Hi Folks,

I have a square Henry Harley(London) concertina which has been handed down in my family since c.1880. It's in the shop now being tuned, having a couple of missing buttons and reed leathers replaced, and some minor belows repair done. Except for some cosmetic damage to one of the ends, it's in remarkable shape, and has a beautiful mellow sound. From the archives here, I gather it is a German instrument that was modified for the English market between 1874-1888. It made its way with my Great-Grandfather from Yorkshire to Moosejaw, Saskatchewan early in the 20th century.

I can pick out a tune on it (I play harmonica by ear, and have found some similarities), but would like to become a "two-handed" player, and have been looking for instructions and music. I haven't found anything for the particular arrangement of buttons.

It's a diatonic instrument, with 13 buttons on each end. The vertical row closest to the wrist comprises 5 buttons, there are 6 in the second vertical row, then 2 "outriggers" in the top and bottom far corner. I'll confirm this when I pick it up, but have been told it is a B flat instrument.

Can anyone point me in the direction of more information on how to play this cool old concertina?

Whereabouts in Yorkshire, if you don't mind my asking? (And did your great-grandfather's surname begin with a "D"?).

His name was Charles Shaw, and he came from the vicinity of Booths Bank. He received the concertina as a boy from his father, who traded it to him for a rifle (which he didn't want his son to have). That would have been about 1890, when he was around 10 years old.

[[/quote]
Whereabouts in Yorkshire, if you don't mind my asking? (And did your great-grandfather's surname begin with a "D"?).
[/quote]

Additional info: Booths Bank is near Huddersfield and Marsden. Most of the family worked in a woolen mill. To veer back ever so slightly towards the topic of concertinas, the maternal side of the family were named Bolton, and were the Publicans of the Rose & Crown in Marsden, which I understand is still in operation. From the pictures I've seen, it looks like it might have hosted a few sessions over the years!