PREFACE
No complete or adequate record of past and present Cathedral Organists of the United Kingdom has hitherto been published. The following pages have, therefore, been compiled to supply this want. The idea of this book originated in a somewhat imperfect list of Cathedral Organists, which I had
gathered from various sources for my own private use. It afterwards occurred to me, however, that an amplification of this material, including short biographical notes con cerning those Organists of whom any information could be obtained, might, if published, prove useful as a work of reference to Church musicians and to those interested in the history of this branch of the art of music.
The assistance of the majority of the present Cathedral and Collegiate Organists, and, in some cases, that of the Cathedral Clergy and Chapter Clerks, was accordingly asked, in searching their registers and other documents for further information on this subject; and it is greatly owing to the ready and generous manner in which these gentlemen have responded to my inquiries, that I have been enabled to obtain so complete and authentic a record.
John Edward West (1852-1931), plumber, trade unionist and politician, was born on 27 January 1852 at Lambeth, London, son of John Edward West, brass finisher, and his wife Elizabeth Ann, née Hearne. Jack was apprenticed to a plumber and from the age of 17 was associated with the Ancient Order of Foresters. On 18 March 1874 at St Andrew’s parish church, Holborn, he married Susannah Sarah Metcalfe (d.1925). After visiting New Zealand, they arrived in Sydney in 1875 and settled at Paddington.West was eventually returned to the House of Representatives for East Sydney in 1910.A natural back-bencher, he combined conscientious attention to his constituency with union commitments and his business as a master plumber
He Opposed the deportation of Tom Walsh and Jacob Johnson, and argued that all talk of Labor’s association with ‘Bolshevism and Communism was moonshine’. West’s public boast about family life and local achievement, which he made after Labor’s Federal victory in 1929, typified his approach to society and underlined his commitment to establishing an ‘improving community’.
CONTENTS
CATHEDRALS
ARMAGH
BANGOR
BRISTOL
CANTERBURY
CARLISLE
CHICHESTER
CORK
DUBLIN
CHRIST CHURCH
ELY
EXETER
GLOUCESTER
HEREFORD
LICHFIELD
LINCOLN
LIVERPOOL
LLANDAFF
LONDON
MANCHESTER
NEWCASTLE
NORWICH
PETERBOROUGH
RIPON
ROCHESTER
SALISBURY
COLLEGIATE CHURCHES AND CHAPELS
CAMBRIDGE – King College
St. John College
Trinity College
ETON COLLEGE
LONDON – Chapel Royal (St. James
Temple Church
Westminster Abbey
OXFORD – Magdalen College
New College
St. Johns College
RATHFARNHAM – St. Columba College
TENBURY-St. Michael College
WINCHESTER COLLEGE
WINDSOR – St. Georges Chapel (Royal)
INDEX OF ORGANISTS NAMES
King’s College London
King’s College London is a public research university located in London, England. King’s was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King’s became one of the two founding colleges of the University of London
Foundation
King’s College, so named to indicate the patronage of King George IV, was founded in 1829 (though the roots of King’s medical school, St. Thomas, date back to the 16th century with recorded first teaching in 1561) in response to the theological controversy surrounding the founding of “London University” (which later became University College, London) in 1826. London University was founded, with the backing of Utilitarians, Jews and Nonconformists, as a secular institution, intended to educate “the youth of our middling rich people between the ages of 15 or 16 and 20 or later giving its nickname, “the godless college in Gower Street”. The need for such an institution was a result of the religious and social nature of the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, which then educated solely the sons of wealthy Anglicans. The secular nature of London University gained disapproval, indeed, “the storms of opposition which raged around it threatened to crush every spark of vital energy which remainedThe creation of King’s College as a rival institution represented a Tory response to reassert the educational values of the established order.
St John’s College, Cambridge
St John’s College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge founded by the Tudor matriarch Lady Margaret Beaufort. In constitutional terms, the college is a charitable corporation 
established by a charter dated 9 April 1511. The full formal name of the college is the College of St John the Evangelist in the University of Cambridge. The aims of the college, as specified by its statutes, are the promotion of education, religion, learning and research. It is one of the largest Oxbridge colleges in terms of student numbers. For 2022, St John’s was ranked 6th of 29 colleges in the Tompkins Table (the annual league table of Cambridge colleges) with over 35 per cent of its students earning first-class honours. It is the second wealthiest college in Oxford and Cambridge, after neighbouring Trinity, at Cambridge
Trinity College
Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. Trinity has some of the most distinctive architecture in Cambridge with its Great Court said to be the largest enclosed courtyard in Europe.
Academically, Trinity performs exceptionally as measured by the Tompkins Table (the annual unofficial league table of Cambridge colleges), coming top from 2011 to 2017. Trinity was the top-performing college for the 2020–21 undergraduate exams, obtaining the highest percentage of good honours.
Eton College
Eton College is a public school (fee-charging and boarding for secondary school age boys) in Eton, Berkshire, England. It was founded in 1440 by Henry VI under the name Kynge’s College of Our Ladye of Eton besyde Windesore,making it the 18th-oldest school in the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference (HMC). Originally intended as a sister institution to King’s College, Cambridge, Eton is known for its history, wealth, and notable alumni, known as Old Etonians.
Magdalen College, Oxford
Magdalen College is a constituent college of the University of Oxford. It was founded in 1458 by Bishop of Winchester William of Waynflete. It has the highest total assets of any Oxford college, with £977 million as of 2022, and is one of the strongest academically, setting the record for the highest Norrington Score in 2010 and topping the table twice since then. It is home to several of the university’s distinguished chairs, including the Agnelli-Serena Professorship, the Sherardian Professorship, and the four Waynflete Professorships.
New College, Oxford
New College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1379 by William of Wykeham in conjunction with Winchester College as its feeder school, New College was one of the first colleges in the university to admit and tutor undergraduate students.
The college is in the centre of Oxford, between Holywell Street and New College Lane (known for Oxford’s Bridge of Sighs). Its sister college is King’s College, Cambridge. The choir of New College has recorded over one hundred albums, and has won two Gramophone Awards.
