hugh's organist son William, where the Open Diapason on the Great is accompanied by the Swell Oboe. Experiment shows that Byfield's Open is not strong enough to balance the Oboe. The organist of the time, Robert Nottingham, obviously wanted the Rotherhithe instrument to keep abreast of changing fashions in musical style.
Gray and Davison 1881-82
Gray and Davison took over care of the instrument in 1864. The first work which they recorded as having carried out was: 'Cleaning the organ, repairing pipes, regulating and tuning, £15; improving the touch by altering the action and regulating movements £2; taking out bellows and thoroughly repairing, enlarging feeders, repalleting middleboard and refixing £7; tuning to equal temperament £5.'
A basic overhaul in 1876 was recorded by Gray and Davison as: 'cleaning organ through, repairing pipes, renewing wirework, cleaning casework and front pipes £40'.
A more substantial rebuild took place in 1881/82, including enlarging the Swell organ, converting all manuals to the German compass of C-f3, and providing a new pedalboard with Bourdon pipes C-e1; by 1882 also, the feet of the pipes in the organ case towers had been replaced with new ones of zinc. A new console was provided, which survives to this day, displaying Gray and Davison's ivory name-plate.
The cost of the works were £200 [£20,374.46 at 2012 values], plus £1.11s.6d for an organ stool (which still survives in the gallery). However, it seems that on 1 January 1887 a debt of £78.7s.6d. was still outstanding, and although on 19 December 1882 a sum of £5.9s.0d. was paid in cash, the balance of £72.18.6d. [£8,128.46 at 2012 values] seems to have never been paid to Gray and Davison, whose connection with the parish was severed after their last tuning of 24 June 1886.
After Gray and Davison's departure, no professional work was done to the organ from 1886 to 1959.
Two factors should be mentioned which contributed to the possibility of the 1959 restoration:
Firstly, in the 1930s there were plans for a destructive rebuild which would have made subsequent restoration impossible. Thankfully, lack of parish resources made such action impossible.
Secondly, admirable emergency repairs for the sum of £46 [£1,524.40 in 2012 values] were carried out by W.J. English in 1946/47 which halted the continuing deterioration of the organ.
Noel Mander 1959
Mander's work in 1959 was oriented towards the restitution of Byfield's tonal scheme as far as possible, and a thorough renovation of the mechanical action. Mander's changes were: Provision of a new Mounted Cornet on the Great, replacing that removed by Russell (but not the echo Cornet on the Swell, which has never been replaced). A secondhand Clarion (supposedly 1817, but actually ca.1870) on the Great, replacing Gray and Davison's Gamba. The provision of a bass octave for Russell's Choir Cremona, using the existing holes of Byfield's Vox Humana. The opening out of footholes closed by years of cone-tuning, and the provision of tuning slides. The provision of an electric blower, and the removal of all hand-blowing equipment, including the lever and feeder bellows.
The resulting specification was as close as possible to the original. The restored organ was reopened on 22 October 1959.
Restoration of the organ case took place in two stages. In 1960 some broken carving was repaired and the case was stripped to reveal the original rich mahogany. Details of the case were gilded. In 1975, the organ was cleaned and the front pipes (Byfield's original Open Diapason) were regilded.
Goetze and Gwynn 1991
The 1991 overhaul provided new roofs to Great, repaired G&D actions, restored Great Sesquialtera to original composition; and replaced stopped rank on the Great Cornet with a copy of the contemporary example at St. George, Gravesend, the 1959 pipes having deformed sufficiently to make them untunable. The tuning system is now Young's. A new adjustable bench was provided, to replace the Gray and Davison bench.
The present specification (2014)
Great (All Byfield ranks have Russell C# and f3 pipes)
Choir (All Byfield ranks have Russell C# and f3 pipes)
Swell (Byfield stops extended downwards from original tenor G by Gray and Davidson, with Russell f3 pipes)
Pedals:
Couplers:
Three composition pedals to Great:
Compass: Manuals C to f3 (54 notes), Pedals CC-e1 (29 notes). Originally short octave GG/AA/BB/C/D etc. Short Swell from tenor G only.
Temperament: Young's
Pitch: A 440Hz
Action: mechanical throughout
Trigger Swell pedal (two positions only: open and shut)
Wind pressure: 2 1/2 inches (1991)
The organ retains more of its tonal qualities than any comparable instrument of its date. 60% of the pipework is original Byfield. It is important for the understanding of 18th century church music and has attracted recitalists from far and wide. Nevertheless, its original purpose of providing accompaniment for services at St. Mary's remains paramount.
