In 2008, there are around 55 instrumentson the Island, including 5 house organs,

and these include representative instrumentsof well-known mainland builders, such asForster and Andrews, Hill, Norman andBeard, Brindley and Foster and Harrison.We also have organs of lesser-knownmakers, such as Wadsworth, Hewitt, Keats,and those of builders almost confined tothe Island, significantly Morgan and thepresent Island organ builder, Peter Jones.

In terms of numbers, the firms ofMoses Morgan of Douglas, Henry WilliamHewitt of Leicester and Peter Jones of StJohn’s are the most significant.

Morgan’s earliest instrument (AndreasParish Church, 1898) was the first of adozen or more organs, the last being StCatherine’s Church, Port Erin in 1912 – aremarkable record of more than oneinstrument per year. These organs weresolidly made, with an internal arrangement,mechanism and pipework which bear astrong family resemblance. There is someevidence to suggest that many of the metalpipes were supplied by August Laukhuff ofWeikersheim, Germany, a firm whichcontinues today as the largest of the organsupply houses to thetrade. Morgan arrivedon the Island as anexperienced builder,and must, therefore,have built otherinstruments in the UK.He was obviously asuccessful businessman,and ran a hotel orboarding housealongside the organ-building and pianotuning and supplyenterprise.

Some of the earliest organs have bellowsweights marked, ‘M&P’, (for Morgan andPollard) but the later ones do not, and thereis no instrument bearing a nameplate withboth names, so it seems that the partnershipwas not an equal one. The link betweenMorgan and Pollard evidently existed, butjust what it was remains unclear.Intriguingly, a tuner named Francis Kitts,who worked on the Island just after the lastwar, remembers Frank Pollard, who hadevidently had something to do with organsand/or pianos, but was not active in thefield at that time. Francis Kitts was workingfor the John Compton Organ Company,when they had a brief presence on the Isleof Man, and they were based in what hedescribed as ‘Pollard’s old workshop’, at 12ASt George’s Walk. This was the address ofMoses Morgan’s workshop, when hisconcern was flourishing.

H W Hewitt, whose father was aLondon-based organ-builder, and who hadbrothers in the trade, had a workshop inGlebe Street, Leicester and catered for thosechurches requiring a cheaper instrument,and there are at least 9 of his organs whichare known on the Island. His usual practicewas to obtain second-hand organs, and

install them, usually withsome modification tomake them more suitablefor church use. His workwas rough and ready,sometimes crude and ill-designed, but it has to besaid that the instrumentsthat have survived wereall working (after afashion) and those thathave been renovated andimproved have all madevery acceptable, musicalorgans, ideally suited to

Organs and Organ-Builders on the Isle of Man

General Introduction

St Paul’s, Ramsey

the smaller church. The fact that they weremade up from parts and organs which wereredundant, typically, in the 1880s (and must,therefore, date from 50 years or morebefore this date) means that their pipeworkand mechanism is often of considerable age,and interesting for that reason alone. Theinstrument at St Mark’s, for instance, isunique in having a keyboard and mechanismwhich start at GGG (5 notes lower than anyother on the Island) a feature which wascommon before church organs had pedals.All but one of his instruments stillremaining are one-manual.

Peter Jones has been working on theIsland since 1979, mainly in tuning,maintaining and renovating (or rebuilding)existing instruments. At the time of writing(2008) he is responsible for the regularmaintenance of all the Island’s instruments,including those two recently installed by

other builders (the Walker organ at StAnthony’s, Onchan, and the Harrison andHarrison in St George’s, Douglas. He hasalso built new organs from his workshop inSt John’s – 4 house organs and the portablecontinuo organ at the Erin Arts Centre inPort Erin. Though he seldom leaves theIsland, visiting organists occasionallycommission work, and this has resulted intrips to Cambridge, Haverford West, Chester,Winchester and Rehoboth Beach (Delaware).Anyone interested in the organs of the Isleof Man, or who has further information orcorrections to this account, is invited tocontact Peter Jones (current telephone:01624 801368). Any information regardingorgans, organists and organ-related events ofthe past will be welcome, especiallyphotographs featuring organs which nolonger exist, or from years gone by.

Peel Methodist Chapel