- 'th the original
II 'feltt rests W1
·\tOO under the
copyright of Fu d ex.cept as '?entU .ght ,naterla\
.ght owner an ,
. thiS copyn
t
copyn
",,"ct \ 96S, copy1-ng. ssion of the owner 0
ed without me pert1U b way of a licence
is
licensee or
or lOT information
its
t AgencY Ltnuted . . ght Agency
i
'-
___ .?OOl0444 7
ftotnCOPY"gh ces contact CoPY"(02) 93947601
such
93947600 (ph) Of
unutedon "
(faJ<)
Music Selling in Nineteenth-Century New Zealand 1
KEITH MASLEN
We
if more of the mere distributing class is needed in the colony at present'_' The date is 1889; the writer John Bathgate who, while offering well
meant advice to would-be emigrants to New Zealand, exposes an old prejudice.
Making two ears of corn grow where only one grew before is accepted as truly
creative, but making such gifts available for wider use is dismissed as a merely
mechanic art. Yet were it not for the distributing trade humanity would be
starved of essential nutrients for the mind as well as body. This is my broad justification for seeking to know more about the distributors of one particular kind
of product.
Music sellers distribute the material forms of works of music. Theirs has
traditionally been recognised as a specialised activity of the book trade. It may be
still be so regarded, for modern historians of the book seek to extend the meaning of 'book' in order to cover all forms produced by the new electronic media.'
Whatever the form the dissemination of texts (words, music, pictorial images)
constitutes a vital link in the chain of transmission from author to reader. Readers rarely have access to the original composer, but must deal through the intermediary bookseller.
The term 'material forms' is used advisedly, because the public at large seldom cares to distinguish between the work and its physical manifestations, between say Beethoven's 'Moonlight' sonata and the particular editions of that
work produced by Peters of Leipzig or Schirmer's of New York. Music dealers,
like other booksellers, sell multiple copies of particular editions, even though
trade advertisements may loosely refer only to a work (by its title) and its composer. Buyers for their part seldom ask about the publisher, let alone the printer,
or about such details as the number of copies printed, or if reproduction was
authorised, or whether through restrictive trade practices an edition is available
in one country and not in another.
My focus in this paper is on the selling in nineteenth century New Zealand
of copies of printed music for the purpose of feeding the incessant and widespread appetite for musical entertainment of all kinds. I am not on this occasion
concerned with music brought to New Zealand in someone's luggage, nor with
1.
This is a revised version focussing on music selling of my paper 'Music 'baokselling and publishing in nineteenth century New Zealand' given at the Music Seminar sponsored by the History
of the Book Project in Australia, Monash University, 17 November 2000. I plan similar studies of
music publishing and printing.
John Bathgate, New Zealand its resources and prospects, London; Edinburgh: W. & R. Chambers, 1881, p.10S.
3.
See for instance D.F. McKenzie's Panizzi Lectures reprinted in Bibliography and the sociology
of texts, Cambridge University Press, 1999, p.71: 'My concern ... is to find the continuity of these
[modern] forms with past forms'.
2.
BSANZ Bulletin 25,3 & 4,2001, 15-42
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
16
nineteenth century music brought into New Zealand by twentieth century collectors."
My emphasis on selling likewise conveniently rules out the dauntingly difficult inquiry into music of the pre-colonial period. Maori music, whether sung or
sounded, was transmitted memorially. The ftrst music books to reach New Zealand were no doubt those brought by whalers and sealers for their own use, but I
have seen no example of these. When on Christmas Day 1814 Samuel Marsden
began his ftrst church service in the Bay of Islands with the 'Old Hundreth', if
he relied upon book all he may have used his own copy of the metrical psalms,
perhaps a reprint of the old Sternhold & Hopkins. The ftrst words written speciftcally for music were actually printed in New Zealand were in the form of a
hymn sheet, produced in September 1830 by William Yate at his missionary station at Te Waimate, but no copies of these have survived, and there is' no suggestion that musical notation was added. The supply of words for music but
without musical notation which was and is the business of almost any bookseller-the gold rush songbooks of Charles Thatcher in the 1860s are an outstanding example--canlikewise conveniently be set aside.'
.
My .story of the commercial distribution of music begins in the 1840s and
early 1850s with the rapid and systematic European colonisation from one end
of New Zealand to the other. The ftrst few shiploads of settlers from Great Britain imported their own ways of life from every level of the parent society. Almost
overnight there were military bands, 'select' and public balls, instrumental concerts, choral societies, and before long travelling theatre companies and local operatic societies. In the churches, varying somewhat according to denomination,
there were choirs, led by often remarkably skilled conductors, and congregational
hymn singing. Organists at ftrst played on the relatively cheap harmonium or its
cousin the American organ, and later in more affiuent communities on the pipe
organ. In the pubs there was popular song, some of it locally composed, perhaps
accompanied by the piano or ftddle. The piano was almost as ubiquitous as say
the computer today with a more decided claim to gentility. Jane Campion's film
of that name was right about that! To foster all this (especially amateur) music
making there were from the earliest days. music teachers, male and female, British, German, Italian and other, who taught privately or in schools. Needing to
advertise their services and publicly display their talents, these 'professors' are not
hard to trace. Systematised local music examinations conducted by the overseas
organisations were eventually established near the turn of the century. In 1896
4.
For such often latter day arrivals, see for instance Rohert Petre, 'Early music sources in New
Zealand'. Fontes artis musicoe:Journal ofthe International Association ifMusic Libraries,"Archives and
Docummtation Centres (lAML), vo1.46, nos 1-2, Jan-June 1999, pp.3-11. 'Early music' is defined
as pee-I80!.
5.
Thatcher's songbooks
been excellently described in Robert H.B. Hoskins, An annotated
bibliography of nineteenth untury N(W Zealand songbooks, Canterbury series of bibliographies, cata-
logues and source documents in music, no.3, Christchurch: University of Canterbury School of
Music, 1988.
Music Selling in 19"-Century New Zealand
17
Arthur Barth set up the Dunedin centre of the Trinity College of Music, London, thus beginning a long family involvement in this work. By 1898 William
Pember Reeves, poet and premier, felt free to say of his adoptive land: 'Music,
reading and flower gardening are the three chief refining pastimes. The number
and size c/ the musical societies is worthy of note. So are the booksellers' shops
and free libraries. The books are the same as you see in London shops. There is
no colonial literature." Reeves presumably believed that there was also no distinctively colonial music.
Sources abound for reaching an understanding of colonial musical activity.
Oral history still has a contribution to make. I remember myoid music teacher
in Timaru, a Fellow of the Royal College of Organists, who had emigrated to
NZ about 1904, insisting that the limits of allowable dissonance in orchestral
music had already been reached in Richard Strauss's Till Eulenspiegel. Personal
papers, such as diaries, letters, and photographs, offer their particular testimony.
Musical periodicals began in the late 1880s: the short-lived New Zealand Musical Monthly, which concentrated on brass bands, was first published in Balclutha
in 1888. The most important of these was The Triad, published from Dunedin
from 1893, but distributed countrywide, in quantities claimed to have reached
7
10,000. The two great resources for research, however, are contemporary newspapers and the printed music itself. Much of this is now preserved in library collections-in the Alexander Turnbull and Hocken libraries, and in other public
libraries in the main cities.
Much useful work has been done on all these sources. Institutional and parish histories were first in the field, and their inclusion of anecdotal material often
itself counts as a primary source. Indexes to some major newpapers are available-the Dunedin Public Library possesses a card index to the Otago Daily
Times and its predecessor the Otago Witness. There are a few pioneer studies of
local music making. Margaret Campbell's Music· in Dunedin, published by
Charles
& Co. in 1945, took the record from the first settlement in 1848
up to 1925. Helen Watson similarly enquired into early music in Christchurch.'
10
In 1961 Julia M. Moriarty wrote a thesis on Wellington's Music to 1890. A new
standard of scholarship was set in 1984 with the publication ofBrian Pritchard's
6.
Anna Rogers and Max Rogers, Turn£ng the pages: the story of boohelling in NroJ Zealand,
Auckland: Reed for Booksellers New Zealand, 1993, p.l, quoting from Reeves' The long white
cloud,1898.
7.
Charles Nalder Baeyertz, ed. The Triad: a monthly magazine of music, science and art, April
1893-1927. Dunedin, 1893-1910, Wellington, 1910--15, Sydney, 1915-1927. •
8.
Margaret Campbell, Music in Duntdin: an his/on'cal account ofDumdin's musicians and musical
societiesfrom theftunding ofthe province in 1848, Dunedin, Charles Begg and Co., [1945]. This was
based on Ethel Pearson, A history of music in Dunedin to 1925, University of Otago, Campbdl's
own MA thesis, 1941.
