Richard Jackson
JULIAN RHODES' DREAM ORGANS
David Wickens contributed an article about Richard Jackson to the BIOS 'Reporter', January 1993. He wrote that Jackson was born in Rochdale in about 1807, and set up in business with William Parvin in Bolton in 1835. He was made bankrupt in 1851, but had already re-established himself in Liverpool, where he employed 15 men. After 1857 there is no further record of him; he was rumoured to have left the country.In 'Pipes and Actions' (Lincoln, 1995) Laurence Elvin reproduced an undated advertisement by 'R. Jackson & Son, Organ Builders' of Liverpool and Bolton, which stated inter alia:
Jackson is best known for his use of the flat 21st rank, which he called the 'sharp 20th'; he has been credited by G.A. Audsley, George Dixon and John Compton with being the first to use it in a diapason chorus. Here is the stoplist of his organ at the Collegiate Institution, Liverpool, built in 1850.Every improvement in Organ Building up to the present period is carried out by them to the fullest extent; and far from remaining satisfied with what has already been done, they are determined to emulate the advancing spirit of the age, and, by the adaptation of mechanical science, do all that is possible to enhance the weight, character and brilliance of tone in their instruments.
GREAT 16 Tenoroon 16 Bourdon bass to Tenoroon; stopped 8 Great Open Diapason 8 Small Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 Fifteenth III Sesquialtera III Mixture - Sharp Twentieth 8 Trumpet 4 Clarion CHOIR 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Clarabella 8 Keraulophon 8 Dulciana 4 Principal 4 Flute 2 Fifteenth 2 Piccolo 8 Bassoon 8 Clarionet SWELL 16 Double Diapason 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal 2 Fifteenth III Echo Dulciana Cornet 8 Cornopean 8 Oboe 4 Clarion PEDAL 16 Grand Open Diapason 16 Bourdon 8 Principal 5 1/3 Twelfth 4 Fifteenth VI Mixture 16 Posaune Couplers: Swell to Great, Choir to Swell (sic), Sub8ve Choir to Great, Swell to Pedals, Great to Pedals, Choir to Pedals, Super8ve to Pedals (sic). Six composition pedals. Compass: 56/20. Source: 'The Organ', Hopkins & Rimbault, 1877 edition.In the same year he rebuilt the organ in Preston Parish Church. It had been built by Davis in 1802 and "subsequently received several additions, made by Gray and Davison, Jackson of Liverpool, &c... Mr. Greaves, the organist, added the sharp Twentieth".
GREAT 16 Double Diapason, Bass metal 16 Double Diapason, Treble metal 8 Open Diapason large scale 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Principal 4 Principal wood 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 Fifteenth 2 Fifteenth wood III Sesquialtera II Mixture - Sharp Twentieth 8 Trumpet, Bass 8 Trumpet, Treble 4 Clarion SWELL 16 Double Diapason 8 Open Diapason 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Keraulophon 4 Principal 2 Fifteenth - Mixture 8 Cornopean 8 Hautboy CHOIR 8 Stopped Diapason 8 Clarabella 8 Dulciana 4 Principal 4 Flute 2 Fifteenth 8 Cromorne PEDAL 16 Open Diapason 8 Principal 4 Fifteenth III Sesquialtera Couplers: Pedals to Great, Pedals to Choir, Swell to Great, Choir to Swell, Octave Coupler Swell (all as given in H&R) 3 composition pedals to Great Compass: Great and Choir, CC to f3, 54 notes; Swell tenor c to f3, 42 notes; Pedals CCC to tenor e, 17 notes. Source: 'The Organ', Hopkins & Rimbault, 1877 edition.So much for Richard Jackson. In 'Pipes and Actions' Laurence Elvin reproduced an announcement from 'The Church Choirmaster and Organist' for 1868. It described the opening of an organ at St. Thomas, Bury, built by F.W. or P.W. Jackson (there seems to be a printer's error in Elvin's text). Elvin speculates that the initials should have been R.W., signifying Robert Jackson's eldest son, who was known to have been apprenticed to his father. This does not tally with Wickens' information, and the NPOR record shows the organ as the work of Kirtland and Jardine. Certainly the Swell registers are characteristic of the Manchester company. Be that as it may, the stoplist given by Elvin is an interesting one:
GREAT 16 Double Open Diapason 8 Open Diapason 8 Gamba 8 Clarabella 4 Principal 4 Harmonic Flute 2 2/3 Twelfth 2 Fifteenth IV Full Mixture IV Sharp Mixture 8 Posaune 4 Clarion SWELL 16 Lieblich Bourdon 8 Spitz Flote 8 Lieblich Gedackt 8 Hohl Flote 4 Gemshorn 4 Gedackt Flote 2 Fifteenth 1 Twenty Second 8 Cornopean 8 Oboe 4 Clarion CHOIR 8 Open Diapason 8 Dulciana 8 Viola da Gamba 8 Voix Celeste 8 Stopped Diapason 4 Geigen Principal 4 Wald Flute 2 Geigen Fifteenth 8 Clarionet PEDAL 16 Open Diapason 16 Bourdon 8 Principal 8 Stopped Diapason Couplers: 3 to Pedal; Swell to Great; Choir sub8ve to Great. Composition pedals: 4 double-acting to Great, 2 to Swell, 2 to couplers. Compass: 56/30. 2,140 pipes.The writer noted that the organ was tuned to unequal temperament at the request of the donor, Mr. Oliver Ormrod Openshaw. As S.S. Wesley, a noted opponent of equal temperament, gave the opening recital, we may assume that he was involved in this decision too. An interesting light is shed on Wesley's playing by the report in the Manchester Courier which stated that Wesley:
The stoplist is certainly an interesting one. The bold Great chorus is generously provided with upperwork; the swell is largely a flute chest, with tapered and gedact families as well as the rare independent 22nd; the Choir is more foundational, containing a dulciana and string/celeste pair, together with a chorus of geigens up to the 15th. George Dixon would have approved of these orderly family groups....seems to be the connecting link between the old and new schools of the organ, possessing as he does the peculiar close touch of the old school with the elasticity and freedom of the new.
The organ survives; its current stoplist, slightly altered from that above, is in the NPOR database here.