Stephen Chambers

Whilst I was working on H. Dean tonight, I also took another look for Thomas Shakespeare (well there is a minimum charge of £5.00 to look at the 1901 Census returns online, so I might as well get value for my money !) This time I found him (it isn't easy) : Thomas Shakespeare was born about 1846 or '47, in Westminster, London. On the 1881 Census he is listed as a "Concertina Maker", at 110, Winstanley Road, Battersea. In 1891 he is a "Musical Instrument Maker", at 78, Oakley Street, Lambeth and in 1901 his occupation is indecipherable ("C..... Maker"), but he is living at 49, Addington Square, Camberwell, and a middle initial, "H", is given. So perhaps the "J" is an error for "T", and he could have still been making concertinas into the mid 1920's ? Otherwise, the first name of his (much younger) second wife was Julia. No, he made banjos!

Yes, he certainly was ! Henry Dean would have been 107 by then (unless there was a second generation, and it was his son, also Henry Dean, who would have been only 74). I spent some time working on the 1881, 1891 and 1901 Censuses (all of which are available online) and managed to track them down tonight : Henry Dean (i) was born in Rochester, Kent, about 1836 or '37. On the 1881 Census he is listed as a "Harmonium Reed Maker", at 1, Tyrrell Road, Camberwell. In 1891 he is a "Concertina Tuner & General Shop Keeper", at 106, Shaftesbury Street, Shoreditch and in 1901 he is "Concertina Reed Maker", at 42, Winston Road, Stoke Newington (which is heading in the direction of Wood Green). His eldest son, Henry Dean (ii), was born in Battersea, about 1870 or '71. In 1891 he was an "Auxiliary, General Post Office", and by 1901 he had become a "Postman". But perhaps he carried on his father's business later ? Bob Gaskins has kindly sent me copies of the documents in the ICA Archive, which very much suggest a continuity in the business of a "Tuner" (for which read "Reed Maker") carrying on into the 1920's/'30's, with their references to "Concertinas ... Tuned ... Harmonium and Organ Reeds Fitted to Frames and Tuned. Work Done for the Trade."

No, no, it's a piano accordion you get in Hell, not a melodeon. Ask Gary Larson ! Maybe you get a melodeon in Purgatory ? (I just hope my harp has got J.C.Ward's English-concertina fingering attachment, I should soon manage to knock off a few O'Carolan airs on it if it has !)

HELP ! I have been asked to give an interview, tomorrow afternoon, to a BBC World Service Producer, for a program about "Charles Wheatstone and the invention of the concertina". However, he has now informed me that one of his questions will be : Do you know of any major rock or pop musicians who've used it ? I can only think of Horslips and Johnny Clegg at the moment, though I know Alastair Anderson plays on Kate Bush's "Rocket Man" single. Any ideas anybody ?

I once had the tortoiseshell duet that Kenneth Chidley made for his wife, the seller reckoned that you could still smell her perfume, when you opened the case, for years after he bought it ! The expression "Key Valve W.S." is actually used in connection with # 31100. Also I remember that my old 48-key, tortoiseshell, aeola was listed as a "K.V.", and it had a button valve key, or "key valve".

It is more usually the player, rather than the hapless instrument, that I would sometimes like to toast ! (Do you think they come in larger sizes ? )

It would still be seen as very much an anti-Catholic tune in Ireland, only normally being played by Orange bands.

So now we can say that Ole's Lachenal must have passed through Dean's hands between 1917 and 1931 (the N.22 postal code was only introduced in 1917, Dean was "Established 50 years" when he put his label into Ole's concertina, but "Established 60 years" before February 1932). Also, a 30-key Jones is presently for sale on eBay (item # 3713003736) with a pencilled inscription "H. DEAN 19 - 2 - 44", so he appears to have still been in business as late as 1944. (Presumably we must be looking at more than one generation here ?)

I was looking at the website of the International Concertina Association, and came across a reference to Dean. In the Chris Algar Archive, under the heading Correspondence, there is item "CA018 : Dean ; Repairs 1932", seemingly a letter from Dean, relating to a repair, dated 1932.

If you did that to the last one I sent back to an eBay seller, it would have exploded at the first kick, leaving little but a pile of sawdust. Anyway, think of all those poor, homeless, woodworms !

You can see tutors and music on the www.maccann-duet.com website, music arranged for Maccann duet is also availble from the ICA Library on their website, but recordings seem to be a problem at present. There used to be cassettes available, made from 78rpm recordings of Alexander Prince, but I don't think you can get them now. I have a lot of the original 78's, maybe, one of these days, I will put some of them onto CD ?

Not forgetting some of the sellers I have encountered, who asserted that their instruments were "in playable condition", when "makes assorted (out of tune) noises without you touching a button, riddled with woodworm and growing white mould" might be nearer the mark.

I have had one of the same type, years ago, and that is what it is ; piano-system right hand and German-system left. And if you thought the Jedcertina musically worthless, I think this is someting even more so ...