9.
'Music in Christchurch',:MA diss., University of New Zealand (Canterbury College), 1948.
10. Julia M. Moriarty. Wellingtons music to 1890: an attempted bibliography, with lists ofsignificant
advertiummts from early newspapers and an appmdix ofprogrammes from 1878 to 1890, mainly of
musical activities
by Mr. Robert Parker, Wellington: Library School, 1961.
18
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
Selected source readings on the musical activity in the Canterbury settlement, 18501880." This was number one in a valuable and ongoing series. In discussing 'influences from "home"', Pritchard warns against a too easy explanation of the
agents that shaped musical development in the new land. Similarly, Wallace Kirsop Q.as wisely recognised 'The complexities of links with a civilization left behind but also transported to a fresh location'." A very full surVey of sources and
authorities was made available by the publication in 1985 ofD. R. Harvey's Bibliography ofwritings about New Zealand music published to the end of 1983." The
first attempt at a full-scale national history was John Mansfield Thomson's very
readable Oxford history ofNew Zealand music, 1991." In recent years music librarians have also contributed significantly to the scholarly literature, focussing
understandably on describing the music in their care, and on the publishing of
music in New Zealand." As a newcomer to the field, I found it necessary to begin by consulting a wide range of such sources and studies in order to gain a
sense of the varied, indeed hectic musical life of those colonial years;
The many who played or sang very soon required the services of those who
made it their business to supply new instruments and repair old ones, to satisJY
the eager appetite for the latest music, and in many ways beyond the" call of business to promote a shared pastime or passion. The trades of music selling and so
on were already well developed in Europe, whence most of nineteenth century
immigrants had come, but could not simply be transplanted. How did music
selling start in "the new country? When did music selling emerge as a distinct line
of trade, how quickly did music sellers multiply and flourish, and above all who
were they? Not easy questions to answer. A recent article entitled 'Music in the
Dictionary of New Zealand Biography' identified many composers, conductors,
critics, performers, and teachers, all deemed worthy of remembrance, but only
one dedicated music seller. Surely a" list was needed of these neglected but essen.
tial servants of so popular a muse. But how could this be achieved?
Perhaps by searching for their advertisements in the newspapers which
sprang up in every new settlement. I looked with great interest at David Beattie's
Calendar ofreferences to music in Christchurch newspapers, and noticed that it took
Brian W. Pritchard, Selected source readings on musical activity in the Canterbury settlement
1850-1880, The Canterbury series of bibliographies, catalogues and source documents iJ1 music,
11.
no. 1, School of Music, University of Canterbury, 1984. For later volumes in this valuable series,
see notes 5,14, and 29. I warmly thank Brian for his encouragement.
12. 'Metropolises and frontiers: books in the English-speaking world', English Studies in Canada,
25:3,4, ed. Mary Jane Edwards-a double issue devoted to 'The History of the Book', pp.489-90.
13. D.R. Harvey, A bibliography ofwritings about New Zealand musir published to the end of 1983,
Wellington: Victoria University Press, 1985.
14. John Mansfield Thomson, The Oxftrd history ofN(W Zealand music, Auckland: Oxford University Press, 1991.
15. I gratefully acknowledge the expert help generously given me by the following music librarians: Marilyn Hayr, Auckland Public Library, Elizabeth Nichol, formerly of Auckland Public, Jill
Palmer, National Library of New Zealand, Joan Robertson, University of Otago Library, Louise
Sinclair, Hocken Library, University of Otago; also by lan Stewart, Reed Rare Books Librarian,
Dunedin Public Library.
· Music Selling£n 1'/'-Century New Zealand
19
763 pages to cover just one decade and one region." The prospect of combing
newspapers for some sixty years and for the whole of New Zealand was too
daunting. Besides, a little sampling showed me that many tradesmen were not in
the habit of taking this way to reach their customers. I turned instead to directories,
deep and much more accessible reservoirs of names and trades.
In nineteenth century Great Britain directories listing the inhabitants of a
locality with addresses and occupations had become accepted tools of business,
and the need for them in the new colonies was even more deeply felt." People in
the new communities had very quickly to learn to live and work together. The
pace of change was inevitably greater and the population more mobile than in
the old country. The purpose of directories was to facilitate the delivery of mail
and bring together suppliers of and customers for goods and services. Moreover,
by being issued at frequent intervals, to cope with population change, they offer
researchers a succession of dated snapshots of a community or community
group.
I decided to compile a list of music sellers in each of the four main centres
(Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin) and in as many provincial.
towns as possible. The results, which can best be described as provisional, are set
out at the end of this paper. Difficulties of definition were encountered. Printed
music retailing has perhaps never by itself been a sufficiendy profitable occupation, and has to be combined with other activities. The 1866-67 New Zealand
Directory lumped 'Booksellers, Stationers, and Music-sellers' as allied trades."
The art was to discover which of these or other lines of business were practised
at anyone time by a particular person or firm. Advertisements in directories or
newspapers quite often supplied valuable information about the range of goods
and services offered. Directories also varied in the headings used. Wise's New
Zealand directories, which began in the 1870s tended to opt for 'Music and musical instrument importers and dealers'. I took the hint and decided apriori that
'musical instrument sellers' would also have stocked music, and experience soon
suggested that these were perhaps the major distributors of sheet music. But
there were other likely trade headings. 'Piano manufacturers' and 'Piano tuners
and experts' mayor may not have been music sellers as well. Accordingly, unless
confirmation from other sources was discovered these were set aside as unconfirmed. It appeared likely that many general booksellers in a considerable way of
business would have stocked hymnbooks and the like containing music notation,
16. David Beattie, A calmdar ofrifermus to music in Christehurch nt'Wspapers, 1851-1860, The
Canterbury series of bibliographies, catalogues and source documents in music, no. 2, School of
Music, University of Canterbury, 1986.
17. 'For New Zealand directories see 'Early New Zealand directories: a briefguide', Friends of the
Hocken Collections: Bulletin No.7, March 1994, compiled Keith Maslenj K.I.D. Maslen, Wise's
directories: a short history and a checklist (1865-1922)', BSANZ Bullet;n, 12 (1988) [1990],
pp.21-41; Donald Hansen, The directory directory: the family, local and social historian's guide to contents and holdings ofNew Zealand almanac, business, postql and telephone directories 1842-1960, Wel-
lington: Donald Hansen, 1994.
18. Published by Stevens & Bartholomew, Melbourne, 1866.
20
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
but tbis seemed an insufficient criterion for inclusion. About the stock of religious bookshops I remain ignorant. Some 'Booksellers' and some 'Stationers'
proved after further investigation to have offered for sale considerable quantities
of music. The outstanding example is Joseph Braitbwaite of Dunedin.
• Names are tbe key ingredient of such a list. I have aimed to give botb tbe
full personal name of the principal seller and the usual trading name as shown in
advertisements. Thus: 'George Reichardt. Reichardt's Music Warehouse'.
Changes of name, tbe result of changes in partnership, have been noted wherever encountered, but it would take much close study to sort out tbe details of
firms such as Hoffman & Sons. It should be noted too that in contemporary directories names were occasionally misspelt or omitted entirely, through some
canvassing, administrative or printing failure. However, by cross checking name,
street, and occupation sequences or consulting earlier and later directories repairs
have often been effected. New Zealand-wide directories began only in the early
1870s with Henry Wise's New Zealand Post Office directory. Fortunately, by tbis
time Music Dealers-tbose who specialised in selling music and musical instruments-,-had emerged as a distinct trade group. Sometimes other sources of identification, such as electoral rolls, were consulted.
In trying to place music sellers, tbe major problem has been to detect and
register changes of address. Often only a single address is offered, but this
should not be taken as necessarily current for tbe whole period given. The style
'1878: street address' means tbat this is tbe earliest date noted for this address.
Street numbers pose otber problems. Often, especially in earlier decades, tbese
are not recorded in directory entries, even·when in contemporary use. Sometimes
streets may have been renumbered, and very little effort has been made to uncover this complication. Numbers are recorded as in directory entries, without
corroboration.
Dates assigned are those of observed activity as music seller. Many firms
may have been operating earlier or later than the dates assigned. Even a protracted combing of early newspapers would not supply all the answers, and my
own sampling of newspapers has been less tban systematic. A dash after the last
date means tbat activity is known or believed to have continued beyond tbe
stated year. This applies especially to tbe style '1900--'.
Totals provisionally reached are as follows: Auckland (41), Wellington (36),
Christchurch (12) and Dunedin (26). In 34 smaller towns I have so far recorded
105 firms. The grand total for all New Zealand up to 1901 is 220. Another fifty
or so names remain unconfirmed. The considerable total for the smaller towns
reflects tbe tbin and fairly even spread of population over
of the country, as
well as difficulties in transport. It also may be taken as implying tbat an interest
in music making was widespread. These raw numbers, however accurate in
themselves, cannot tell the whole story, why for instance the total for Christchurch is so much below that for Wellington.
Dates of operation are also interesting. Only 34 firms have been recorded
for the thirty years up to 1869, compared to 184 first recorded from 1870
Music Selling in 19"-Century New Zealand
21
through 1900. Inadequate data can be only part of the reason. In the early years
of settlement (in what might almost be called the pre-commercial days) few or
none could hope to make a living from music and musical instrument selling
alone. Margaret Campbell, who searched through early Dunedin newspapers,
noted that 'Up to 1860 there was no firm confining its trade entirely to musical
goods'." This was in the dozen or so years before the discovery of gold in Central Otago in 1861 brought many newcomers and much wealth to the straitlaced
Scottish Presbyterian little town. Similarly, David Beattie's study of the first
decade of the Canterbury settlement yielded just one persistent seller of music
and musical instruments. This was James Francis McCardell, who operated in
Lyttelton from 1852, just two years after the landing of the Canterbury Pilgrims,
and moved to Christchurch in 1858.
Closer inquiry into the nature of these businesses is needed. Directory entries and advertisements allow tentative generalisations to be framed. There is
evidence that in the cradle years of settlement-the period of infancy varied with
local circumstances-the music trade had not yet become well established, indeed the lines of demarcation in the distributing trades were especially fluid. In
the 1850s music was occasionally sold at newspaper offices, for instance at the
office of the Lyttc/ton Times." In Lyttelton too, and elsewhere, auctions were
another method of shifting stocks of music and musical instruments." Shopkeepers, especially in smaller towns-and all towns were small to begin
found it safer to engage in mixed business. Pharmacies (such as the Jeffreys in
Lawrence and Roxburgh) would double as newsagents, while bookshops would
diversiJY with music and sometimes musical instruments, as well as fancy goods.
General booksellers and stationers soon found they could exist in most
towns. I have listed some, when I found evidence to show that they stocked a
variety of music, and not just a few hytnnbooks. Joseph Braithwaite, for instance,
began in Dunedin in 1863 in a very small way, when he was still in his teens. In
1897 he advertised that he had 'the largest, best assorted, and cheapest stock of
music, books, and musical sundries in the Colony'." In Auckland George
Chapman of Qyeen Street was another highly successful general bookseller, who
advertised music among his stock. The business he began in 1855 continued well
on into the next century. Two of the other major firms also began in Dunedin
and gradually established branches and agencies throughout much of New Zealand. The dominant book trade business in the late nineteenth century and for
much of the twentieth was that of Whitcombe .and Tombs, set up in Christchurch in 1882, by George Whitcombe, already a bookseller, and George
Tombs, an active printer. This firm of booksellers, printers and publishers, who
19. Campbell, Music in Duntdin, p.60.
20. Beattie, A calendar, 1986, pp.19, 33, 36, 41, 44, 48, 50 et passim, for the years 1852-1860.
See also Margaret Campbell, Mmi, in Dunedin, 1945, p.2l: October 1855, songbooks arrived at
Lambert's printing office.
21. Beattie, A calendar, 1986.
22. Th, Triad, issue fo' 1 Jan. 1897.
22
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New ZealandBulletin
specialised in the educational field, gradually spread throughout New Zealand
and beyond: to London' in 1889, Dunedin in 1890, Wellington in 1894, Melbourne in 1902, and so on. However, I have not come across evidence that that
they sold sheet music before 1901; by the 1930s they were certainly active as music ptinters, publishers and sellers.
The really mixed businesses were, predictably, in the provinces. In the
1890s Grace and Co. in Palmerston North sold not only music and musical instruments, but typewriters and washing machines. Thanks to an unusually explicitadvertisement in Wise's 1896:-97 New Zealand directory, Wesney Brothers in Invercargill appear to have been even more diversified, listing their functions as importers of books, stationery, faney goods, colonial gold jewellery, perfumery, basket-ware, berlin wool, musical instruments, glassware, patent medicines, toys, tobacco, snuff, &C. In fact they ran a typical large department store.
By this time gramophones had become highly desirable parlour furnishings, and
the largest music shops and department stores would have begun to stock them,
as well as gramophone records, which should certainly be included among the
material forms of music.
Provincial agencies of the major firms of Charles Begg & Co. and the
Dresden Pianoforte Co. (both ofwhich are discussed below) seem to-constitute a
special case. Many of the fourteen Dresden agencies named in Wise's 1900 directory under the Dresden Wellington branch, were not booksellers. In Napier
F.W. Beale ran a sewing machine depot; in Wanganui Herbert Taylor was a
cabinet-maker; in Greymouth, Perey Easson & Co, were auctioneers, while in
Greytown F.H. Wood was an auctioneer and commission agent. The essential
qua1ification for an agent was apparendy a readiness to sell on commission big-ticket items, chiefly pianos and harmoniums." Accordingly, those Dresden
agents not identified as booksellers and stationers, and thus with less
to
stock printed music, -have been relegated as unconfirmed to the end of the list.
Most if not all Dresden agents (twenty-five is the highest number found recorded at anyone time) are given under Dresden in the alphabetical section-of
Wise's directories for 1894/5, 1896/7 and 1898/9. Unfortunately, only three
agencies for Charles Begg & Co. have been discovered. The key to the rapid development of shops specialising in music was the
popularity of the pianoforte, and to a much lesser extent the harmonium and the
American organ. Every church, every school, and every family home aspired to
one or other of these instruments. Government statistics make the point: imports of pianos (mainly from Great Britain) tripled in twenty years, rising from
1,177 in 1881 to 3,583 in 1900." I am privately and reliably informed that in the
23.
Charles Begg & Co.'s piano book, covering the World War I period, notes 5 and 10 per cent
as usual rates of commission (held in the Hocken LibraI)'. Dunedin).
24. Between 1881 and 1900, when musical instruments were itemised in import statistics as
harmoniums, organs and pianos, the annual count for pianos rose from 1177 in 1881, 1209 in
1890, 1915 in 1896,2907 in 1898, to 3583 in 1900 (annual volumes of Statistics
Ztaland).
The totals and values for harmoniums and organs were much less substantial.
Music Selling in 19" -Century New Zealand
23
mid-twentieth century; while sales of sheet music were still flourishing much as
in the old days, ninety per cent of printed music sales were Jor the piano.
One early and interesting example of the linkage between music and musical instrument selling is provided by Ceorge Reichardt West of Dunedin. In
1875 Vfest was offering to sell pianos, organs, and harmoniums on deferred
quarterly payments-'the system first introduced in Otago by C.R. West'. Time
payment was undoubtedly one of the keys to volume sales, but West himself was
evidently not the most successful exponent of a system requiring good bank
credit for the supplier. That same year West, while announcing that his 'fifth
extensive catalogue' was in the press, claimed to have 'the largest stock of sheet
music and books in the Colont.-" A surviving copy of his 1872 catalogue does
nothing to diminish this claim. 'Its 148 pages (counting blue paper covers) contain a very impressive array of titles. The vocal section alone has approaching
1900 items (none apparently of New Zealand origin). West insists that his catalogue consists of works in stock at the time of publication.
Time payment combined with the agency system of selling on commission
enabled two other Dunedin firms to sgread throughout New Zealand- and to
flourish well into the twentieth century. The earliest of these firms was Charles
Begg and Co. Charles Begg left his piano factory in Aberdeen (where he is said
to have made thirty-five pianos a month) and set up shop in Dunedin in 1862.
One of his first New Zealand made pianos, shown at the 1865 Dunedin Exhibition, survives in the Otago Settlers Museum. When Charles died in 1874, aged
48, his very capable widow Jessie took over, assisted from the late 1880s by their
sons Alexander and Charles. Expansion continued, until in 1900 there were
branches in Timaru, Wellington and Invercargill. By 1905, according to the
firm's own entry in the Cyclopedia ofNew Zealand, Otago and Southland volume,
published in that year, they had agencies in all the leading towns of New Zealand, as well as an office in London. As with pianos, so with music to play by. In
1905 Begg's pronounced their stock of sheet and book music to be 'the largest in
the Colony'.
A late but formidable rival was the Dresden Pianoforte Manufacturing and
Agency Company, established in 1883 by the merchant David Theomin, who
later built Olveston, the finest house in Dunedin. By 1905 the Dresden Piano
Co. had branches in Invercargill, Timaru, and Nelson and claimed to have agencies in fifty towns from one end of the country to the other. At the same time,
Dresden insisted that its trade was 'the largest in the Australasian colonies', requiring the labour of seventy persons in its Dunedin, Timaru and Wellington
25. Wise's
Zealand Directory 1875-76, section 9, pp.1SD-1.
