The Doherty Organ from St. James Chapel of Ease
In Southern Ontario, between Haysville and Punkydoodles Corners, you will find the historic St. James Chapel of Ease, first erected in 1854. The church building has no longer been used for regular church services since 1931, but is carefully and lovingly maintained by the St. George Anglican congregation in New Hamburg.
The organ in the church is a W. Doherty and Co organ, with no date markings. The coupler design, stop linkages and case design all indicate it would be from a late 1880s era,. Serial number 7479 would average between 1887 and 1889, and this is backed up with church records that the organ was presented in 1888. The organ is registered with the ROS database as reg# 0264 in 1987. It has 168 reeds, and 13 stops. The stop list is as follows:
Principal Bass
Sub Bass
Bass Coupler
Principal Forte
Dulciana Bass
Vox Humana
Dulciana Treble
Diapason Forte
Treble Coupler
Vox Celeste
Principal Treble
Diapason Treble
This organ did not have a full restoration, but an "in depth repair", which has been a little different for me. However, as some issues showed up, there was no other option but to fully restore the parts in question.
This organ will be used at a special church service on June 9th at 3pm, celebrating 175 years of Anglican worship in Wilmot Township. It will also be featured for a Sunday morning hymn sing for the International Reed Organfest on October 6, 2013.
Restoration Pictures
The 126 pictures below outline the work that was completed on the action of this organ.
Pictures:
