Object Record
Images
Metadata
Catalog Number |
1995.01.01 |
Object Name |
Melodeon |
Year Range from |
1855 |
Year Range to |
1867 |
Features |
Rosewood. Rectangular table, rounded front corners, and square back corners. 4 hinges in the middle. Front opens upward revealing a small piano board. Fold up music support, made with delicate wood resembling filigree. Carved 2 line pattern along the bottom edge of the table. Scrolled pillar hangs down to support pedals. Legs are octagonal that flare and get smaller twice, ending in a small foot |
Object Story |
The ability to play a keyboard instrument was considered an essential part of cultural training for young women, during the Victorian period. A parlour was not properly furnished without a musical instrument on which the daughter of the house could perform light musical pieces. Victorians were partial to simplified organs known as melodeons. This melodeon was used in the parlour of Samuel and Jemima Hawley's house on the north shore of Hay Bay and remained in the parlour for two succeeding generations. Samuel and Jemima purchased the house in 1868. It was described in the 1851 Adolphustown census as a 1 1/2 storey frame. The house had belonged to Jemima's father Burger Huyck, who had inherited the property in 1825. The property had been a crown grant to Burger's father John Huyck, a Loyalist from Kinderhook, Albany County, New York. He had served as a Lieutenant in Abraham Cuyler's Regiment on Long Island, and as a second Lieutenant in Peter VanAlstine's Company of Associated Loyalists. This Melodeon was made by R.S.Williams Manufacturer, which would later become R.S. Williams & Sons. This company was founded by Richard Sudgen Williams (1834-1906) in 1855. Prior to this he completed an apprenticeship with melodeon maker William Townsend. He continued to work for Townsend between 1853 and 1855 when the company went bankrupt after a move to Hamilton. Williams took over the bankrupt company in 1855 and returned it to Toronto. The Company went through several names and locations until it was completely closed in 1931. This melodeon can be dated between 1855 and 1867, as the location is listed as C.W. (Canada West) which ceased to exist in 1867. |
People |
Hawley, Samuel Hawley, Jemima Huyck, Burger Huyck, John Williams, Richard Sudgen Townsend, William |
Subjects |
Musical instruments Music Instrument Making |
Search Terms |
R.S. Williams Manufacturer R.S. Williams & Sons Hay Bay Adolphustown Abraham Cuyler's Regiment Company of Associated Loyalists |