Henry Harley - concertina maker

[wes williams]

I can't find any threads on Henry Harley (the concertina maker) on our current forum, but maybe they are now on the Wayback machine. There's a little on my site here .

I've just come across his death in the 1892 Era Almanack, page 54 in the Obituary Section List, and it seems that he was also a performer too:

HARLEY, Henry, Concertina Player, April 7.

The 1881 census has him as married, aged 49, and born in Saxmundham, Suffolk so he died around the age of 60.

Here are my listings extracted from various trade directories:
1865 - No Entry
1869 - Harley Henry,20 Castle st Finsbury EC
1874 - HY. HARLEY, CONC. MAKER, 22 BRUNSWICK PL, CITY RD
1880, 1881, 1882, 1884, 1886, 1888 - as above
1890 - No Entry

[Stephen Chambers]

I've researched him in the past (and think I posted something, at some point, or did I send it to you Wes?), but I remember it was frustrating and not at all easy to trace him. But that was 20 years ago, so I'll have another look now.

 

It's also hard to say how much actual concertina making he did, seeing that I have (an early?) one of "his" that's very clearly the work of Ernst Bässler of Grünberg, Saxony. 

 

Though I've also been derided ny Neill Wayne over reporting Harley concertinas I've seen that show evidence of being modified German instruments - when I've an open mind on the topic (but I guess he doesn't).

 

But if English piano, and harmonium, makers were using German-made parts, why not concertina makers? For that matter, there were also French accordions being modified (in Nottingham) to have "broad steel reeds" and others (in Sheffield) to make them into "English accordions".

 

 

 

Edited May 22 by Stephen Chambers
Edited to add more material

[Stephen Chambers]

21 hours ago, wes williams said:

I can't find any threads on Henry Harley (the concertina maker) on our current forum...

 

Ahagh! I've found the 2004 thread that you quoted me from (and Neil Wayne has ridiculed me over on his website), it's this one; Help! Uhlig`s Concertina 1860 on the Buy and Sell forum, and especially this post; 

 

[Stephen Chambers]

Whilst for a long time John Hill Maccann was a concertinist with a beginning (though even that was complicated) and no end, Henry Harley seems to have an end but no beginning...

 

In later years he indicated that his birthplace was Saxmundham, Suffolk, with an inferred date of birth of 1833, but (at the moment) he seems to be untraceable before 1853.

 

The earliest mention that I've found, so far, is in The Morning Advertiser, 2nd March 1853:

 

 

But then there seems to be nothing before the East London Observer, 30th January 1858, which states that "Mr. Henry Harley, Professor of the concertina, will appear."

 

 

Numerous other mentions, over the following years, tell that it was the English concertina upon which he performed operatic selections, popular songs, and imitations of other instruments etc.

 

The first indication of him working on concertinas, and other free-reed instruments, is in the London Daily Chronicle, 21st September 1861: 

 

[Stephen Chambers]

However, by doing an address look-up this morning, I've found he wasn't enumerated at 26, Upper Clifton Street on the night of 7th April 1861, though there was a Rug Maker, a Tobacco Manufacturer, and a Waistcoat Maker, there. So he seems to have moved-in later in the year - which is quite likely why he advertised then.

[LesJessop]

I've looked on the Family Search website, with limited success. He was baptised in Saxmundham on the 14th October 1833. No records on that site for the 1841-61 censuses. In 1871 was living as a lodger in Hoxton New Town, Shoreditch. Also living in Shoreditch in 1891. Death registered in the second quarter of 1891. The two census records gave his occupation as Concertina Maker.

 

Perhaps there might be more on the Findmypast or Ancestry websites ?

[Stephen Chambers]

Unusually, there's a newspaper report (with the headline "DEATH OF A CONCERTINA PLAYER") on the Inquest into his death (of peritonitis), in the Islington Gazette of 15th April 1891, though sensitive people may feel it contains "too much information"...

 

The most interesting aspect of the Inquest, for us, is the evidence of a neighbour, "Mr. Charles Dickens, of 3, Brunswick Place, [who] stated he had known the deceased for 20 years. He was generally known as Professor Darley [sic], and was a frequent performer at theatres, music-halls, and concerts."

 

 

Edited May 21 by Stephen Chambers

[Stephen Chambers]

29 minutes ago, LesJessop said:

I've looked on the Family Search website, with limited success. He was baptised in Saxmundham on the 14th October 1833. No records on that site for the 1841-61 censuses. In 1871 was living as a lodger in Hoxton New Town, Shoreditch. Also living in Shoreditch in 1891. Death registered in the second quarter of 1891. The two census records gave his occupation as Concertina Maker.

 

Perhaps there might be more on the Findmypast or Ancestry websites ?

 

Thanks for the baptismal record from the Family Search website, so far I've only been working on the Findmypast and Ancestry websites, and I have his Census returns for 1871, 1881 and 1891.

[LesJessop]

I had to look it up on google - not THE Charles Dickens, because he was dead by 1891.