26. Hocken Library, Dunedin: Chapman Pamphlets, vol. 044, item 9: Catalogue of TUW, popular,
and standard vocal & instrumental music sold by George R West, importer of all k.inds of musical instrumen/s, music seller and pubIishn-, NfW Zealand PianojOrt. Harmonium and Music Saloon, Princes
Strut, Dunedin, 1872.
27. Apparently the system was abandoned about the end of World War H.
24
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
shops." The business was fIrmly based on pianos and organs. Nevertheless
printed music was important and in 1885 for instance advertisements stressed
that 'the latest novelties in music, songs, etc. [came in] by every steamer'." Dresden also had an active publishing programme, largely devoted to.suitably graded
Eu,ropean musical compositions.
Music dealers as a class played an important part in promoting and leading
local music making. Charles Begg made available practice rooms for brass band,
orchestra, and private tuition, and actively encouraged other local initiatives. The
Dresden Piano Co.'s Wellington branch had a concert hall attached. Some dealers, like James McCardell of Lyttelton and F.H. LockyerofNapier, were musicians fIrst and booksellers second.'" Perhaps the most complete example of a successful music dealer cum practising musician is George West, who was fIrst and
last a conductor of choirs in church and city organist at various churches. In
1875, while his business was in full swing, he advertised his services as a teacher
of piano and singing, with twenty-fIve years experience. His wife Mary was also
teaching. In the 1880s he took their daughter Jenny to London, where she
moved in the circle of Stainer and Sullivan. On her return she became organist
in her father's church choir, and then moved to Christchurch and Auckland,
where as Jenny Macandrew she had a long and active career as accompanist.
I have question but few answers about the mechanics of music dealing.
Where did all this music come from? This is usually hard to guess. West's catalogue, for instance, names no publishers. However, a haphazard acquaintance
with sheet music bought in New Zealand and stamped by local dealers, suggests
that London was by far the major supplier. Leading European music publishers
also had a base there. By the turn of the century, if not before, Australian music
publishers, notably Allan & Co. of Melbourne, were busily capturing the lower
end of the market. Melbourne and Sydney music sellers and publishers may have
begun much earlier, but I have
only one helpful indication. This is a public notice dated 15 November 1854 by Gilbert Pickett & Co, drapers and general merchants of Wellington, announcing that they have been appointed agents
for 'Messrs. Henry Marsh & Co., Music Publishers, Sydney'."
Who decided what should enter New Zealand? I suppose that for the most
part this was a local New Zealand choice, probably made from catalogues sent
out by overseas publishers, much as for other kinds of printed matter. Unfortunately, I have seen no such catalogues, but these are notoriously ephemeral
items, soon discarded, save by the provident few, just as today. The book trade is
international, and New Zealand members, who must often have had experience
in both hemispheres, would have taken pains to build 'up a trade network.
Cyclopdia ofN(W Zealand, Otago-Southland volume, 1905.
29. Stone's Dumdin and suburbs directory, 1885, p.t3.
30. Both Helen Watson (1948)--see note 9; Beattie (1986)-see note 16; record something of
McCardell's various activities.
31. The New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, 18 Nov. 1854, p.3. I thank Emeritus
Professor Douglas Coombs for this reference to the activities
great- grandfather.
28.
Music Selling in 19"-Century New Zealand
25
George R. West in the 1866 New Zealand Directory claims that his 'immense
stock of Vocal and Pianoforte Music has been carefully and judiciously selected
by professional Agents at Home for Colonial requirements'. The largest New
Zealand dealers Charles Begg and Co: and the Dresden Pianoforte Co.
ally saw fit to establish their own London buying offices." The leading Austrafirms of Albert & Son in Sydney and Allan & Co. in Melbourne may
lian
have traded through existing New Zealand firms.
When overseas publishers first began to send out travellers to tour the
country I do not know. I am ignorant too about financial arrangements andpric- .
ing regimes. How for instance is one to interpret the words 'Price for the Colqnies' stamped in ink on the front cover of pieces of old sheet music?" Did metropolitan music publishers exert pressure on colonial traders.like.some of their
counterparts in other branches of the book trade? The restrictive practices of a
number of English book publishers were the subject of Graeme Johanson's study
of colonial editions in Australia from 1843." There seems to be no comparable
study of music publishing. Such questions underline the need to undertake comparative studies, by inquiring into both ends of the market.
Yet more questions. How did this music travel to New Zealand? Did.it
come direct, or via Australia? Advertisements repeatedly stress the importance of
English mails, and the dealers' efforts to secure the latest novelties as soon as
possible, which in the early days might be three or four months. By the 1880s
with the opening of the Suez Canal and the introduction of the steamship, travel
times were at best approximately halved." In 1897 the Wellington firm of E. J.
King stress that they import 'a large quantity' of music, and most'popular pieces
and songs are sent out by early mails so as to be available in the Colony almost as
. E ngId'"
soon as In
an .
Within New Zealand the proliferation of agencies no doubt greatly simplified the problem of supply for country shops, whose customers could hope, after
32.
William. Elmer, appointed Begg's London representative in 1903, had not only previously
gained an intimate knowledge of the British and Continental music and instrument markets, but
from his experience in Begg's Dunedin warehouse, well understood the requirements of the New
Zealand market-so I am informed by a former Begg employee.
33. I own no.3015 in the Edition Peters, printed about one hundred years ago in Leipzig and
published by Peters of Leipzig, with a Charles Begg & Co. Timaru label stuck over an Arthur
Eady Limited stamp. The front cover carries the further ink stamp 'PRICE FOR THE
COLONIES-NET CASH-NO TAX'. The words 'No tax' are a reminder that there was no
tariff on books and music, although the rate for fully assembled pianos rose in three increments
from 5 per cent in the 1860s to 20 per cent in the 1890s.
. .
34. Graeme ]ohanson, A study of colonial editions in Australia, 1843-1972, Monash University,
1995.
35. John Bathgate (1881) in his chapter on 'How to get to the colony. and who should go', notes
that those who could afford the extra cost, by travelling London-New
overland to San Francisco, and across the Pacific via Honolulu, all the way by steam power, could reach New Zealand
in 40 days, compared to 80-90 days via the Cape of Good Hope by sail. Goods of course would
generally travel the slower route.
36. eyclopdia ofNew Zealand, vol. 1: Wellington Provincial District, 1897, p.439.
26
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
some further delay, to have access to the same ·stock as in the main cities. We
need to remember that even in a small countri like New Zealand internal communications before the coming of the railways relied much on erratic coastal
shipping.
• These vital trade mechanisms, which apply to bookselling in general, require further study, and on both sides of the world'-more easily said than done.
Nevertheless, it is something to have identified most of the music (and musical
instrument) dealers in nineteenth century New Zealand. Their many and varied
contributions towards the general music making deserve not to be forgotten.. Exact knowledge of the lives and careers of all who were involved in the importing,
printing, publication and distribution of printed music will for instance aid the
more precise dating of music produced within New Zealand-sheet music .in
particular is usually undated. It should :ilso be remembered that music sellers
contributed in their way to the spread of music literacy. And it is the way of lists
to have unexpected uses:
Was John Bathgate right to say that New Zealand in 1880 was oversupplied
with members of the distributing class? Perhaps he foresaw the temporary slbwing down in population growth, for New Zealand was just entering a decade of
depression. The European population, which had virtually doubled between
1870 and 1880, increased only 60 per cent during the next 20 years, to reach approximately 770,000 by 1900. In the same 20 year period the number of music
sellers rose from 46 in 1880 to 120 in 1900, a 260 per cent increase. The mere
count of firms is admittedly a faulty indicator of the total volume of goods sold.
However, it was surely population growth which encouraged specialisation.
Music Selling in 19"-Century New Zealand
27
List of Music Sellers in New Zealand to 1900
'A trade dtscription is not usually offmd for thost firms rtgularly listed in dirt,torits under
<music and musical instrument importers and sellers' or variants thereof.
Auckland
J.F. Bennett. Karangahape Rd. 1896--1900-.
Alfred Bowring. 1872: Ol'een St. 1880: Symonds St. 1866-1900-.
Charles Boimington. Wellesley St. 1872. See also under Wellington.
Bristol & Continental Piano Co. (Manager A. Hegman). Strand Arcade; 1900: 302
Ol'een St. 1890-1900-. 1900-1901: also found listed under Hegman' (also
spelt Heyman)
Joseph Brown & Son, Music Warehouse. 1874: temporary premises Wyndham St;
Qct 1874: moved to Ol'een St; 1876: Shortland St. 1874-78. Also spelt
Browne.