A detailed description of the organ is to be found in the monograph by Austin Niland 'The Organ at St Mary's, Rotherhithe', published by the Positif Press ISBN 0906894115.
Great (All Byfield ranks have Russell C# and f3 pipes)
- Open diapason 8 ft Mostly Byfield (all pipes below g#1 speaking in the facade and gilded, including mute pipes from GG to C)
- Open diapason 8 ft Russell
- Stopped diapason 8 ft Byfield
- Principal 4 ft Byfield
- Twelfth 2 2/3 ft Byfield
- Fifteenth 2 ft Byfield (f3 pipe missing)
- Sesquialtera IV (17.19.22.24) (Tierce rank Goetze and Gwynn, 19th and 22nd Byfield, 24th Mander)
- Cornet treble V (1.8.12.15.17) Mander (8ft stopped rank Goetze and Gwynn - no f3 pipes. Mounted above Great behind facade pipes)
- Trumpet 8 ft Mostly Byfield
- Clarion 4 ft Victorian/Mander
Choir (All Byfield ranks have Russell C# and f3 pipes)
- Stopped diapason 8 ft Byfield
- Principal 4 ft Byfield
- Flute 4 ft Byfield
- Fifteenth 2 ft Byfield
- Cremona 8 ft Russell (lowest 12 pipes Mander)
Swell (Byfield stops extended downwards from original tenor G by Gray and Davidson, with Russell f3 pipes)
- Double diapason 16 ft (Tenor C) (former Byfield Open, transposed up an octave, with lower 19 pipes added by Gray and Davison)
- Open diapason 8 ft Russell (lowest 12 notes grooved from Stopped Diapason, 7 Gray and Davison pipes in tenor octave)
- Stopped diapason 8 ft Byfield (19 Gray & Davidson pipes in bass)
- Principal 4 ft Byfield (19 Gray & Davidson pipes in bass)
- Fifteenth 2 ft (new stop by Gray and Davison, using Byfield pipes removed from the Great Mixture)
- Trumpet 8 ft Byfield (19 Gray & Davidson pipes in bass, 7 inside the Swell box, 12 outside the Swell box)
- Oboe 8 ft (Tenor C) Byfield (with 7 Gray & Davidson pipes in tenor octave)
Pedals:
- Grand Bourdon 16 ft Gray and Davidson
Couplers:
- Great to Pedal
- Swell to Pedal
- Choir to Pedal
- Swell to Great
Three composition pedals to Great:
- Diapasons
- To Fifteenth
- Full Great with Trumpet and Clarion
Compass: Manuals C to f3 (54 notes), Pedals CC-e1 (29 notes). Originally short octave GG/AA/BB/C/D etc. Short Swell from tenor G only.
Temperament: Young's
Pitch: A 440Hz
Action: mechanical throughout
Trigger Swell pedal (two positions only: open and shut)
Wind pressure: 2 1/2 inches (1991)
The organ retains more of its tonal qualities than any comparable instrument of its date. 60% of the pipework is original Byfield. It is important for the understanding of 18th century church music and has attracted recitalists from far and wide. Nevertheless, its original purpose of providing accompaniment for services at St. Mary's remains paramount.
A detailed description of the organ is to be found in the monograph by Austin Niland 'The Organ at St Mary's, Rotherhithe', published by the Positif Press ISBN 0906894115.
The organists of St. Mary's
Michael Topping 1765–1780
Michael Topping's date of birth is unknown, but as he presumably was the Michael Topping who married Margaret Watkins on 4th November 1728 at St Katherine by the Tower, London, we can guess that he was born at least as early as 1707, if of age at the time. Topping is an exceptionally rare name in the south of England, and no other family of the name has been traced at this date. There are two main distributions of the name, though, in south Lancashire and in Northumberland, from where perhaps he came in search of a career down south.
Lane Fine Art has a painting by Topping of the launch of a 24-gun 6th rate ship for the Honourable East India Company from John Perry's Yard at Blackwall circa 1745-50, with a view towards Blackwall Yard House on the Bank of the Thames where two similar ships are under construction. It is signed 'M. Topping delin.' on the lower left margin.
