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George F Linstead (1908-1974), composer, pianist, organist, choirmaster and writer, lived for much of his life in Sheffield. His music is little known at present, but reading of his activities on the website dedicated to him suggests he was an important figure in the musical life of Sheffield in the 20th century.

http://www.georgeflinstead.org.uk/index.html

A Musician of Renown: The Life and Works of George Frederick Linstead (1908-1974)

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Have you got Reginald Dixon on this list? He was famous as the organist at the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool and played on radio programmes from there.

I went to Wisewood School with his nephew Paul D*** whose mother's maiden name was Dixon.

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Peter Cropper, violinist and Professor of String Quartet at Sheffield University, has been a resident of the Sheffield area for many years. He is founder of the Lindsay String Quartet and the Sheffield International Chamber Music Festival, now known as "Music in the Round"

​Peter Cropper died on May 29th 2015.

Daily Telegraph Obituary

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On 03/06/2008 at 16:20, Guest littlevickster said:

Here's one to think about when you jet off to warmer climes for your summer hols. Although the Wright brothers were credited with the invention of the plane in the early 1900's, this wasn't strictly true. The first man to get a plane to fly unaided (albeit only 10ft) was John Stringfellow who was born in Attercliffe in 1799. He flew his plane 10ft in a cotton mill in 1848, some 50 years before the Wright brothers came on the scene. He also invented and patented compact electric batteries which were used in early medical treatments. John Stringfellow moved to Chard, in Somerset, in the late 1820's where he raised his family. He died in 1883. But his legacy lives on with exhibits in the Science Museum, London, the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution, USA and the most comprehensive exhibits are in the museum in his adopted home town of Chard. His children were also talented making breakthroughs into photography and dentistry. John Stringfellow was featured in an episode of Local Heroes which was presented by Adam Hart-Davis.

Here's a link to a biography of John Stringfellow: Stringfellow biography

One of my ancestors married his brother. Apparently in 1820 John flew in a kite down the length of Brook Hill. His father William was also a very clever bloke, but returned to Sheffield unlike his son:

WilliamStringfellowdeath1842.png.dae0a686040e2c74d7803761eb42fc06.png

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There was an article about John Stringfellow in the Sheffield Telegraph in 1999 to coincide with the bicentenary of his birth.

