Tickhill and District Local History Society

Some Highlights of Tickhill’s Musical Past

Philip L. Scowcroft

Occasional Paper No. 1

© Philip L. Scowcroft and Tickhill and District Local History Society 2007 Acknowledgements Thanks are due to the Rev. J. A. Bowering for his encouragement at an early stage in researching this monograph. The following are also thanked for their help in its preparation: Rosemary Cornish, John Marsden, Hazel Moffat and Steve Payne. The following are thanked for their comments on an early draft: Claire Brown, Jackie Thorns and David Walters. Several people and organisations have kindly allowed their photographs to be copied and are acknowledged beside the relevant photograph.

2 Some Highlights of Tickhill’s Musical Past

Philip L. Scowcroft

We know little or nothing about the beginnings of music in Tickhill, though, bearing in mind its importance even in medieval times, there would surely have been a considerable amount of it. Perhaps minstrels entertained the Castle garrison, the villagers undoubtedly amused themselves with folk dancing and one would like to think that the singing in the Parish Church of St Mary enhanced the quality of its services. Certainly that church hosted the first notable musical event in the town of which we have a record. The Doncaster Gazette of 22 August 1792 wrote ‘We hear the Oratorio of the Messiah, performed in Tickhill Church on Wednesday last, was very grand and complete in all its parts and gave universal satisfaction to a very genteel and numerous audience’. There was a repeat twelve months later about which we know more. This was given on 22 August 1793 by a ‘very numerous band of Vocal and Instrumental performers selected from the Musical Societies in . Principal Songs by Mrs Shipley from Lancashire, Messrs Bray, Beckett, Barber, Siddall etc [this suggests that the alto arias were sung by a counter­tenor, not uncommon in the 18 th Century]. The Grand Choruses will be supported with Kettle Drums, Trumpets, French Horns, Double Bass etc.’ The performance was scheduled to begin at the early hour of 11 a. m.; admission was Middle Aisle 2/­ (10p), Side Aisle 1/­ (5p), not expensive by the standards of the time.

Even before 1800 we are into the age of the great choral festival, the proceeds of which were usually devoted to charity. The Three Choirs Festival was by then long established, while, nearer home, Sheffield and Doncaster had more than once tried their hands before Tickhill, on 28 and 29 July 1818, followed suit. There were 100 performers in the ‘band’ (i.e. orchestra) and chorus (combined), and a gallery was erected in Church, presumably a temporary affair, for ‘the reception of the fashionable audience’. On the first morning, a Tuesday, Messiah was again the selected work; on Wednesday there was a miscellaneous selection of sacred music, by Handel, Haydn and one Foster, a South Yorkshire composer, represented by anthems based on Psalms 89, 92, 117 and 119 – the Handel oratorios excerpted in this concert were Esther, Israel in Egypt, Samson, Jephtha and Joshua. On the Tuesday evening there took place at the Concert Room (the other programmes were in Church) a miscellaneous secular concert by Mr Wakeley. (This implies, I believe, that Wakeley was the performer not the composer). Soon after this, the Church was closed for alterations but its re­ opening was celebrated on 20 August 1826 with a grand selection of sacred music by Handel (excerpts from Messiah, Judas Maccabeus, the Dettingen Te Deum and Samson), Haydn, Pergolesi and Foster. Isaac Brailsford, the Organist at St George’s Parish Church, Doncaster, led the orchestra.

By the 1830s important secular concerts were taking place in Tickhill, most of them perhaps in the Concert Room used for the Festival of 1818 and whose location is not clear, but may be in Northgate, as was the case later. On 19 April 1832 there was a programme for the benefit of 17 year­old Master Richardson, ‘a youth of outstanding Musical Talent’, as he was dubbed when he appeared the following month in a concert in Doncaster and who, as Joseph Richardson, was

3 to become (and remain) one of ’s leading flautists for many years and to re­visit Doncaster on several occasions. Later that same year (27 December) a Grand Miscellaneous Concert took place and on 17 November 1844 the orchestral playing in overtures by Beethoven and Mozart was highly praised; a Mr Skelton played a cello concerto and duets with the leader of the orchestra and the programme was filled out with a trumpet concerto (Haydn’s maybe, or Hummel’s) and vocal solos.