Michael Topping 1765–1780
Michael Topping's date of birth is unknown, but as he presumably was the Michael Topping who married Margaret Watkins on 4th November 1728 at St Katherine by the Tower, London, we can guess that he was born at least as early as 1707, if of age at the time. Topping is an exceptionally rare name in the south of England, and no other family of the name has been traced at this date. There are two main distributions of the name, though, in south Lancashire and in Northumberland, from where perhaps he came in search of a career down south.
Lane Fine Art has a painting by Topping of the launch of a 24-gun 6th rate ship for the Honourable East India Company from John Perry's Yard at Blackwall circa 1745-50, with a view towards Blackwall Yard House on the Bank of the Thames where two similar ships are under construction. It is signed 'M. Topping delin.' on the lower left margin.
The National Maritime Museum has a similar painting by Topping of the Honourable East India Company's Ship 'Falmouth' at its launch from John Perry's Blackwall Yard in 1752.
At the same time he was developing a parallel career as an accomplished organist. In 1755 he was one of the subscribers to John Bennett's 'Ten Voluntaries for the Organ or Harpsichord', an indication of the sort of music he would later play on the Rotherhithe organ. Other subscribers were John Byfield, organ builder, John Worgan, and no less a personage than Handel himself.
On the completion of Byfield's instrument in September 1765, Michael Topping was elected at the Vestry meeting of 17 December the first organist of St. Mary's at an honorarium of £30 per annum (the equivalent in 2017 being £5,070.00). He received 266 votes as against the 46 cast for Thomas Curtin, the only other candidate.
John Perry's ship-building yard was long-established at Blackwall, having the greatest capacity on the Thames. At John Perry's death in 1771, Michael Topping was recorded as the senior supervising officer of the Yard.
Topping retired from St. Mary's in 1780 in his early seventies, and was succeeded on Easter Sunday by Frederick Topping, probably a relative.
Michael Topping was buried at Bunhill Fields on 26th September 1789, at a possible age of at least 82 years old, if born ca.1707.
His son. Michael Topping II (1747-1796) was the chief Marine Surveyor of Fort St. George in Madras, and became the Honourable East India Company's Astronomer.
(I am indebted to the website of Lane Fine Art (director Christopher Foley FSA) for the maritime side of this biographical information).
Frederick Topping 1780–1787
Martha Tibbatts 1787–1814 (unsuccessful candidate: Jonas Blewitt)
Josiah Ferdinand Reddie 1815–1820
Born in Bow, Middlesex, ca.1795, Josiah married Eliza Barding at St. Mary Rotherhithe on 24 January 1816. Eliza was under age at the time and her mother Susanna had to give her consent. Josiah and Eliza had moved to Jamaica Level, Bermondsey, by 1818. The first two of their nine children were born in Rotherhithe. By 1822 they had left London for Boston, Lincolnshire, where Josiah worked as organist of St. Botolph, Boston, 1820-1826, and St. Margaret's, King's Lynn, from 1828, being succeeded as organist in 1848 by his son, Josiah Henry, who had a music shop at 'Academy House', 89 High Street, King's Lynn from 1878. This business moved to 42 High Street in 1892, and was sold to Scott and Son in 1903. Josiah Ferdinand died on 20 February, 1860, aged 65.
Robert Willson Nottingham 1820–1851
Eliza Nottingham 1851–1880 Sister of the above.
William Webb 1881–1883
Mr Dray 1884–1886
Arthur Charles Chappell Haverson 1886–1891
Charles W Stephens 1891–1893
Gordon Black 1893–1894
Charles William Cobon 1894–1913
Frederick A Kempster 1913–1915
Frederick William Brock 1916–1930
Grace L Knott 1930–1957
Ethel Stone 1957–1959
Austin Niland 1959–1961
Charles S. B. Poupart 1962–1963
Eric Harding 1963–1966
Alan Lowson 1967–1968
Donald F Hammond 1968–1971
Alan Lowson 1972 --
Stanley W. F. Hammond (jointly) 1978 --
Richard Copley 1986
Ronald Colee 1990
Joseph Sentance
Alan John Phillips 2003–2014
Samuel Draper 2014-
On the completion of Byfield's instrument in September 1765, Michael Topping was elected at the Vestry meeting of 17 December the first organist of St. Mary's at an honorarium of £30 per annum (the equivalent in 2017 being £5,070.00). He received 266 votes as against the 46 cast for Thomas Curtin, the only other candidate.
John Perry's ship-building yard was long-established at Blackwall, having the greatest capacity on the Thames. At John Perry's death in 1771, Michael Topping was recorded as the senior supervising officer of the Yard.
