SecretLeeds - History, culture and architecture in Leeds

The following is reported in John Mayhall's 'Annals of Yorkshire' vol 1.July 13 1857. "The Leeds Town-hall committee awarded a prize of £150 to Messrs. Smart and Spark, for plans for the Town-hall organ. On the 17th of August, Messrs. Gray and Davidson were appointed to build the organ from the designs, at a cost not exceeding £4,000."I assume the organ is still that at the Town Hall.I'm not sure why, but the names Smart and Spark made me .    

Weather this day 2011 and most of the month was much nicer, here at Temple Newsam Walled Garden with the soporific drone of bees heavy with pollen.

I think the current organ console is still the original one, although the organ has been rebuilt twice so the pipes and mechanical action will probably not all be original.The Leodis website has some information about the history of the organ:http://www.leodis.net/discovery/discove ... 545William Spark wrote two volumes of memoirs which are available to download free of charge or read online. "Musical Reminiscences" will probably be of more interest for anecdotes of 19th century Leeds, including some interesting nights out, and "Musical Memories" gives his very down-to-earth views of some eminent musicians of the time who visited Leeds to give organ recitals or concerts at the Town Hall!Musical Memories:http://archive.org/details/musicalmemor ... ichMusical Reminiscences:http://archive.org/details/musicalreminisc00spargoog

Thanks Tasa for that information and those links.