Early in 1856, at the Tickhill Institute in Northgate, a concert took place by the ‘Minstrel Fairies’, four juvenile members of the same family who had played for H. M. at Buckingham Palace. Miss Turner, the eldest of them, and Miss Sophia Turner (12 years old) sang songs and duets; the elder Miss Turner also played Elias Parish­Alvars’ Grand Fantasie on the harp, Sophia contributing Paganini’s The Carnival of Venice on her violin. The youthful Master Lorenzo Turner, only eight, performed on the cello the air Hope Told a Flattering Tale with variations composed by the celebrated and recently deceased Rotherham­born cellist Robert Lindley (1776­1855); his younger brother Albert (6 years old) played a ‘difficult’ Fantasia in A Minor (possibly on the piano) and ‘sustained a part on the Double Bass’. This was described as a ‘return visit’ so there was presumably an earlier Tickhill concert by these juveniles.

In March 1858 again at Tickhill Institute, two noted singers of the day, Henry Phillips and Mrs Susan Sunderland (‘Yorkshire’s Queen of Song’, who has given her name to a long­established musical festival), appeared together. On 13 March 1865 various soloists from South Yorkshire figured at the Concert Room with the Mexborough Church Choir and a Sheffield pianist, Stubbs by name.

Benefit concerts took place from time to time: for a Mr Dufty (Organist at St Mary’s) in December 1884 when the performers included himself and Walter Spinney, Organist of Christ Church Doncaster, and for the blind Willie Dickinson in February 1886 when the programme included glees (a glee was a short choral piece, in common parlance interchangeable with what we would call a partsong), vocal trios, solo songs, a piano duet and items from the Tickhill Handbell Ringers. A Primrose League concert in January 1887 put on Offenbach’s operetta The Blind Beggars, presumably not a staged performance.

A ‘fashionable concert attended by all local persons of quality’, in January 1890, featured Doncaster artistes Charles Reasbeck (of the Doncaster Orchestral Society and later its conductor, playing violin solos) and J. M. Kirk (Conductor of Doncaster Musical Society, singing humorous songs) plus glees and piano solos. The Conservative Clubroom was the scene of a concert on 10 January 1896 when piano solos, violin solos, readings and a zither­banjo solo The Cyclists’ March figured in the programme. A similar one on 9 April 1896 included a solo for the auto­harp. Tickhill audiences heard some unusual instruments at that time.

Tickhill had its own Choral Society at least as early as 1832. This got together in January 1833 with choirs from Worksop, Braithwell, Maltby and Loversall to perform choruses from Handel's Messiah and William Gardiner’s oratorio Judah.

4 A photograph of Joseph Richardson 1814­1862, the celebrated flautist can be viewed on the National Portrait Gallery website www.npg.uk. You can find it by searching the npg website and then searching the collection, looking for the portrait under “sitters A­Z”. Alternatively, a paper copy of this article, containing the portrait, can be purchased from Tickhill & District Local History Society by contacting David Walters, Secretary, on 01302 742918

Mrs Susan Sunderland 1819­1905, Yorkshire’s ‘Queen of Song’ Courtesy © West Yorkshire Archive Service, Kirklees, Ref: KC10670/11/1/3

5 We hear of a Tickhill Harmonic Society in 1849 which may have been a new organisation or merely a new styling for the earlier organisation as ‘Harmonic Society’ was a favoured title for choirs generally during the early part of Victoria’s reign. In January 1849 it held a meeting with the Doncaster Harmonic Society on ‘neutral ground’ at the Fox and Hounds Inn at Wadworth, when excerpts from oratorios by Handel and Haydn, plus glees and solos, were sung with an orchestra of thirty: a rehearsal rather than a concert, perhaps. In its report of this event the Doncaster Chronicle implied that an ‘amalgamation’ between the two choirs was being sought. If this was true it never took place, as the Tickhill Harmonic Society is mentioned as having given concerts on 22 March 1861 and 14 January 1862, while a Doncaster Harmonic Society had a separate existence, on and off, until at least 1866. A permanent merger would have involved travelling problems for many choir members. The probable truth of the matter was that the Doncaster society, who were planning their first public concert in March 1849, were seeking reinforcements from the Tickhill society for that single concert. As the Wadworth affair appears to have included most of the same music for the DHS’s concert this seems to confirm us in our belief that it was a rehearsal.

