89-key Gavioli 8757 playing: Kiss Me Goodnight, Sergeant Major – Noel & Pelosi
This instrument was built at the Gavioli works in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. Believed to originally be an 84-key instrument, it was imported by Chiappa Ltd, London, who rebuilt the organ to play standardised 89-key ‘Violin-Bariton’ cardboard music books.
The organ was used successively in the three-abreast galloping horse roundabout of Henry Jennings, J & H Williams, Sam Williams, Con. Studt, S. Manning, J. Connely, and finally, Butlins of Bognor Regis. It was purchased in a derelict condition by John H. Bailey of Stratford-upon-Avon who restored the organ and decorative front. In 1997 the instrument was purchased by Ted Reed and became a permanent exhibition at the Amersham Fair Organ Museum.