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Reginald Dixon & Walkley 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is more of a stepping stone to a much greater history of a Sheffield man who seems to have been forgotten, the plaque in the clue picture can be found on the boundary wall of the Walkley Library and it commemorates Councillor James William Crowther who served Walkley and its voters from November1901 until April1916, the plaque was erected by the citizens of Walkley, it shows the esteem that he was held, the Library is going through a very hard time at the moment and its nothing of its own doing, lets hope it survives the storm. Even though Councillor Crowther deserves more I have to write the rest of this article on a man that gave the people of Britain such pleasure for over forty years at the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, affectionally called “Mr Blackpool” we all know him as Sheffield lad Reginald Dixon.
Reg was born at No 36 Bowness Road, Sheffield on 16 October 1904. By the age of two, Reg started to play the organ and piano. Seeing the keen spirit and potential that he possessed for music made his father realise that his son was worthy of tuition. In addition to Dixon's tuition he also practised two hours a day on piano. By the age of twelve, he was already performing in concerts at local music festivals, and by the age of thirteen, he began taking lessons in organ at his local church. At the age of thirteen, he had to give up his schooling in order to continue his music studies. He was now practising at least 8 hours per day or more. He also had applied for the post of organist at Birley Carr Methodist church and was chosen from several applicants, and was also assistant organist at Hillsborough Methodist church. Reg auditioned at the Stocksbridge Palace, near Sheffield, the piece he played was Debussy's “Arabesque” and he was employed as pianist and musical director, for the sum of £3 per week. Reginald gained a lot of experience in this job, and greatly enlarged his repertoire and developed his technique further. After eighteen months, Dixon accepted a job as pianist and deputy organist at Chesterfield Picture House, where his wage was £5 a week. To supplement this wage, he was also giving lessons, when he was 21, he became a fully professional theatre organist. A year later he became organist and pianist of the Heeley Palace in Sheffield, and was still teaching. For practice he was also playing at the Regent Cinema on a 2/8 Wurlitzer, which he became fond of. He was employed as orchestral organist at the West End cinema in Birmingham, from where he changed over to become organist at the Regent Cinema, in Dudley. Here he played a 2/6 Wurlitzer, and it was while he was here that Dixon was giving lessons to Harry Farmer.  In March 1930, Dixon was invited to audition for the position of organist at Blackpool's Tower Ballroom, which, at the time, contained a 2/10 Wurlitzer. After auditioning, Dixon was given a trial, with the ultimatum that, if he did not make a success of playing the Wurlitzer for dancing, both he and the Wurlitzer would go. Once he had mastered playing in strict tempo, Dixon further developed his playing style, with a strong bass line, and both hands providing accompaniment and melody. Dixon was mainly left handed and he often played the accompaniment rhythm with his left hand as well as the melody using second touch. This left his right hand free to supplement the music. This became Dixon's trade mark instantly recognisable style. Soon enough, Dixon had fully exploited the 2/10 Wurlitzer's capabilities. Since this was holding him back, and the dancers, this made Dixon plan a larger, more suitable instrument. Within weeks of his appointment at the Tower, the BBC were broadcasting Mr R. H Dixon from the Tower Ballroom, Blackpool. This broadcast was different from any previous organ broadcast, and with Dixon's unique style, nothing like it had been heard before. Dixon was also playing alongside Bertini in concerts, dance sessions, radio broadcasts and recordings. By 1931, Dixon's broadcasts were becoming highly popular, and the time slot was expanded from 30 minutes, to 45 minutes, and were made as often as 5 times a week to the UK alone. Regular broadcasts were also being made to the British Empire, and Dixon was often in the ballroom in the very early hours of the morning, broadcasting live to places such as Canada, India, Africa and Australia. During the winter months, Dixon toured the UK, visiting cinemas and concert halls all over the country. These venues soon filled to capacity, like the Tower Ballroom was daily filled to its capacity of 7,000 people. In 1933 the Daily Mail stated that Dixon was the “most popular of all cinema organists”. Reg could do no wrong, he was the best organist the had ever lived, Reg was awarded an MBE for his services in entertaining the public and radio listeners the world over. At the ceremony in Buckingham Palace, while pinning on his medal, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II said to him “I have often listened to you, you must have been there (at the tower ballroom) for a long time now” Dixon replied “Yes ma'am. I have been there since March 1930, but it does not seem as long as that”. When I mentioned to my two defective friends Mr D & Mr S that I was going to write about Organs, they rolled their eyes and started to snigger like schoolboys, dirty boys.
Reginald Dixon died on 9 May 1985, and was cremated at Carleton Crematorium, Blackpool. He now plays the mighty Wurlitzer welcoming the new entrants through the Pearly Gates, a Sheffield lad through and through, we should be very proud of him.

First picture shows the house where he was born at 36 Bowness Road, the second house, 133 Walkley Lane, he lived here before moving to Blackpool, 


 

Reginal Dixons Childhood Home 36 Bowness Road.jpg

Reginald Dixons Home 133 Walkley Lane.jpg

Reginald Dixon.jpg

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John William Crowther was born in Leeds on 28th August 1858 but lived in Sheffield almost all his life, having arrived in the city in March 1866.  He was educated at Pitsmoor, Attercliffe and Zion schools followed by Church Institute evening classes. From 1869 to 1874 he was a choirboy at the Parish church. One night after choir practice, the old verger John Kirk, caught John William playing hide-and-seek in the church, hidden between the effigies on the Shrewsbury monument. The verger was shocked and locked J.W. up in the vestry, then went to fetch the vicar, Dr.Sale.  Mr Kirk wanted the Vicar to give the lad a thrashing, but Dr Sale decided otherwise. "The boy's a bad 'un" he said "but they were worse when we were boys." In adult life he was associated with the Tabernacle church and was superintendent of the Sunday School. J.W. also sang comic songs with the Incognito Minstrel Troupe for several years. 

He initially failed to be elected for the St Philips ward in 1898, but succeeded in 1901. He did good work on various Committees including Health, Electric Light, Tramways, and King Edward VII Hospital for Crippled Children.  When the Free Libraries Committee was considering Carnegie's conditional offer of money for library purposes, J.W. stepped in and drew £2,000 for Walkley. He was interested in housing and sanitation and could deliver absorbing lectures on slum life, as well as giving practical help to the children of the Crofts. He was involved in arrangements for feeding poor children, especially during the distress of the 1912 coal strike. His business life was as a pawnbroker and jeweller. 

J.W. died on Tuesday evening 18th April 1916 at 13 Kenwood Park Road aged 58, following a week long illness (influenza followed by pleurisy and heart complications), and was buried at City Road.  A fund was raised for a memorial bronze plaque, which was placed in the boundary wall of Walkley library and unveiled on Thursday 20th October 1927 by the Lord Mayor (Alderman J. G. Graves, who had succeeded Mr Crowther in the Walkley ward in 1916)

JWCrowther.png.f246951c22231e54437da4bb536b16c7.png

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