Tickhill and Worksop Harmonic Societies did certainly combine to perform a Messiah selection in Blyth Parish Church on 3 January 1850. It is probable that, in view of the generally sacred nature of the repertoire, the Tickhill Society did perform at least at times in St Mary’s Church, though the 1861 concerts referred to above were at the Lecture Room in Northgate and were given in aid of the Indian Famine Relief Fund. A ‘morning’ (i.e. early afternoon) sacred concert included canticle settings and excerpts from Messiah, Judas Maccabeus, and Saul (the Overture), all by Handel. The evening concert offered secular music – the Lodoiska overture by Cherubini, sundry marches and many vocal solos (including the once very popular Juanita) plus short choral items, glees and partsongs.

By 1880 Tickhill’s choir was once again called Tickhill Choral Society, according to a concert held in the National Schoolroom on 23 January in that year for which 150 tickets were sold. (We must remember that in many places, including Doncaster, early and mid Victorian choral societies were informal in their organisation and often intermittent in their concert giving). Repertoire on this occasion was secular and confined to vocal miniatures: partsongs by Brinley Richards (Let the Hills Resound), Watson (Good Night to the Day) and Henry Bishop (Sleep While the Soft Evening Breezes), glees by R. J. S. Stevens (Crabbed Age and Youth, Blow Blow Thou Winter Wind and From Oberon in Fairyland), Spofforth (the perennially popular Hail Smiling Morn) and Birch (Isle of Beauty) and a Trio by Callcott entitled Mark the Merry Elves.

For a concert in April 1907 the Society, then trained by Dr Havelock, at that time Organist of St James’ Doncaster (of whom more presently), fielded 28 voices. This concert included Bernhard Romberg’s then popular cantata The Lay of the Bell, a madrigal by Ford, a glee by Stevens and various solos, notably Hatton’s favourite showpiece for contralto, The Enchantress. This was repeated later that month in Doncaster with added piano solos played by Alfred Taylor, then Organist of Christ Church Doncaster. In December 1921 Messiah was tackled in

6 St Mary’s (Tickhill) with orchestra, ‘a capital effort’, according to the Doncaster Gazette, and there was apparently still a Tickhill Choral Society which remained active at least until 1968.

This no longer exists but in the 1960s Tickhill and District Male Voice Choir, initially conducted by Ralph Jack, came into prominence. A concert on 13 March 1965 enterprisingly featured Brahms’ Alto Rhapsody (soloist, Beatrice Benson), partsongs by Vaughan Williams (The Turtle Dove) and Elgar violin solos from Mr Jack. The Choir continued after Mr Jack’s death in 1978 and has maintained a more than acceptable standard. In September 1987 concerts were given in successive weeks at St Mary’s Tickhill and in Doncaster Civic Theatre. In recent years (I write in 2006) it has been the practice for it to give a few joint concerts with Thorne Male Voice Choir with which it has shared a conductor for some years.

