John York’s shop at 52 George Street West, Chippendale c1906
A new issue of the Sydney Journal, the Dictionary of Sydney's peer-reviewed scholarly publication, has just been released - it's a special issue edited by Matthew Bailey and Paul Ashton based on papers from the conference From the Ground Up: People and Places in Sydney’s Pastwhich was held at the State Library of NSW August 23-24 2012, and it's packed with fascinating stories about Sydney's past.
Last week on 2SER Breakfast with Tim Higgins, Lisa Murray talked about Andrew Evans' paper on John York, who in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, manufactured and sold brass musical instruments in Chippendale, in a factory located just near the current location of the 2SER studios.
Now John York's story is familiar in many ways. A skilled English immigrant who brought his family to a developing capital city and became a manufacturer and small business owner. But his skill of brass instrument making and repairing was special. He was just one of a handful of brass instrument makers known to have operated in Sydney in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Brass bands were incredibly popular in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. York's business reveals much about the local Sydney brass band communities and Sydney music making. York donated cash prizes to band competitions and he supported groups such as the Parramatta Model Band. Read all about it in Andrew Evans' article in the Sydney Journal.
John York's business was threatened by cheaper mass produced imports from overseas and the larger musical emporiums like Palings and Nicholsons, but his enduring reputation for consistent, high quality workmanship and superior, personalised service sustained loyalty from York’s customers well into the middle of the twentieth century when the business continued under the management of his wife and sons. Even today, there are brass players in the Sydney Symphony Orchestra who recall their teachers or brass band colleagues telling them to take their instruments to "Yorkie's" for an expert repair or service.
No brass instruments made by York appear to have survived, although the search continues,
especially within the few remaining regional band communities, but the chances of finding one are poor.
This disappearance of Australia’s early musical heritage, largely through indifference and ignorance is a great loss.