Thomas Edgar Carter. Symonds St; 1885: 88 Victoria St. 1885-1900-. Music importer & teacher; arrived NZ about 1880.
George Thomson Chapman. 54 Ol'een St; 1872: 60 Ol'een St. 1855-1900-. Bookseller, stationer & circulating library proprietor, died 1881; continued by
Charles R. Chapman.
Wil1iam Culpan. St. Mary's Rd. 1872-85. Piano tuner.
Henry Cucksey. 1867: 203 Ol'een St; 1872: 230 Ol'een St. 1867-78.
Arthur Eady & Co. 1885: 68 Ol'een St; 1898: 112 Ol'een St. 1875-1900-. 1875:
Eady's New Music Warehouse; 1880: referred to as the Auckland Music
Warehouse. For many years the major Auckland music firm.
Lewis R. Eady. 5 Liverpool St. 1884-1900-. Piano importer.
English & Foreign Co. (Manager Frederick Moore). 78 Ol'een St. 1900-. Piano
importer.
.
W. S. Evans. 1885: Grey St; Karangahape Rd. 1885-95.
Newton Fairs. 198 Ol'een St. 1879-83. NZ Herald 2 Qct 1879: New Music Warehouse has opened for sale of books, stationery, music and musical instruments;
1883: Cook St, stationer.
Thomas Farrell. Ol'een St. 1878. Musical instrument dealer.
Richard E. Finch. 212 Ol'een St. 1880-85. NZ Herald, 4 Qct 1880: late Thomas
'
Turrell; bookseller & stationer.
E. H. Haslett. Shortland St. 1880. Bookseller & stationer.
Arthur Hegman (also spelt or misspelt Heyman). See Bristol & Continental Piano
Co.
- H. L. Hoffmann. Karangahape Rd. 1894-96.
Hoffmann & Sons. 1874: Academy of Music, Shortland St.; 1879: 213 Ol'een St.
1860-1900-. Began by father Wilhelm (1867: Shortland Crescent, professor of
music); 1874: 'the largest, best, and cheapest stock' of pianos in NZ; by 1880
trading as Hoffmann & Sons (named Wilhelm Paganini & Henry Augustus),
See also under Wellington.
28
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
T. Holmes. Syrnonds St. 1890-1900-. Music warehouse.
William F.Jones. Wellesley St. 1866-76. Pianoforte manufacturer.
James Francis Leighto·n. 1865: Shortland St; 1866: Qyeen St; 1875: High St. 18551900-. Bookseller, bookbinder, &C.
London & Berlin Piano Co. 11 Shortland St. 1886-1900-. 1886: established 'some
'years previously' by W. H. Webbe; 1900: Webbe managing partner; Webb or
Webbe also conducted a music school, established .1883. Wise's 1901: proprietors W. H. &B. Webbe.
Robert Mason. Pitt St. 1878. Musical instrument dealer.
Meais & Co. (William E. Mears). Qyeen St; 1894:198. Qyeen St. 1883-1894-.
Thomas Ramsay. Karangabape Rd. 1895.
Reilly & Co. Shortland St. 1867. Booksellers & music sellers.
George J. Richardson & Co. 253 Qyeen St. 1890-1900-.
A. W. Robertson. 187 Qyeen St. 1900-.
Henry W. Sleatb. Shortland St. 1866. Listed under piano manufacturers, dealers &
tuners.
W. T. Sly. Great North Road. 1896-1900-. Piano manufacturer & tuner.
Byron Squire. 39 Kyber Pass Rd. 1894-1900-. Manager of tbeAuckland branch of
Byron Squire & Son, Pianoforte Manufacturers, Euston Road, London, with
agencies in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Capetown, & Australia (about 1881); born
London 1848 (Cyclopedia 1902).
Thomas Turrell. 212 Qyeen St. 1872-76-. Described as Branch Music Store; succeeded by Finch.
Upton & Co. 158-160 Qyeen St.; 1896: 102 QyeenSt. 1860s-1900-. Bookseller,
publisher & stationer; (Directory reports 1866, 1872). See also Wayte.
J. Varty. Vulcan Lane. 1862-j)4. Advert. 'Newest & most popular music'.
Edward Wayte. 1865: Edward Wayte, Qyeen St; 1866: Wayte & Batger; 1?68-72
E. Wayte; later Wayte & Upton. Shortland St; 1872: 100 Qyeen St. 18531880-. Bookbinder, bookseller, stationer, printer, publisher, musical instrument
& toy seller.
George Kemp Webb. Hobson St. 1892-96. Born Auckland 1861; between 1879
. and 1889 worked periodically as piano importer for his father Samuel [or
Thomas?] (who ceased trading 1889); later became piano tuner & repairer for
British &Continental Piano Co. (Cyclopedia 1902).
Samuel H. Webb. 1859: Fort St; 1865: Webb's Music Saloon; '1866-67: Wellesley
St; 1868:Webb & Ballachey, Royal Harmonium & Pianoforte Saloon. 185989. Pub!. Waitemata Polka 1859. See also George Kemp Webb.
Thomas H. Webb. Hobson St. 1880-1900.
.
W. H. Webbe. See London & Berlin Piano Co.
John West&Co.160 Qyeen St. 1872-75; 1896-1900-.
W. Wildman (Kidd & Wildman, later Wildman & Lyell). Victoria Arcade. 18861900-.
Music Selling in 19"-Century New Zealand
29
Wellington
Thomas Barlow & Co. 1858. Advert. in New Zealand Spectator & Cook's Strait
Guardian, issue for 24 March.
Charles Begg & Co. 77 Willis St. 1897-1900--. Wellington branch of Dunedin
ftrm; 'controlled' by Salvatore Cimino (Cyclopedia, 1905).
W. Bentham. Willis St. 1861-1870. Piano tuner & expert.
James Berger. Lambton Q,gay. 1872-75. Post, issue 4 Jan 1872: music not in stock
available from Melbourne; Oct 1874: offers 300 Art Union tickets at one
guinea for Collard & Collard piano.
Bock (William Rose) & Cousins (Alfred). Lambton Q,gay. 1879-1900. At first
Bock alone; then briefly with Henry Elliott; 1883-89: with Alfred Cousins;
1889: Bock & Co; still later with son William. Engraver & lithographer.
Charles Bonnington. 1878: Taranaki St; 1880: Lambton Q,gay. 1878-80. Published
the Porangi polka, 1880. See also under Christchurch.
Charles Callis. Q,geens Chambers. 1892. Manufacturers' agent,land & estate agent,
agents for J. Strohmenger & Sons, piano manufacturers, London (Wise's
1892/3).
Robert Holt Carpenter. Molesworth St. 1850s-80s. Bookseller, sells flutes. New
Zealand Directory 1866.
R W. I. Carver, Musical Repository. Molesworth St. 1874-76. Also music teacher.
Salvatore Cimino. 73 Willis St. 1893-1900--. See also Charles Begg & Co.
Davis & Harris. 3 Willis St. 1898-1900. Music importers.
Dresden Pianoforte Co. 54 Lambton Q,gay. 1880--1900--. Branch of Duneclin firm,
manager M. J. Brookes.
Frederick W. Gardiner. 21 Vivian St. 1900--. Pianoforte expert; Wise's 1901: listed
under music & musical instrument importers & dealers.
FrederickHoffman. 25 Lambton Q,gay. 1889-97.
Hoffmann & Sons. Willis St. 1880--1900--. Branch of Auckland firm; C. 1. Hoffmann manager from about 1892 & later sole owner (Cyclopedia 1897).
H. Hunter-Brown. Johnston St. 1900--. Piano tuner; Wise's 1901, 1902: music
dealer &C.
W. G.Jackson, Stationers' Hall. Lambton Q,gay. 1876. Bookseller, 'the latest works,
music, &C. received by every mail steamer'.
FrederickJ. Jones & Co. 87 Lambton Q,gay. 1895-1900--. Music & musical instrument importers & music publishers.
Edwin James King & Son. Te Aro Music Warehouse. 1886: Willis St; 1891: 53
Manners St; 1900: 60 Manners St. 1886-1900--. Music.seller & teacher, bandmaster (Cyclopedia 1897). See also under Wanganui.
London Piano Co. (Manager J. G. H. Falkiner). 46A Manners St. 1900--.
William Lyon. Lambton Q,gay. 1864-74. Bookseller, died 1886.
Lyon & Blair (Horatio MacCullough &John Rutherford). Lambton Q,iay. 187490-. Booksellers, bookbinders, & stationers, successors to William Lyon.