Topping retired from St. Mary's in 1780 in his early seventies, and was succeeded on Easter Sunday by Frederick Topping, probably a relative.
Michael Topping was buried at Bunhill Fields on 26th September 1789, at a possible age of at least 82 years old, if born ca.1707.
His son. Michael Topping II (1747-1796) was the chief Marine Surveyor of Fort St. George in Madras, and became the Honourable East India Company's Astronomer.
(I am indebted to the website of Lane Fine Art (director Christopher Foley FSA) for the maritime side of this biographical information).
Frederick Topping 1780–1787
Martha Tibbatts 1787–1814 (unsuccessful candidate: Jonas Blewitt)
Josiah Ferdinand Reddie 1815–1820
Born in Bow, Middlesex, ca.1795, Josiah married Eliza Barding at St. Mary Rotherhithe on 24 January 1816. Eliza was under age at the time and her mother Susanna had to give her consent. Josiah and Eliza had moved to Jamaica Level, Bermondsey, by 1818. The first two of their nine children were born in Rotherhithe. By 1822 they had left London for Boston, Lincolnshire, where Josiah worked as organist of St. Botolph, Boston, 1820-1826, and St. Margaret's, King's Lynn, from 1828, being succeeded as organist in 1848 by his son, Josiah Henry, who had a music shop at 'Academy House', 89 High Street, King's Lynn from 1878. This business moved to 42 High Street in 1892, and was sold to Scott and Son in 1903. Josiah Ferdinand died on 20 February, 1860, aged 65.
Robert Willson Nottingham 1820–1851
Eliza Nottingham 1851–1880 Sister of the above.
William Webb 1881–1883
Mr Dray 1884–1886
Arthur Charles Chappell Haverson 1886–1891
Charles W Stephens 1891–1893
Gordon Black 1893–1894
Charles William Cobon 1894–1913
Frederick A Kempster 1913–1915
Frederick William Brock 1916–1930
Grace L Knott 1930–1957
Ethel Stone 1957–1959
Austin Niland 1959–1961
Charles S. B. Poupart 1962–1963
Eric Harding 1963–1966
Alan Lowson 1967–1968
Donald F Hammond 1968–1971
Alan Lowson 1972 --
Stanley W. F. Hammond (jointly) 1978 --
Richard Copley 1986
Ronald Colee 1990
Joseph Sentance
Alan John Phillips 2003–2014
Samuel Draper 2014-
Videos on the organ, recorded by Alan John Phillips in March 2013
Voluntary in D minor (Op.5 no.6) – John Stanley (recorded on the Rotherhithe organ) The Cornet is one of the most characteristic colours of the English eighteenth-century organ. This organ used to have two, one on the Great and an Echo Cornet inside the Swell box, but since Russell’s remodelling, this has been lost. The present Cornet was made by Noel Mander, and reconstructed by Goetze and Gwynn. This voluntary shows off the Cornet in its usual flamboyant manner, with almost continuous semiquavers from beginning to end.
Voluntary in D minor (Op.5 no.8) – John Stanley (recorded on the Rotherhithe organ) This voluntary is in three movements. The first uses a 4-foot flute as solo stop, accompanied by the Swell Open Diapason. There was originally a Nason stop on the Great, a 4-foot flute, but this was removed by Russell and replaced by another 8 foot Open Diapason. I use the only surviving 4 foot flute, that on the Choir. The slow movement in the middle is entirely on the Swell, and does not go below fiddle G, the lowest note of the original compass. The finale is a vigorous fugue on full Great, with episodes on the Choir.
Voluntary in D (Op.6 no.5) – John Stanley (recorded on the Rotherhithe organ) This voluntary in three movements demonstrates three different reed stops. After the customary diapason movement on the Great, the second movement uses the Great Trumpet echoed by the Swell Trumpet, with the box closed, both of which are original Byfield stops. The slow movement which follows uses the Swell diapasons in alternation with the Choir Cremona, one of Russell’s stops. As the original Swell only went down to fiddle G and the Cremona to tenor C, the bass line of this movement is played on the Great Stopped Diapason.
Voluntary 2 in C (1812) – William Russell (recorded on the Rotherhithe organ) This consists of two movements. The first is a slow movement for Swell Oboe and Great Diapasons (including Hugh’s Open Diapason), followed by a lively movement contrasting the Swell Oboe with the Choir Cremona (another of Hugh's 1829 additions).