Theo Posted January 22 Posted January 22 I've been asked to try and find out anything about about the history of this 20 key anglo. The fretwork pattern is similar to a Lachenal mahogany ended anglo, but it's been cut with a fretsaw rather than a spindle moulder. Acton looks similar to Lachenal. I can't find any serial number, makers name or trade mark apart from a star from a repairer. There are a few pencil annotations but I can't make out what they represent. Please look at the pictures. .
Theo Posted January 22 Author Posted January 22 With some more careful looking I’ve managed to make out some of the wording on the label and faint stamping on the reed pans: ”Repaired by T Walpole, (street name I can’t read) islington L’Pool”
Tiposx Posted January 22 Posted January 22 There are a couple of mentions of Walpole in the Lachenal dating thread. Quoted from Dowright: No. 169404. Handwritten "T. Walpole, 58 Everton Brow, Liverpool , July 24, 1903." (20 key in Bb/F, wood fret, bone buttons, steel reeds 5-fold). Which doesn't really help, but there is another one
Tiposx Posted January 22 Posted January 22 (edited) Quoted from Mirien re a qury anout a sale on ebay: COMES WITH CLOTH BAG WHICH CONTAINS SOME BITS TO BE GLUED BACK ON ALSO A NOTE SAYING 2/12/97 NOTE INSIDE IN PENCIL !!! TUNED TO B FLAT JULY 1ST 1893 J WALPOLE ALSO ANOTHER PIECE OF PAPER WITH A REPAIRERS STAMP WHICH READS TUNED BY T WALPOLE 88 CANTERBURY STREET ISLINGTON LIVERPOOL 102720 and tuning date of 1 July 1893. Any use to anyone dating Lachenal concertinas? So was it a Lachenal after all perhaps. Edited January 22 by Tiposx
Theo Posted January 22 Author Posted January 22 Pretty sure it’s not a Lachenal, though it might have some Lachenal parts. I wonder if Walpole ( T or J) was an accomplished repairer and had a go at building new woodwork round a set of Lachenal reeds and mechanism.
Takayuki YAGI Posted January 22 Posted January 22 5 hours ago, Theo said: islington L’Pool” Wasn't Liverpool Road in Islington where Crabb's workshop was located?
Theo Posted January 22 Author Posted January 22 Yes but there is also a district of Liverpool called Islington. Very confusing! this one is the Islington in Liverpool.
wes williams Posted January 23 Posted January 23 In Kelly's 1894 directory Thomas Walpole at 88 Canterbury St is listed as a musical instrument maker. In Gore's 1900 he is listed with the same address and occupation. (Data from University of Leicester Special Collections - they don't have any later ones, but I'll check elsewhere for more info tomorrow)
Theo Posted January 23 Author Posted January 23 Thanks Wes, that’s most interesting. So it may have been made by Thomas Walpole, perhaps inspired by the design of Lachenal instruments he had repaired.
wes williams Posted January 23 Posted January 23 On 1/22/2025 at 3:18 PM, Tiposx said: There are a couple of mentions of Walpole in the Lachenal dating thread. Quoted from Dowright: No. 169404. Handwritten "T. Walpole, 58 Everton Brow, Liverpool , July 24, 1903." (20 key in Bb/F, wood fret, bone buttons, steel reeds 5-fold). Which doesn't really help, but there is another one On modern maps 'Everton Brow, Liverpool' is also in or near the Islington district given in the other address. There are four Walpole related concertina entries in the Lachenal database.
glenn Posted March 29 Posted March 29 Hi everyone , Just looking for info on my wife's grandad Thomas walpole today and found your group..here is a picture of Thomas in the middle and a picture of one of the competition cups he won...he was an accomplished multi instrumentalist and won international piano championships along with his wife...We know that he was also an accomplished instrument builder ...one guitar that he built was used by his son George who used it in the BBC concert orchestra... His main job was an instrument repairer and tuner...one of his contracts was to tune the liverpool philharmonic orchestra instruments by ear alone...We think he worked for most of the main music shops in liverpool cranes ,hesseys,rushworths etc... We don't have a lot of information as his youngest son Frank passed away last year... MUSIC is still very much in the family today as his granddaughter clare is a singer.. If you have any information on Thomas walpole please feel free to share with us and if we can help you with any information please feel free to contact us...glenn 6
glenn Posted March 31 Posted March 31 Hi everyone Just to add that regarding repairs ..he didn't have a lot money starting out and would reverse engineer everything and generally use anything he had to hand and from what we know he would try to mix different makes and models together
Theo Posted March 31 Author Posted March 31 Looking at the concertina that started this topic I would say that he was familiar with the way the Lachenal 20 button concertinas were made and he then built his own with the materials he had available. Everthing about it follows the lachenal design, but with subtle differences. The most obvious is that the fretwork pattern is an exact copy, but instead of plain mahogany he used a base timber with a very attractive veneer. Another example is the levers which are again a careful copy of Lachenal lever, but made of slightly thicker material.
nkgibbs Posted April 1 Posted April 1 Dear Theo et al, Enjoyed the very interesting history around Thomas Walpole. I wonder whether this concertina has serial numbers rubber stamped in a dark purple ink? Could it possibly be one of those mysterious 'Tidders' ? See the threads here and here. Best wishes, Neil
Theo Posted April 2 Author Posted April 2 (edited) Definitely no serial numbers, and clear T Walpole labels and stamps, so no need to look for another maker, especially after the recent input from his family member. Edited April 2 by Theo
Stephen Chambers Posted April 2 Posted April 2 (edited) On 4/1/2025 at 9:52 PM, nkgibbs said: Could it possibly be one of those mysterious 'Tidders' ? See the threads here and here. I was looking at the photos the other day and was going to point out some indications/similarities when I had more time. I wouldn't say it was exactly the same, there are small differences, but they are similar - and we don't even have pictures of the reeds/reedpans to go on. But I'm quite certain it was made in Germany, not England. Two clues are the Continental-style written 1's (almost like a 7) and the German D's (for Diskant = treble) with a flourish on the end of them in the right-hand side. I expect it has B's (for Bass) in the left-hand side too. Edited April 3 by Stephen Chambers
Stephen Chambers Posted April 3 Posted April 3 The distinctly pentagonal corner blocks in the action box are another indication that it's German - they'd be triangular in an English-made instrument.
Theo Posted April 3 Author Posted April 3 Thank you Stephen, thats's interesting. I hadn't even noticed the corner block shape.
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