The late Victorian period saw the establishment of a brass band, or bands, in Tickhill. The Tickhill Victoria Brass Band was probably formed at the end of 1865; certainly its first concert, in the Concert Room in Northgate, took place on 1 February 1866. This band was launched in the wake of a considerable surge of enthusiasm for brass bands in the Doncaster area from the 1850s onwards. (See the writer’s article in Brian Elliott (ed), Aspects of Doncaster (Wharncliffe, 1997) pages 111­118.) The 1866 concert’s programme included, from the band, pieces by Verdi, Smith, Marriott and Coote (the latter three were primarily purveyors of popular dance music) and was filled out with vocal pieces by Danby, Clifton, Hook, Sir Henry Bishop, John Braham, Spofforth and Foster. The Bandmaster at that time was one Thomas Watson, a Tickhill barber, and he was succeeded by the tailor Joseph Percy in 1890. The word ‘Jubilee’ was added to the Band’s title in 1887 when, after, apparently, a short period in abeyance, the Band mustered 13 players. Mr C. Clarkson, born in 1875, was its conductor between 1896 and 1934, by which time the Tickhill Victoria Silver Jubilee Band, as it was now styled, had 18 to 20 players, including some who had played since the 1880s. During the 1920s it had had as many as 26 on strength. It had taken part in the Doncaster Hospital Demonstrations in the early 20 th Century, though not by any means every year. It appears to have faded away around 1938.

At one time there had also been a Tickhill United Band, a separate organisation but also conducted by Thomas Watson, previously mentioned. The existence of two bands is proved by the fact that on 9 May 1892 (and doubtless on other occasions as well) both were in action simultaneously at different venues, Tickhill United playing at Hesley, while Jubilee was invited to Sandbeck by the Earl of Scarbrough, where it played for a short dance in the servants’ hall, for which it ‘received a handsome donation and a good supper’. Despite the prestige this engagement conferred, it was United who performed at the Tickhill Flower Show later that summer, although the Jubilee Band had this honour the following year. As far as is known, neither band took part in major competitive championships at any level or at any time.

Visits by brass bands were enjoyed in Tickhill after the Second World War. Perhaps the most prestigious visitors were a Band of the Royal Marines who performed in the grounds of Tickhill Castle as part of the 1990 Tickhill

7 A typical programme for Tickhill and District Male Voice Choir.

Tickhill and District Male Voice Choir in 1986, their twenty­fifth year. Musical Director Alwyne Rattenbury, Accompanists Dr G. Cox and Mrs S. Jenkinson. Illustrations courtesy of Tickhill and District Male Voice Choir

8 Tickhill Victoria Silver Jubilee Band c. 1897 Charles Clarkson, the Bandmaster, is third from the right on the back row. Courtesy Den Stockley

9 Extravaganza. The Castle venue was used periodically for outdoor performances over the previous century thanks to the generosity of successive tenants at Castle House, one of whom, Gerald Gentry (now living in Australia), was sometime a conductor for the BBC and Music Adviser to Doncaster Borough Council post 1974.

I return to Tickhill Parish Church and its music. The choir has existed on a formal basis for well over a century. It took part in six (1868­1873) of the annual festival services of the Doncaster and South Yorkshire Choral Union in St George’s Parish Church Doncaster held between 1864 and 1884 and which did so much to raise the standards of church music locally. The Choir was augmented for special occasions as for example the Harvest festival of 1870 when J. H. Eyre, Choirmaster of Doncaster Parish Church, conducted. Choirmasters over the years have extended the range of the Choir, for example with the introduction of the Westminster Abbey Chant Book in 1918 and later extending the repertoire of church anthems and settings of the Canticles. Over several decades the choir has visited a number of Northern cathedrals to take part in Choral Evensong.

St Mary’s acquired a pipe organ in 1831 following several decades when instrumentalists installed on a wooden gallery at the west end of the Church accompanied the singing. The present organ of St Mary’s dates originally from 1857 when Charles Brindley of Sheffield (great­grandson of the famous canal engineer) built a two manual instrument with 21 speaking stops, featuring a new voicing technique devised by Brindley himself. It was ‘opened’ by Jeremiah Rogers, then Organist at St George’s Doncaster, who had superintended its erection, the programme including excerpts from Messiah. There were a number of ‘opening’ services, whose anthems including Kent’s The Lord is My Shepherd, Clark’s In Jewry Was God Known, described by the Doncaster Chronicle as ‘fine singing by a country choir’ and Eve’s Lamentation by King, a popular piece of the time. When gas was installed in St Mary’s in October 1859, more special music was heard, including Kent’s trio Sing O Heavens and the Hallelujah Chorus from Messiah.