Firstly, I think I should point out that my post was a somewhat tongue-in-cheek reply to a friend, Shay Fogarty, here in Dublin (Stephen, he plays anglo if you want to "put him on the map"). I will leave it for others to discuss the relative merits of the two systems, but will just go on to explain that Tommy's big influence was the playing of Alexander Prince, who many would regard as the greatest concertina player to ever record (and certainly the most prolific). The Maccann system has certainly attracted virtuosi, who have left us a legacy of their recordings, starting with "Professor" Maccann himself, and going on to include Percy Honri and Ernest Rutterford (my personal favourite) as well as Prince. I have never heard of a "virtuoso" of the Crane system, nor of anybody who could perform Prince's music on it. (But would be delighted to hear somebody do it !) I'm putting my tin hat on, & running for cover, now, don't all shoot at once !

I couldn't agree more Paul, indeed I have an interesting story (that I was told by the late Bernard O'Sullivan) on that score : Mrs. Crotty, like all the other Clare players of old, originally played on a German concertina. She was offered both a four-row Jeffries and a three-row Lachenal, and bought the Lachenal in preference, the Jeffries didn't suit her at all. Bernard knew this, because he then bought the Jeffries ! By the way, I have mentioned elsewhere that I have aspirations to take up the anglo when I move to Kilrush, and bear in mind that some of the best anglos in Creation have passed through my hands in the past 35 years. What have I chosen for myself : a good 30-key Lachenal !

"Lancashire Clog" was a form of dance popular throughout the English-speaking world, popularised by professional dancers such as the Music-Hall great, and Champion Clog Dancer of the World, Dan Leno. Even the young Charlie Chaplin started his career as a clog dancer.

So that's why the rest of them seem to be rowing away at a rate of knots ? (And I thought it was me !) Hello Shay, No, Stephen has already said that he got confused by the mention of the Maccann Duet website in my Profile, you will have to edit yours to add what you play, and where you live, to get your very own technicolour dot (and put Dublin back on the map !). I think you will find that Tommy's music works much better on the Maccann, though I never heard him play any hymn tunes. Cheers !

I'm inclined to suspect that at least the second one is a fraud. How do I report my suspicions to eBay? Maybe the second seller just doesn't know how to describe what he has, & he has copied the Australian description ? (He seems to be more a seller of sports memorabilia.) Mind you, he certainly knows how to charge for it !

Funny, that's what my mother says ! Does that mean all the concertina players are surrounded ? Thanks ! (I'll have a pound of them please, I forgot to get some from the French Market in Dublin, on St. Patrick's Day.)

Black? Arr, Jim lad, beware the black spot ! (We have ye surrounded !)

Well I used to play a bit on the English, but I don't even have one that is playable at the moment, I have aspirations to learn the anglo when I move to live in Co. Clare, in a few weeks time, but at the moment I make rather a lot of noise on a Cajun accordion. So what colour dot does that lot require ? By the way, you had better have a hard look at your map, to find Kilrush (it's on the north side of the Shannon Estuary), as that is where I will soon be living ! P.S. I know I'm not the only C.net user who lives in Dublin (or in Ireland for that matter), but the rest of them must be shy !

You know, I was so busy celebrating it, that I nearly forgot what it was that I was celebrating ! With a bit of luck, I should be living in Kilrush, Co. Clare by then, but I don't know how my new neighbours are likely to react to me flying a St. George's Cross so soon after I arrive, perhaps I'll chicken-out and just wear a red rose in my buttonhole ?

They did, the difference being more to do with how the slots for them were cut. If the slots were cut by hand, using edge tools, then they are going to be square ended, but if the slots were cut using a machine, a pattern-following router (as shown in the Pathe newsreel "Concertina Factory"), they will be round ended. No, Louis Lachenal was the first to introduce this, as one of his technological innovations at Wheatstone's, in 1848. The next people to use it seem to have been the Nickolds family, probably not before the early 1850's. Having now seen your photos, the reed shoes appear to be typical Nickolds ones, the lack of markings on the pans is also typical of their instruments, but not the action, which is more like that used by Austin. You could drive yourself mad trying to decide who actually made many of the mid 19th century concertinas like these ! (Regardless of what the label says.)

As Paul suggests, this design of fretwork dates back to the very first concertinas to have "frets" covering their mechanisms, though at that stage there was no oval cut out for a label. The design was used (sometimes with slight variations) by several of the early makers, to produce concertinas that looked like the classic Wheatstone design (as illustrated in their 1844 Patent). I have seen examples by Scates, Nickolds and Rock Chidley, but I expect that others also made "imitation Wheatstones" like this. The instrument in Theo's photograph exhibits a noticeable alteration, in that the Wheatstone pattern has scrolling in the fretwork where the serial number is to be found, while the one in the picture has an oval with a fancy border. I should mention that Scates was not the only mid 19th century maker who ever did this, I have also seen this feature on concertinas by Case, Nickolds and (early) Jones. I doubt if we will ever be able to pin down exactly who did make many of the concertinas from this period. I think that many of them, including instruments labelled (and sold) by prominent "manufacturers", were actually produced by various alliances (sometimes shortlived) of concertina craftsmen. It is a bewildering subject, and there are often no easy answers (if any at all).

Very interesting ! But who is the duet player in Dublin (no, it isn't me), and why do all the other concertina players in Ireland seem to be trying to get away from him ? (Have they all taken to playing sea shanties, somewhere off the coast of Cork/Waterford ?) Cheers !