James Henry Marriott. Lambton Q,gay. 1850s-1885. (Lyon d. 1886)
30
Bibliographical Spciety ofAustralia & NeW Zealand Bulletin
George F. Parsons. 217 Larnbton Q,lay. 1895-1900; established by W. H. Spiller;
piano & music dealer (Cyclopedia 1897); Wise's 1900: no Parsons at 217.
Gilbert Pickett &Co. 1854: Mulgrave St; then Liunbton Q,lay. 1854-1865. Draper
and general store keeper; appointed agents to Henry Marsh & Co:, Music Publisljers, Sydney (New Zealand Spectator & Cook's Strait Guardian; 18 Nov 1854);
first secretary ofWellington Philharmonic Society, 1856-. .
.
FrederickJames Pinney, Musical Instrument Depot. 7 Manners St. 1886-1900C. && T. Ramsey. Willis St. 1880. Piano
See also Reichardt.
George Reichardt, Reichardt's Music Warehouse. 70 Lambton Q,lay. 1878-1900-.
At first with C. Ramsey & Williarn Webley; Wise's 1900: 191 Lambton Q,lay.
CharlesRussell, Pianoforte Warehouse. Lambton Q,lay. 1867-69. Advert. in Independent from 23 Oct.: 10,000 pieces of sheet music in stock; July 1869: premises destroyed by fire.
Edward Greaves Smith, Wellington Music Warehouse. Lambton Q,lay. 1866-69.
Smith & Wilcox. 1854. Advert. iil New Zealand Spectator & Cook's Strait Guardian,
issue for 17 Feb.
Spectator Office. 1852. Spectator & Cook's Strait Guardian, issue of 17 March: sheet
music for sale.
W. H. Spiller, Music Warehouse. 217 Lambton Q,lay. 1885-95. See also Parsons.
Jos. Upling. Marion St. 1896-97. Cyclopdia 1897.
Williarn Webley. Cuba St. 1880-83.
Whitaker Brothers (George Joseph & Bemard Fear). 183 Lambton Q,lay. 18781900-. Booksellers. Also at Hawera and Greyrnouth.
Christchurch
Charles Bonnington. 1866-67: Cashel St &. Colombo St (Musical Instrument pepot); later High St. 1866-77. Bookbinder, stationer, violinist, conductor, proprietor of music rooms in Cathedral Square; left Christchurch 1877. See also
Spensley.
.
.
William Cullen. Cashel St. 1900.
HenryJ. Davis, 182 Cashel St. 1900. Bookbinder, published music.
Robert Francis. 159 Manchester St.. 1900-.
.
Gardiner & Son. Hereford St. 1875-78; piano manufacturers.
Arthur Leplin. 131 Colombo St. 1900-. Wise's 1900 Streets directory: Zeplin.
John Lewis. Market Square. 1863-1874; sold to Milner & Thompson.
James Francis McCardell. 1854-: Lyttelton; 1858: Christchurch. 1854-58. Auctioneer, bookseller & stationer, conductor, &C. .
Milner
J.) & Thompson (Robert). 1874: High St; 1874-: 106 Manchester St.
1874-1900-. Manufacturers & importers of pianos & organs, & musical warehousemen. 1874: bought out John Lewis 1874; Milner retired 1879; Thompson had arrived Lyttelton 1856.
a.
Music Selling in 19"-Century New Zealand
31
James Spensley & Co. Music Warehouse. 1879-80: Hereford St; 1882: High St,
later given as 242.1875-1900-:-. Spensley took over the store previously occupied by Charles Bonnington, corner Cashel & High Sts.
Thomas Thomson. Mollett St. 1900-. Banjo & guitar manufacturer.
James Williams. 297 Tuam St. 1896-1900-. Wise's 1898/9: also at 297 is James W.
musical in?trumental manufacturer.
Dunedin
Ahlfeld Bros (Adolph & ?). Dowling St. 1897-1900. Importers, agents for Wiesner
pianos & Gritzner sewing machines; also at Hamburg, Germany.
21 Princes St. 1863-1900-; branches in Timaru 1885-;
Charles Begg&Co.
Wellington 1897-; Invercargilll900-; London 1903-; agencies in 'all the leading towns' of NZ by 1905 (Cyclopedia)-but only Ashburton, Invercargill &
Timaru discovered. April 1867: fire destroyed first premises; Charles died 21
Dec 1874; his widow Jessie continued the business, assisted from 1887 by sons
Alexander & Charles. The proud record of the firm is to have dominated the
New Zealand market for over one hundred years.
Bellett's Stationery Warehouse. 81 George St. 1895. Catalogue containing 2,000
pieces of sheet music, songs, and pianoforte pieces advertised in The Triad (25
April 1895).
Joseph Braithwaite. Farley's Arcade; 1872: Fleet St, 1878-: Braithwaite's Book Ar.
cade, Princes St. 1863-1900-. Bookseller, died 1917.
John Cooke. 1878: Princes St; 1887: Maidand St. 1878-88.
D. I. C. (Drapery & General Importing Co. Manager P. Laing). High & Rattray
Sts. 1896-1900-. General traders, also music and musical instrument dealers.
Branches in Christchurch & Wellington.
Dresden Pianoforte Manufacturing & Agency Co. 29, 31 Princes St. 1883-1900-.
Branches Wellington 1880-, Invercargill before 1905, Timaru 1900-, Nelso'n
before 1905; agencies in '50' NZ towns (Cyclopedia 1905)-for those discovered
see under Ashburton, Blenheim, Dannevirke, Gisborne, Gore, Greymouth,
Greytown, Hastings, Hokitika, Invercargill, Kumara, Lawrence, Marton, Masterton, Milton, Napier, Nelson, New Plymouth, Oamaru, Opunake, Pahiatua,
Palmerston, T aihape, Timaru, Westport, and in Unconfirmed list under Arrowtown, Balclutha, Clyde, Cromwell, K:iitangata, Mosgiel, Owaka, PaIrnerston North, Reefton, Stratford, Tapanui, Waimate, Wanganui,' & Woodville.
Established by David Theomin; 1916: renamed The Bristol Piano Co. and survived until the 1930s.
See also Oakden
Frederick HowelI & Co. 14 Octagon & Princes St.
& Howell.
John Hogg. St. Andrew St. 1880-1900-. Piano tuner & importer.
Louis K. Holden. Octagon. 1898-1900-.
Arnold R. Kelsey. 87 Princes St. 1880-83. Saturday Advertiser, 1 Jan 1881: 'now
opened'; Saturday Advertiser, 11 Aug 1883: Chas Begg & Co. offers Kelsey's
whole stock of sheet music at one-fifth of the marked price.
32
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
William Kroon. See London Organ & Piano Co.
Laidlaw & Gray. Rattray St. 1900--. Ironmongers; but also listed under music dealers in Wise's 1900, 1901,1902.
W. Lambert. Stafford St. 1855-61. Printer of The atago Colonist, and Dunedin and
Invercargill Advertiser (Hrst issue 26 Dec 1856), bookseller & stationer; Oct
• 1855: song books arrived at Lambert's printing office; 1856-61: advertises
'New vocal and instrumental music'.
London Organ & Piano Co. Octagon. 1895-1900--. William Kroon named variouslyas proprietor &as manager in 1900, 1902; Wise's 1900: 22 George St.
RichardJ. Matthews. George St. 1885-88.
Moss & Co. 34-5 The Arcade. 1863. Music & musical instruments repository.
Robert Moss. GeorgeSt. 1890--1900. Wises 1900: Albany St, piano tuner & expert.
M. Nashe1ski. Princes St. 1863. Music seller and fancy goods repository.
Oakden & Howell. Octagon. 1887-1900--. 1887: 39 Princes St; branch in Invercargill by 1900. See also Frederick Howell.
Ephraim Parker. George S, later Filleul St. 1898-1900--.
James Paterson & Co. 1856-59. Auctioneers, booksellers & general merchants;
atago Witness, 13· Feb. 1858: just arrived ex 'Strathallan' one case musical instruments & tutors for accordion, violin, flute & concertina.
Thomas S. Paton. 106 George St. 1889-90.
A.J. Sims. Stuart St. 1886.
Simpson & Henderson. Princes St. 186D-61. Booksellers & general merchants, tobacco & snuff manufacturers; atago Colonist, 6 Dec 1861: Dunedin Music Repository advertises 'a great variety of song and pocket books'.
Lewis Solomon. George St. 1875-81.
G.R. West & Co. (George Reichardt West). Jan. 1863: George St; Jan. 1864:
Princes St. 1861-1886. After 1886 West continued as music teacher; & died
July 1891.
Provincial Towns
Ashburton
Andrews (Andrewes) &Co. 1885-1900--. Booksellers.