Dr Spark, the Leeds City Organist 1860­97 and a noteworthy figure in Victorian musical circles, gave a recital on the St Mary’s instrument on 8 September 1881. His programme included Henry Smart’s Evening Prayer and Festive March in D, Guilmant’s Offertoire on Christmas Carols, Lefebure­Wely’s Pastorale in G, Batiste’s Offertoire in G and Spark’s own Concertstück. A recital on 6 June 1895 by Allan Biggs, a young Doncaster pupil of Dr Havelock, included Mendelssohn, Bach, more Smart, Gounod, Scotson Clark and a set of variations in Onward Christian Soldiers (hymn tune by Sir Arthur Sullivan).

Fifteen years later the firm of Brindley & Foster overhauled the organ, adding new stops and deleting some of the older ones. A new case was provided and the instrument was moved from the West Gallery to the Laughton Chapel (in 1937 it was to be moved again, to the South Aisle when an electric blower was installed). The instrument was re­opened on 8 April 1896 by Robert Rogers (son of Jeremiah and his successor as Organist of St George’s Doncaster) and a Mr Bosville of Bridlington. Bosville played Bach’s Prelude and Fugue in

10 D Minor, Guilmant’s Communion and three transcriptions, of the Interlude from King Manfred (Reinecke), a Kyrie (Pergolesi) and Michael Costa’s once­popular March of the Israelites from his oratorio Eli. A recital by a Mr J. Ellis, who was then stated to be the Organist of the Church, in February 1897, included Lefebure­Wely’s Offertoire in G and pieces by forgotten figures such as C. H. Lewis, C. Vincent and one Abernethy.

In 1965 the organ was rebuilt by Walkers, at a cost of £4,409; several new stops were added and new tracker action to the manuals, electro­pneumatic action to the pedals and a new draw stop action were installed. The instrument was re­ opened by Brian Runnett, later Organist of Norwich Cathedral and sadly killed, all too young, in a road accident soon after going to Norwich.

Perhaps, we know rather less about the organists of the Church than the instrument at which they officiated. One of the earliest organists was the prodigy Benjamin Clarkson who became Organist at the age of 12 in 1849 until he was succeeded from 1858 to1889 by Thomas Dufty, previously at Harworth Parish Church. We have noted Mr Ellis’ apparent tenure in early 1897, but from 1889 to 1898 the Organist was Dr George Havelock, a ‘pluralist’ par excellence as he was then Organist to no fewer than six Doncaster area churches. He confined himself to training their choirs (on one different night a week) and left the actual playing at five of their Sunday services, including Tickhill’s, to pupils, or in one case, to his wife. Havelock was an interesting figure apart from that. At one time he was appointed Organist of Valletta Cathedral (Malta) but found the heat too much for him. He came to Doncaster in 1888 as Organist of Christ Church but left eight years later following a bitter argument with the Vicar over church services, a difference which spilled over into the local press. When he died in 1915 he had been Organist of St James’ Doncaster for seventeen years. He taught widely, organising his lady pupils into an orchestra curiously comprising violins, cellos, mandolins and guitars which gave concerts all over South Yorkshire. He was a Mus. Doc. of Trinity College, Toronto, Canada (1891).

The longest span as Organist and Choirmaster of St Mary’s is surely that of Mrs Margaret Wren, in post over forty years from 1931, although John Ellis, previously mentioned, when he died, aged 67, on 27 June 1930, was said to have been Organist at Tickhill Parish Church for 37 years. This, of course, cuts across Havelock’s pluralist tenure we noticed just now. It may well be that Ellis was sub­organist for some of his 37 years. He was sometime Hon. Accompanist to the Tickhill Choral Society. The present Organist and Choirmaster (since 1983), John Marsden, is a keen and knowledgeable musician who ensures the quality of musical provision at St Mary’s both during services and through arranging periodic recitals given by visiting organists. For example, Dr Francis Jackson, Organist Emeritus of York Minster, gave recitals on two occasions during the 1980s following developments to the organ.

