| Industry | Pipe organ design and building. Pipe organ restoration |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1862 |
| Headquarters | Richmond Melbourne, Australia |
| Key people | George Fincham |
| Products | Pipe organs |
| Website | [1] |
George Fincham & Sons was an Australian company that designed and built pipe organs. It was a family run company, founded in 1862 by George Fincham and based in Melbourne, Australia. The company has completed many projects in more than a century of organ building. It closed down in February 2006.
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George Fincham (born 20 August 1828 at St Pancras, Middlesex, England; died 21 December 1910 in Melbourne) was son and grandson of master Organ builders so it was inevitable that he became interested in Organ building. He was apprenticed in 1842-49 to the London organ builder Henry Bevington, and then worked as a foreman for James Bishop & Son. George Fincham emigrated to Australia in 1852 and established his business in Melbourne, Victoria in 1862.[1] In 1881 he established an Adelaide branch, managed by Arthur Hobday, his ex-apprentice, until sold in 1894. In 1904 he opened a branch in Sydney, and he had agents in Perth (1897) and Brisbane (1902). Altogether he built about 200 organs for cathedrals and churches and supplied pipe work and parts to organ builders throughout Australasia. His integrity and the quality of the organs he built overcame the prejudice towards colonial work. He was outstanding among Australian organ builders for his skill, his business ability and his readiness to keep pace with modern trends. He patented many improvements; most of the organs he built had mechanical action and from 1886 some had tubular-pneumatic.
His notable instruments include: