J Schuard

[Holditch]

During the process of building my house pipe organ, I have tried to compile a brief history of some of the pipe work however I am struggling to find out anything about the makers of my fifteenth rank. The pipes are labelled "J Schuard". Has anybody heard of this maker or does anyone recognise this name and have any history?

Many thanks
Marc

[revtonynewnham]

Hi

There's no Schuard listed on Dictionary of British Organ Builders, so I would guess these are imported pipes.  Maybe one of the organ builders can tell you more.

Every Blessing

Tony

[Jonathan Lane]

It may be the pipe maker attached to a particular organ builder, we find this a lot when working with older pipework.  The only way to check is look at the census if the pipes are old enough, do you have any idea where they came from?

Jonathan

[revtonynewnham]

Hi

Most, if not all, pipe makers in the UK pre-1950 will be listed on DBOB.  I've only found a couple of minor ommisions on that listing so far - it's an amazing piece of research.  That's why I suspect an overseas source. 

Every Blessing

Tony

[Holditch]

I suspect Tony is correct in saying that these pipes come from overseas. I suspect they may be American.

They originally formed part of a mixture rank and they are in good condition and dont seem too old. The tuning sleeves were in good condition when I received them which points to warmer, less rust inducing climes

I think I might post the same question on the The Organ Forum to see if anyone knows on there

Many thanks
Marc

[David Fox]

Greetings Marc,
J. Schuard, James, was my grandfather and the pipe you have was made by him. He worked for Rushworth's in Liverpool for over 50 years. His pipes are all over the world. For some history, James was born in Liverpool in 1911. His father, Francis Schuard, was killed in World War I in Belgium in 1915 and his mo ther died shortly thereafter leaving James and his brother Freddie orphans. James went to work at Rushworth's in 1925 at the age of 14 and worked as an apprentice for seven years until becoming an journeyman pipe organ builder. Why he isn't listed on the British directory is a mystery. He died in Liverpool in 1985. I was very close to my grandfather and I was fortunate to see him at work at Rushworth's and hear his wonderful stories about his experiences. I have several photographs of him at work. One is of him making his largest pipe - 32 foot long. The other is of him spreading molten copper and zinc onto a flat table with an adjustable lip to manufacture the sheet metal for the pipe. He also told about going down to the docks to unload elephant ivory tusks off the boat. If you would like additional info., photos or memorbilia let me know. I live in Grand Junction, Colorado USA.


[the word mo ther is automatically suppressed by the server on account of a particular problem on mentions by a member of the forum with very wide ranging knowledge about organs but with a known problem involving frequency of use of the word - apologies for the editorial inconveence - Forum Admin]

[Holditch]

Fantastic David!

The Internet does indeed work when we want it to, many thanks for the information. Gathering history about my small collection of pipes it's a bit like piecing together a rather old jigsaw puzzle, and you have just given me the last piece

If you don't mind sending me a photograph of your grandfather at work I can put it on my website, I would be most happy.

By the way the pipes are excellent he did a great job.

Best Regards
Marc