Before leaving St Mary’s another musical contribution is worth a mention. The Church bells have been part of community life at least since the 17 th Century. Six bells were cast in 1726 and a ‘Tinker Bell’ added the following year. Two new bells were installed in 1897 when a device was also added to ring out tunes at four­hourly intervals from midnight. The tunes change each day on a weekly rota

11 St Mary’s Organ Courtesy Chris Garritt

St Mary’s Church Choir, 26 October 1969, on the occasion of a BBC broadcast. Organist and Choirmaster Margaret Wren stands next to the Vicar, Rev. I. O. Jones, with John Marsden on the other side of her. Courtesy of St Mary’s Church Choir

12 St Mary’s Church bell ringing team c. 1945­46 when Albert Hulley (second left) was the Captain. Courtesy Ralph Watkinson

Tickhill Handbell Ringers in the 1970s continuing the tradition begun in the 19 th Century. Courtesy Mrs Pearl Cannings

13 and include folk airs from England, , Scotland and Wales as well as hymns. Apart from the Second World War and a break of a few days in more recent times following a complaint about the 4 a. m. tune, local people have been comforted and entertained by the carillon for more than a century. Over the years teams of bell ringers have rung peals to call people to worship and to mark local and national celebrations.

Hymn singing by choir and congregation and organ music have played a vital part in the worship in Tickhill Methodist Church too, reflecting the saying that ‘Methodism was born in song’. According to the reminiscences of Miss K A Kimberley, ‘the 1920s were a highlight when Mr G Crossland was Choirmaster and Organist from 1921 to 1930 and at that time we took concerts to many parts of the Circuit. Miss F Richardson, Organist from 1893 to 1921, also assisted’. The Church has had various manual and electronic organs, the present restored pipe organ being installed in the 1970s. Secular concerts are held at times in the Schoolroom to raise money for Church and Charity funds.

After the Second World War Tickhill expanded considerably as a high­class residential area looking towards both Rotherham and Doncaster and as such seemed to be ideal soil for nurturing one of those music societies which have sprung up in the Doncaster area and elsewhere. It is only surprising that the Tickhill (and District) Music Society had to wait until 1977 for its birth. That it was founded then was owed to the enthusiasm of several Tickhill residents who contributed and continue to contribute positively to the activities of the hardworking committee. To name individuals may be invidious but the imagination of Philip Mottram in the Society’s earlier years and the hard work of Rita Ryves more recently – these two having been the longest serving concert secretaries for the Society – perhaps deserve particular mention.

A concert given in March 1977 by the Coull String Quartet led to the creation of the Society the following September. The Coull performers returned for landmark concerts like the 100 th and 200 th. They were followed by other quartets, among them the Bingham, Mistry, Fairfield, Auriol, Leodian, Duke, Dove, Bochmann, Brodsky, Lindsay (‘The Lindsays’), Hanson and, many times, Fitzwilliam Quartets. Other ensembles like Equale Brass, Fine Arts Brass, the Marini Trombone Ensemble, Capricci, Leonardo Trio, Yorkshire Baroque Soloists, Northern Saxophone Quartet, the Aulos Ensemble (with the Dortmund Quartet from Germany, to perform Mendelssohn’s Octet), pianists Benjamin Frith, another frequent visitor, James Lisney, Margaret Fingerhut, Jonathan Plowright, Peter Hall and the Cann twins, Bronwen Naish (double bass), Sioned Williams and Rachel Masters (harp), violinists Lorraine McAslan and Peter Cropper, Lawrence Perkins (bassoon), Alan Hacker (clarinet), Michaela Petri (recorders, from Denmark) guitarists including the locally based Hill/Wiltschinsky Duo and singers Anthony James and Michael Pearce and the Opus 5 male singing group were among those figuring in programmes up to 1994 when the 200 th concert was reached. Early music was often a feature with, for example, the Amati Ensemble, Tarleton’s Jig, Dragonsfire and the Emma Kirkby and Anthony Rooley duo. Protagonists of folk music, jazz, electronic music and Indian music were given slots in Tickhill Music Society programmes stimulating lecture recitalists like John Amis, Michael Oliver and Christopher

14 Headington. Nor was local talent ignored; I remember a programme on one Friday 13 February (Friday is usually concert night for the Society) by speakers and musicians of Doncaster College, about ghosts and fairies, including the world premiere of John Noble’s specially written Fairy Dances for recorder and piano – and many other young local performers have been similarly encouraged.

