This instrument is believed to date from 1887. It spent its working life in the Scottish borders with the Wilmot family, who travelled galloping horses and a bioscope show. A new eight-tune barrel was pinned in 1926 by Wright & Holmes of Manchester, when they also fitted one of their automatic tune-changing devices. The organ was rescued by the Show Organ Society in the mid-1950s from Wilmot’s yard and sold, as found, to Mr Ian Crisp, who had it restored to playing condition. In 2009 the Amersham Fair Organ Museum was able to acquire the instrument for its permanent collection, a rare example of Gavioli’s barrel instruments.
1926 Wright & Holmes Barrel
- Am I Wasting my Time on You? – Johnson & Bibo
- So is Your Old Lady – Burke & Dubin
- Bye Bye Blackbird – Henderson & Dixon
- Baby Face – Akst & Davis
- When it’s Twilight in Missouri – Jack, Vincent & Herbert
- That’s Why I Love You – Donaldson & Ash
- Who? – Berlin & Kern
- Hoch Habsburg March – Kral
Played on open days between:
November, January & March: 13:20 – 13:30 & 16:10 – 16:20
December, February & April: 12:05 – 12:15 & 14:30 – 14:40
Photographs: AFOM Collection & Renfrewshire Council (lower: the instrument in use with Wilmot’s c. 1887).
60-key Gavioli 6778 playing: Who? – Berlin & Kern