 

And, I'm afraid I was off the mark with that baptismal record. I've been back to Family Search (to look for people called Darley, Hurley, or whatever), and see that the baptism wasn't in Suffolk. It was somebody called Henry Harley, but he had been born in 1829 - although only baptised in 1833 -  and the baptism took place in Essex: so, it was another Henry Harley.

 

 

[Stephen Chambers]

1 hour ago, LesJessop said:

... I'm afraid I was off the mark with that baptismal record. I've been back to Family Search (to look for people called Darley, Hurley, or whatever), and see that the baptism wasn't in Suffolk. It was somebody called Henry Harley, but he had been born in 1829 - although only baptised in 1833 -  and the baptism took place in Essex: so, it was another Henry Harley.

 

So he's back to having "no beginning" again then... ☹️

[Stephen Chambers]

2 hours ago, Stephen Chambers said:

He was generally known as Professor Darley [sic], and was a frequent performer at theatres, music-halls, and concerts."

 

So, following on from that clue, I've found 445 hits when searching for "Professor Harley Concertina" (that'll take some digesting!), as opposed to (only!) 104 for "Henry Harley Concertina" - but they won't all be relevant! 🙄

[Geoffrey Crabb]

Just a couple of casual observations.

 

1891 Census.  5 Brunswick Place,  Hoxton,  (Civil Parish Shoreditch) .

                Henry Harley. Age 58. Concertina Maker. Birth, 1832. Saxmundham.

 

England & Wales, Civil Reg  Death Index 1837-1915. April-May-June 1891.

                Henry Harley . Age 58. Registration District, Shoreditch.

 

Geoff

[Stephen Chambers]

14 hours ago, Stephen Chambers said:

I have his Census returns for 1871, 1881 and 1891.

 

I guess I should list them all together (before looking at fresh material):

 

1871 - 22, Brunswick Place, Hoxton New Town. Listed as Lodger. Unmarried. Age 38. Concertina Maker. Born Suffolk, Saxmundham.

 

1881 - 22, Brunswick Place, Hoxton New Town. Listed as Head. Married (but no wife listed). Age 49. Concertina Maker. Born Suffolk, Saxmundham.

 

1891 - 5, Brunswick Place, Hoxton New Town. Listed as Head. Married (but no wife listed). Age 58. Concertina Maker. Born Suffolk, Saxmundham.

[Stephen Chambers]

I'd love somebody to prove me wrong on this, but there seems to be zero evidence (at the moment anyway) for the existence of Henry Harley before that 1853 performance, when he would have been aged 20.

 

I've tried various strategies to "winkle him out" but have found no evidence for anyone named Harley being born in/from the small market town of Saxmundham, and he doesn't appear on any Census until 1871.

 

I'm beginning to suspect that Henry Harley may not have been his real name, but a snappy, alliterative, "stage name" that he adopted around 1853 when he started performing, and continued to use once he started tuning/manufacturing concertinas.

 

It might seem unlikely until you start looking at all the performers who adopted (and still adopt) stage names. Examples in the concertina world include "Signor Alsepti" (James Alsop), Alexander Prince/a.k.a. George King (Alexander Sutherland), and Percy Honri (Percy Harry Thompson).

[gcoover]

I presume you've seen the ad in the Ipswich Journal on September 23, 1854, where he is selling 22-button German concertinas with a Book of Instructions for 25 shillings, and calling himself a "Concertina Manufacturer" located at 25 Upper Clifton Street, Finsbury, London.

 

A concertina manufacturer at age 21? I'm impressed!

 

I'm not seeing anything else likely in newspapers.com before that time.

 

Gary

[Stephen Chambers]

On 5/24/2024 at 4:05 AM, gcoover said:

I presume you've seen the ad in the Ipswich Journal on September 23, 1854, where he is selling 22-button German concertinas with a Book of Instructions for 25 shillings, and calling himself a "Concertina Manufacturer" located at 25 Upper Clifton Street, Finsbury, London.

 

No, I hadn't seen the ad., which is very interesting, thanks for that!

 

[I've been searching newspapers on Findmypast, where I only have to pay 50p (on top of my Findmypast subscription) to view an entry that sounds potentially interesting from the index, but $20.00 (for a minimum 1 month subscription) to look at one item on newspapers.com seems a bit steep, for a pensioner like me.]

 

22-button German concertinas were not uncommon at the time, and they were the ones that Harley went on to add extra buttons to, to produce his model, as has been done on my early example that's stamped HENRY HARLEY MAKER. Thanks to the "signature" cornucopia design that's drilled into the right-hand side of it, (German concertina authority) Dr. Maria Dunkel has been able to identify it as having been made by Ernst Bässler, of Grünberg, Saxony.

 

 

 

[gcoover]

Happy to share, just let me know if I can help find things on newspapers.com.

 

From the Ipswich Journal on September 23, 1854.

 

 

Edited May 26 by gcoover

[Stephen Chambers]

14 minutes ago, gcoover said:

Happy to share, just let me know if I can help find things on newspapers.com.

 

From the Ipswich Journal on September 23, 1854.

 

 

 

Thanks very much!

 

So he clearly states that the instrument he's advertising is German, but why advertise it in Ipswich, but seemingly nowhere else? It's in Suffolk, but 21 miles from Saxmundham...