Information on site updates
Updates for the years 1780, 1781, 1784, 1805 and 1807 were added to William Southwell's History Timeline in January 2015, with further updates for the years 1789, 1790 and 1796 added on 23 March 2015, reporting newly identified information drawn from contemporary newspaper advertisements placed in those years. A new page was also added to the site for [Robert] Murdock - see also the link in the Musical Associates menu bar.
Information on Southwell’s physical appearance in his portrait and its location in 1904 was added under the menu item ‘Lonsdale’s portrait of William Southwell’.
Further new additions were made for the years 1797, 1799, 1802 and 1803 in August 2015. These include firm evidence of the existence of rivalry between the Dublin maker Robert Woffington and William Southwell (see 1799) as well as clarification of the reasons for the establishment of the Liverpool branch of the firm of Southwell, now confirmed as 1803. For completeness, a transcription of the text of the newspaper notice reporting William Southwell's death in London that appeared in The Liverpool Mercury, 4 February 1825 was added to his History Timeline for the year 1825.
A brief biographical timeline for G & W Dettmer, pianoforte makers and near neigbours of William Southwell in Gresse-street, London in the second decade of the nineteenth century was added to the site on 17 January 2016.
A new biographical timeline for Robert Woffington, Organ-builder, Harpsichord and Pianoforte-maker, Dublin was added to the site on 9 March 2016.
A new finding for January 1802 was added to the William Southwell timeline on 30 August 2016 and a new page highlighting links to certain materials relating to Longman, Broderip and Clementi n the same day.
A previously unreported example of a a rare upright square pianoforte attributed to William Southwell, to the design of his 1798 patent was offered for sale by Woolley and Wallis of Salisbury at their auction sale on 5th Ocober 2016, achieving a hammer price of £15,000. See Michael Cole's blog of 7 September 2016 for his observations on this interesting instrument.
A short timeline reporting newly identifed materials for John Byrne, piano forte maker of Dublin was added to the site 27 February 2017 and updated on 4 March 2017 with images of the exterior of the case and the extant name board.
A new sub-heading was added to the 'Musical Associates' menu, a Timeline on the life and work of John Isaac Hawkins (1772 - 1854) on 17 August 2017.
12 February 2018. It was exciting to learn recently that a semi-grand pianoforte by William Southwell Junior survives in New Zealand. This is the sole extant example of an instrument badged under his own name at his 16, Baker Street address that I have come across in more than twelve years of research. It can be reliably dated between 1851 (the year in which he was awarded a Prize Medal at the Great Exhibition in London) and 1856, when he retired and turned his attention to supporting his three sons in their activities as portrait photographers in London
28 August 2020. It's great to see the new Sigal Musical Instrument Museum in South Corolina flourishing under the curatorship of Tom Strange and Allie Cade - and exciting to be able to view Tom's latest YouTube video explaining the features of the William Southwell demi-lune piano , donated to the museum as part of the Marlowe Sigal collection of musical instruments. This will be of particular interest to restorers - but of general interest too, as a beautiful example of the craftsman's art.