Michae1John Burgess. 1898-. Bookseller.
Horace Atthur Gates. Burnett St. 1875-1900--. Music seller, music teacher, organist
& choirmaster; 1894: Dresden agent; 1896: Begg's agent:
Miss B. Simmonds. 1900--.
HoraceJohn Weeks. Tancred St. 1883-85. 1884: Charles Begg &Co. agent.
Music Selling in 19" -Century New Zealand
33
Blenheim
Edward Henry Penney. 1893-1900-. The fIrm advertised as founded in 1880 (by
person or persons unknown) bought by Penney 1893; 1898: bookseller, stationer & fancy goods importer at Stationers' Hall, also Dresden agent, and
agent for the British & Foreign Bible Society.
Dannevirke
B. H. Solomon (Solomon & Son). 1896-1900-. Dresden agent.
Eketahuna-see Pahiatua
Feilding
Wi1Iiam Carthew. 1879-1900-.
Grace & Co. See under Palmerston North
Jesse Samuel Milsom. 1892-1900-. Milsom &Coles 1899-. Booksellers, &C.
Gisborne
James 'Snyder' Browne. Gladstone Rd. 1890s. Booksellers & fancy goods; succeeded
by his widow Mrs. A. M. Browne.
Chrisp & Son. 1900-.
Cecil H. Lewis. 1900-.
Edward Pamell. 1896. Dresden agent.
Gore
Boyne Brothers (Wi1Iiam & James). Early 1880s-1900-. Dresden agents 18921900-.
Greymouth
J.W. Easson & Co. 1896-1900-. Auctioneers & produce & general merchants,
Dresden agents.
Sommers & Steel. 1873. Book & piano sellers.
Whitaker brothers (George Joseph & Bemard Fear). 1887-1900-. Book & music
sellers; also in Wellington & Hawera.
- •
Greytown (Wellington Province)
Milton R. Varnham. 1892. Bookseller & musical instrument dealer.
F.E. Wood. 1896. Dresden agent.
34
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
Hastings
John Chadwick. 1880-1902. Bookseller, bought 1902 by Edwin Hall, Dresden
agent.
Hawera
Grace & Co. i892-1900-. Bought 1902 by Edwin Dixon & Charles Alfred Bates.
Edward Tait, Hawera Music Warehouse. High St. 1894. Stationer, fancy good
, 'dealer, & c . '
'
Whitaker Brothers. 1880. Wise's 1880: drapers & booksellers. See also under Wellington.
Hokitika
James King. 1894-1900-. Bookseller & Dresden agent.
Edward B. Sammons & Co. Revell St. 1894-1900-. Booksellers & music dealers.
Invercargill
Charles Begg& Co. Esk St. 1885-1900-. Branch of Dunedin fIrm.
Dresden Pianoforte Co. 1893':"1900-. Branch of Dunedin tirm.
Charles Gray. Esk St. 1890-94.
Charles Hale.Dee St. 1892. Fancy goods repository & music repository, Dresden
agent.
Howell&Co.1897-1900-. See also under Dunedin.
Jacobs & Moir (Samuel Jacobs & William Sheriff Moir). 1880-. Musical instru.
ment importers & fancy repository. See also Moir, Johnson & Co.
Francis Lilliecrap & Co. Esk St. 1894-1900-. Dresden agents 1894-98.
Alexander Frame Lithgow. Southland Music Depot, Dee St. 1893-94. Dresden
agent.
Moir (W"illiam Sherrifi),Johnson & Co. Dee St. 1886-90.
asbome & Co., Pianoforte & Music Warehouse. 1886.
Wesney Brothers.Dee St. 1878-1900-, Booksellers, stationers, fancy good importers, &c.; 1890: late Louis Rodgers &Co. booksellers (Wise's: 1875-:-79)..
H. West. Dee St. 1878-80. Musical instrument dealer.
Kumara
Solomon M. Spiers. 1894-1900-. Bookseller, stationer, newsagent & Dresden
agent.
Music Selling in 19" -Century New Zealand
35
Lawrence
GeorgeJeffiey.1875-1900-. Bookseller & pharmacist, Dresden agent. Wise's 1880:
also at T apanui. See also under Roxburgh.
Marton
.lames McChesney. 1896--1900-. Builder, piano dealer, Dresden agent from 1907.
Masterton
James Candy. 1898-1900-.
Hood &Johnson. Hastings St. 1896. Dresden agents.
William Park. 1882-1900-. Importer of books, stationery, fancy goods,. music &cc
Wise's 1901: WilliamJ. Park, Palmerston North.
Milton
R. Robertson. 1896-98. Dresden agent.
Napier
Craig (John Wilson). Hastings St. 1882-1900-. Bookseller, stationer.
Grace, Clarke & Co. 1896-1900; Grace & Co. 1900-. Branch of New Plymouth
fIrm; Dresden agents 1898.
Thomas B. Harding. 1866-81. Printer.
Howe Brothers. Hastings St. 1894-1900-. Booksellers & Dresden agents
Milner & Thompson. Hastings St. 1896-1900-. Music warehouse; head office-in
Christchurch.
Napier Book & Stationery Warehouse. 1857-1871.
J.W. Richardson. Byron St. 1900-. Wise's 1900, 1902: piano agent for unnamed
fIrm.
Nelson
W. Collier & Co. 1890-92-.
William Darby. 1866: Hardy St; 1872: Bridge St. Mid-1860s-1900-.
Jesse Hounsell. 1866: Trafalgar St. 1865-1900-. Bookseller & printer.
T. Blake Huffam. Hardy St. 1890-1900-.1894: Dresden agent.
R. H. Martin. Hardy St. 1896-1900-. Dresden agent.
Alfred Oakey/ Oakey & Son. 1872: Bridge St. 1875-1900-. Fancy good importers,
&c.; manufacturer Oakey reed organs, agents for Brinsmead pianos. Wise's
36
Bibliographical Society 0/Australia & New Zealand Bulletin
1900: Nelson, Blenheim, & West Coast. Surname sometimes given as Oakley.
Ernest Oakey is sepasately listed as organ manufacturer.
W. M. Stanton. Trafalgar St.
Music seller.
New Plymouth
Thomas Avery. 1896-1900-. Bookseller, printer, stationer, Dresden agent.
Walter N. Coker.1894-1900--. Music seller & piano tuner..,
,
Henry Collier & Co. 1894-1900-. J. H. Kingsley given as proprietor or perhaps
manager in 1900. See also PalmerstonNorth and Wanganui.
Arthur B. R. Fookes. Courtenay St. 1893-1900-. 1893: published music.
W. D. Francis. Devon St. 1880-85.
E. E. Gilbert. Gill St. 1885-1900--..
Joseph Hooker & Co. 1895-1900. Printer, lithographer, engraver & music publisher.
'
, , '
J.H. Kingsley.1893-1899-. 1893: published music; Wise's 1900: manager Collier &
Co.
Oamaru
John Crawshaw. Thasnes St. 1898. Music dealer.
Frank]. Kemshed. Thasnes St. 1889-96. 1895: Dresden agent.
,
R. L. Livingston. 1866-75-. (Mills, Dick directory 1875) "
Fowlie Meldrum. Thasnes St. 1892-1900-.
stationer, nows e
agent & music seller, Dresden agent 1894-1900-::
Charles G. Moore, Thasnes St. 1883-85. Saturday Advertiser, 27 Sept. '1884:
Charles Begg & Co. agent.
.'
,
A. A.Solomons: 1878. Musical instrument dealer.
Opunake
Mrs Orchard. 1896. Dresden agent.
Pahiatua
Timothy B. Hunter. 1898-19.00-. Music seller & Dresden agent; also at Eketahuna.
C. Reeve. 1896. Dresden agent. ,
Palmerston North
Henry Coles. 1898-1900-.
Henry Collier & Co. 1892-94. See also New Plymouth & Wanganui.
John Crawshaw. 1898-1900.
Music Selling in 1 <J'-Century New Zealand
37
Grace, Clarke & Co. 1892-96. See James Grace & Co.
James Grace & Co. 1896-1900-. Branches at Feilding, Hawera, Napier, & agents
in 'all the principal towns'-not identified.
William Park, Music & Piano Warehouse. 1895-1900-.
Palmerston
H. Appleby. 1896-98. Dresden agent.
Picton
Alfred T. Card. 1872-81.
Rangiora
J. Wilkinson. 1900-.
Roxburgh
GeorgeJeffery.1894-1900-. Chemist, bookseller, &C. See also under Lawrence.
Taihape·
J.P. Aldridge & Son. 1898-1900-. Bookseller, 1907: succeeded by Alfred E.