Tickhill Music Society deserves a history of its own and more space than I can devote to it here, but it still flourishes as strongly as ever in 2006. A skim through the third hundred of its concerts reveals unusual events like a recital for bass tuba (Gavin Woods), an Irish Folk recital, an accordion recital (Owen Murray), Julian Warburton on percussion instruments, a programme of Northumbrian pipes and fiddle music, another of Jewish music (Tashbain), the high­profile trumpet player Alison Balsom and visits from old friends like Hill/Wiltschinsky, Benjamin Frith and the Fitzwilliam Quartet. The 300 th concert was given in October 2005 by the exciting new Sheffield group Ensemble 360, who will return in 2007, and the 2006­7 prospectus generally shows no sign of any dropping off in the high standards achieved over almost 30 years, nor of the rich variety of its musical scope.

The Society’s concerts have usually taken place in St Mary’s Church of England Primary School, though at times it has tried other local venues including on one occasion, Clumber Park Chapel, plus Tickhill Methodist Church, Estfeld School and, most notably, St Mary’s Parish Church. For several years beginning in 1983, the Society organised a summer series of two or three concerts in the Church and from time to time has returned there. Additionally, Messiah was sung in Church in 1981 by a Sheffield choir and other music came along in 1982 – an organ recital and a charity concert by Tickhill and District Male Voice Choir and the Markham Main Band. Doncaster [and District] Choral Society, assisted by local soloists and with organ accompaniment, performed Messiah in December 1988 as part of that Society’s centenary year activities. Tickhill Music Society’s concerts in Church included programmes for organ and trumpet, the Fitzwilliam Quartet, the Black Dyke Octet (brass), a mixed programme from Chetham’s School musicians and sundry choirs and amateur orchestras.

Tickhill’s music has come a long way since the Messiahs of the 1790s and the Festival of 1818. The scene down the years affords rich variety with choral music, church music, brass bands and a thriving concert society which has shown greater longevity than many other similar organisations. The breadth of interest in music and its use for another long­upheld custom of raising money for worthy causes was illustrated when three concerts were held in the space of one month in 2006. Den Stockley organised a concert at St Mary’s, a ‘Serenade to Summer’, on 9 September, featuring Worksop College Brass Ensemble, the Four in Harmony (female) vocal group and Tickhill and District Male Voice Choir. On 5 October at the Methodist Schoolroom the Women’s Institute presented Anston Ladies Choir and readings from local writer, Miss June Tomlinson. The next evening at Tickhill Institute the Doncaster Concert Band performed at the invitation of the Tickhill Residents’ Association. The concerts raised several hundred pounds for the Parish Room Refurbishment Fund. The traditions of two centuries’ music have surely laid a wonderful foundation for future developments in the town.

15 Further reading:

Beastall, T., Portrait of an English Parish Church: The Blessed Virgin Mary, Tickhill, Yorkshire Marsden, J., The Organ and Choir of St Mary’s Church, Tickhill Stockley, D., Tickhill Jubilee Brass Band 1887­1939

Websites:

For Dr George Havelock http://www.musicweb.uk.net/classrev/2001/july01/organists­composers.htm

For Henry Phillips http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/22156?docPos=2

For Joseph Richardson http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/23574?docPos=2

For William Spark http://www.ondamar.demon.co.uk/echoes/spark.htm

For Susan Sunderland http://www.historytoherstory.org.uk/subject.php?id=24

For Philip L.Scowcroft www.musicweb­international.com/garlands/index.htm

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