A Blackett Music Maker

In the 1880s William Charlton Blackett, the son of a coal agent, joined forces with Charles W. Howden and set up the firm of Blackett and Howden Ltd., organ builders of Newcastle Upon Tyne. They introduced some highly innovative features to pipe organs, and their business rapidly expanded from its initial focus on the Tyneside area, to supplying organs across the whole of the United Kingdom and beyond, at one time having a second workshop in Glasgow. They built and restored church and theatre/cinema organs, many of which are still in use to this day in countries such as Australia and Germany as well as the UK.
They built the organ for the Royal Memorial Chapel at Sandhurst and reconstructed the organ in Hong Kong Cathedral. The firm was still trading under its original name as recently as 1969.

(NB. William Charlton Blackett was the 2nd cousin of Robert Blackett Charlton who founded the Tyneside engineering company of R. Blackett Charlton in 1885, though he was in the engineering business for many years prior to that date.)

Musical visitors to this site might like to try out this traditional Northumbrian air, originally called “Blackett O’ Wylam”, and presumably dedicated to Christopher Blackett or his descendants.