The Directory of British Organ Builders

The Freeman-Edmonds Directory of British Organ Builders aims to list every organ builder who ever worked in the British Isles, from the earliest times up to 1950. It is not a piece of research per se but rather a tool for researchers. Thus the information given is basic – names, dates, locations, addresses, cross references – with a list of sources from which the information is derived.

David Wickens, the compiler, has used the work of Andrew Freeman as a starting point – in particular, two (of many) subdivisions of his work: the Records of British Organ Builders, published in two parts and a card index written on the backs of church bazaar and concert tickets from 1925-26. This material, and much else of Andrew Freeman’s, has been deposited in the British Organ Archive by Bernard Edmonds. The latter has considerably extended the scope of Freeman’s work with research of his own – much of it published in the pages of The Organ, Musical Opinion, The Organ Club Journal, BIOS Journal and BIOS Reporter, etc. – and this has been made available to the compiler. These two scholars have laid the foundation of this Directory. Their work spans the whole of the 20th century. It is fitting, therefore, that their names should be attached to it.

The compilation of this Directory was  subsidised by a grant from The Arts Council of England, making possible a much more comprehensive survey than could otherwise have been contemplated.

Present-day Organbuilders

A list of present-day accredited organbuilders, with contact details and listed by speciality, is published by the IBO (Institute of British Organ Building) and is available on the website of the IBO.