Joseph Harris (organist)

Joseph Harris (1743–1814) was a composer and organist based in Ludlow and then Birmingham.[1]

Sketch of Joseph Harris.

Life

He was born in Bristol, son of John and Mary Harris, on 8 September 1743 and baptised in St. Nicholas Church on 8 October 1743.[2]

He matriculated at Magdalen College, Oxford on 16 March 1773, and graduated B.Mus. 24 March 1779, whilst organist at Ludlow Parish Church. He compiled a personal manuscript copy of Handel's Messiah in 1766.[3]

He was known as a virtuoso keyboardist, performing at concerts throughout the region before gaining the position of organist at St Martin's in Birmingham in 1771.[4] One of his pupils was Anne Boulton, daughter of Birmingham industrialist Matthew Boulton.[5]

He married his cousin Ann Harris (1747-1767) on 12 January 1767 at Ludlow, but she died later in the same year. He married again on 22 October 1771, to Anne Silvester (1748 - 1812) in Birmingham, with whom he had 11 children.[6]

He died either in Liverpool[1] or at Eccleston Hill Lodge Lodge (although this source incorrectly calls it Ecclusham Lodge near Wrexham).[7] The Chester Courant of 1 November 1814 records his death at Eccleston Lodge.

Appointments

Cultural offices
Preceded by
David Valentine		 Organist of St Laurence Church, Ludlow
1764-1771 		Succeeded by
Miles Coyle
Preceded by
Richard Hobbs?		 Organist of St Martin in the Bull Ring
1771-1802 		Succeeded by
unknown

Compositions

He wrote:

References

  1. 1 2 A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & and Other Stage Personnel in London: 1660-1800. Philip H. Highfill, Kalman A. Burnim, Edward A. Langhans, SIU Press, 1982
  2. ↑ Geni.com profile
  3. ↑ Joseph Harris, Birmingham organist (1744–1814), and his Messiah manuscript. Early Music Magazine, 2011
  4. ↑ Aris’s Birmingham Gazette, no. 1535 (22 April 1771), p. 3, col. 2.
  5. ↑ Music in Eighteenth Century Birmingham, by Martin Perkins, April 2015
  6. ↑ Geni.com profile
  7. ↑ The monthly magazine, Vol 39, no. 3 (no. 267) of 1 April 1815
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