Hedges, Dresden agent.
Thames
Robert Burra. Pollen St. 1874-1900-. Bookseller & stationer.
John Grigg.1890-1900-. Piano tuner, music & musical instrument dealer.
Edward Wayte. Pollen St. 1868. Also in Auckland (NZ Herald 13 Oct 1868).
Timaru
Charles Begg & Co. Stafford St. 1885-1900-. Branch of Dunedin firm; Wise's
1900: 167 Stafford St.
James Davidson. Latter & Stafford Sts. 1894.
Dresden Pianoforte Co. Stafford St. 1900-. Dunedin firm.
R.W. (succeeded by P.H.) Hutton. 1860s-1900-. Charles Begg & Co. agent, 1884;
Dresden agent 1892-98.
38
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
. Waimate
John Crawshaw. 1900-. Music seller. See also Oamaru.
Wanganui
H. Collier & Co. (brothers Herbert & Henry Collier). Music Warehouse, Victoria
Avenue. 1884-1900-. Previously owned.by E. J. King. See also New Plymouth
& Palmerston North.
AIex. Fergusson. Victoria Avenue. 1896-98. Dresden agent.
Edward Ellery Gilbert. 1880-1900-. Piano .importer; fIrst recorded as tuner in
Wanganui, about 1894 began importing pianos & organs; from 1895 had
showrooms near Aramoho rail junction.
.
Henry Ireson Jones. Victoria Avenue. 1860-1900-. Bookseller, stationer & printer;
1901: H. I. Jones & Sons.
E.]. King. 1884-85; music teacher. See also under Wellington.
A.D. Willis. Victoria Avenue. 1880-1900-. Bookseller & lithographer.
Westport
Alfred Hansen & Co. 1890-1900-. Booksellers, stationers, fancY
importers; Dresden agents 1892-98.
George Parkhouse. 1900-. Successor to Alfred Hansen, bookseller, stationer, piano,
. organ, music & fancy goods dealer.
Winton
Hagerty Brothers. 1900-. Hairdressers, tobacconists, fancy goods dealer, tinsmiths,
cycle manufacturers & furniture dealers; Wise's 1902: piano importers..
0'; Doubtful as Muiic Sellers bejore1901 .
Auckland
Adam Bros. College .Rd; 1887. Published sheet music; Wise's 1886: bootmakers at
this address.
.
. .
.
Brett Prinring & Publishing Co. 20 Shortland St. 1887-1900--. Founded by Henry
Brett (d. 1927), newspaper proprietorietor, printer & publisher. I an uncertain
whether this fIrm as music printers and publishers retailed as well as wholesaled
their products.' .
Lewis]' Hopkins. Qyeen St. 1866. Listed under booksellers, stationers & music
sellers.
George MauIe. Shortland Crescent. 1866. Listed under booksellers, stationers &
music sellers.
Music Selling in 19" -Century New Zealand
39
Frederick William Streeton. Pitt St. 1866-78. Listed under booksellers, stationers
& music sellers.
Hemy White. Wyndham St. 1866. Listed under booksellers, stationers & music
sellers.
Wellington
T.A. Bowden & Sons, Educational Depository. Featherston St. 1872-76.
Robert Burrett. 1866-67: Manners St; Lambton Qyay. 1866-78. Bookseller, book.
binder & stationer.
Alfred. E. Cousins. Grey St. 1897. Engraver, music publisher.
Robert Holliday & Co. 81 Lambton Qyay.1885-1900; bookseller & stationer.
Neumeyer Piano Depot. 1892. Published sheet music. The proprietor of this Depot
has not yet been discovered.
John Watt. 1875-. Successor to Burrett.
Christchurch
Canterbury Music Depot. 1898? Published sheet music (The light that never leaves
me); no proprietor identified.
Whitcombe & Tombs (George Whitcombe & George Tombs). 1882-1900-.
Branches: Dunedin, 1890-; Wellington 1894-; the firm was active in music
printing, publishing and selling from the 1930s, especially in the educational
field, with the Dominion Song Books, but before 1901 music selling may have
been restricted to hymnbooks and the like.
Provincial Towns
Arrowtown (& Queenstown)
Harry Mayo. 1894. Dresden agent.
F.T.B. Walker. 1896-98. Watchmaker, Dresden agent.
Ashburton
H. Stephenson. 18981900-. Dresdenagent.
Jos. Wright. Wises 1901.
Balclutha
Mrs H. B. McNei!. 1892-98. Mistress ofladies' school & Dresden agent.
40
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia & New Zealand Bulletin
Blenheim
E. Mead. 1892-96. Dresden agent; Wise's1896-7: manager Farmers' Co-op.
Clyde (& Alexandra)
Robert Strongjunior. 1894--98. Dresden agent.
Cromwell
JR Carter. 1894-96. Dresden agent.
Greymouth
Oswald Rice. 1892-94. Dresden agent.
Greytown (North)
F.H. Wood (Wood & Sons). 1900. Auctioneers & commission agents, & Dresden
agents; branch at Carterton.
.
Hamilton
James Mainly. Victoria St. Undated. Rogers, 1993: early book and music seller.
Pauls Book Arcade. 1901-.
Hokitika
James King. Revell St. 1896-1900--. Bookseller & Dresden agent.
InvercargiH .
Erskine & Whitrnore. Esk St. 1884. 1884: Charles Begg & Co. agent.
McNaughton & Co. 1900.
Kaiapoi
John Wilkinson. 1901-02. Music & musical instrument importer & dealer.
Kaitangata
George W. Hutchins. 1894--1900--. Chemist & Dresden agent.
Music Selling in 1 <J'-Century New Zealand
41
Masterton
John P. Elliot. 1900. Bookseller & Dresden agent.
Milton
Robert Robertson. 1894-1900-. Stationers & Dresden agent.
W.W. White (White & Co.). 1892. Bookseller & Dresden agent.
Mosgiel
Alfred Carneross. 1896-98. Storekeeper.
W.D. Cheyne. 1892-94. Music teacher & Dresden agent.
Napier
F.W. Beale. Emerson St. 1900-. Sewing machine depot & Dresden agent.
F.H. Lockyer.1901-.
H. NaphtaIi. Hastings St. 1892. Financial agent & Dresden agent.
Nelson
R.H. Martin. 1900. Dresden agent.
New Plymouth
Colonial Piano & Organ Importing Co. (Manager D. McKinnon Bain). Devon St,
1901-02. Wise's 1902: Stratford branch established, manager Herben; E.
Rountree.
G.W. Henderson. 1900. Dresden agent.
Oamaru
Andrew Fraser. Itchen St. 1885-1900. Bookseller; his stamp seen on undated copy
of Boosey's Musical Cabinet, no. 9.
B.W. Hayes. Itchen St. 'Bookseller, stationer, newsagents, music seller', stamp on
undated piece of sheet music, about 1900. Not found in Wise's or Stone's di. rectories.
John Taylor. Thames St. 1892. Undertaker (?) & Dresden agent.•
Co. Thames St. 1888? Booksellers, stationers, lithographers, &c.-so
stamped on undated copy ofTh. Michaelis The Turkish patrol; a second stamp:
'J. Wilkie & Co., Agents for Dresden Piano Co., Oamaru'. Stone's Otago and
Southland directory, 1888: J. Wilkie & Co., Dunedin and Oamaru; no other directory listings give the Oamaru address.
J. Wilkie &
..
42
Bibliographical Society ofAustralia CS New Zealand Bulletin
Owaka
G.L. Abercrombie. 1894-98. Commission agent, Dresden agent.
Palmerston North
G.H. Bennett & Co. 1900-. Booksellers & Dresden agents.
Palmerston (South)
J. Appleby. 1894-1900-. 1894-98: Dresden agent.
J.T. Gwynne. 1892. Tobacconist, fruiterer & Dresden agent.
Rangiora
M.H. Palmer. 1901-. Succeeded Richard James Trewavas, 1899-, pharmacist, but
only Palmer has been found to advertise rriusic.
Reefton
Charles Cohen. 1892-1900-. Stationers & Dresden agent.
Stratford
C. F. Cook. 1900. Dresden agent.
Tapanui
C.F.L. Wrenstead & Co. 1892-98. Chemists & Dresden agents.
Timaru
R. & C. Wood. 1894. Dresden agents..
Waimate
Harry Franklin. 1894-1900-. Tobacconist & 1894-96: Dresden agent.
Wanganui
HerbertTaylor. Ridgway St. 1900. Cabinet maker & Dresden agent.
Woodville
John Grant. 1894-1900. Proprietor of The
Dresden agent.
Charles Hall. 1896-1900-. Importer of stationery, fancy goods & music, Dresden
agent.