George Henry Benton Fletcher
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Major George Henry Benton Fletcher (1866-1944) was an officer in the British army, best known as a collector of early keyboard instruments such as virginals, clavichords, harpsichords and spinnets. He was also involved in social work, and dug as an archaeologist alongside Flinders Petrie.
He originally housed his instrumental collection at Old Devonshire House in Bloomsbury. He gave the collection to the National Trust in 1937 and in 1939 moved most of it out to safety in the Cotswolds until 1945. What remained at Old Devonshire House was lost when it was bombed in the Blitz. From 1945 to 1952, the 19 evacuated instruments were housed temporarily at 3 Cheyne Walk in Chelsea, before being moved to their present home at Fenton House in Hampstead. The Trust maintains a balance between Fletcher's request that the instruments be played (music students can audition to use them, and a CD is available of music played on them) and their long-term preservation.
[edit] External links
- Catalogue of the collection (including the CD of music played on the instruments)
- Luxor & its Temples - Illustrated by Major Benton Fletcher
- The Story of Naples - Illustrated by Major Benton Fletcher
- 'A Handel Museum', by Benton Fletcher, The Musical Times, April 1937, page 357
