Page to Rushworth

PAGE

Charles ("Charlie") Page was born in Birmingham in 1875 and started to learn to play the banjo at an early age of played in Public when he was eleven. When he left school at the age 14 he was apprenticed to the firm of Windsor and Taylor and remained with them when he moved to York where for some years he ran a successful teaching connection In 1902 he left York and settled in Bournemouth where he worked in co-operation with A. de Vekey for about five years For a short period he was a member of the Stavordale Quartet. In 1907, he "turned professional" and for some time toured with a minstel troupe and then appeared on the Music Hall stage with “The American Trio."

In 1912 he was with the Palladium Ministrels for the successful run of this show. During World War I he worked as a civilian artificer for Kelvin's of Glasgow on submarines, and, later, as ,a scientific instrument maker for a firm at Brentford, Middx.

After the war he set up as a “lone” maker of banjos mandolins and guitarswith a workshop at Buer Road Fulham, S.W., and was making high class banjos up to about 1935. He died on July 7,1955 from a cerebral thrombosis

PANORMO

Joseph Panormo, who was making violins and guitars in Soho between 1827 and 1835, is said to have made banjos commercially but no details have been unearthed.

PARSLOW

James ("Jimmy") Parslow, was born in 1850 and learned woodcraft as an apprentice at Burggones, the Kingiston Surrey, motor-launch builders. In the early 1880’s he established a workshop with lace, forge. etc. in Fairfield Road, Kingston-on Thames. All his machinery was steam-driven and, until he added zither-banjos to his output at the turn of the century, every part of his banjo, (made in two models: 11 in. and 12 in. hoops) was made by his own hands.

The necks of his instruments were laminated both vertically and horizontally and pearl dots were placed at the side to correspond with each fret. Parslow was a lover of decoration and he collected odd pieces of mother of-pearl from which he would fashion stars,crescents, triangles and dots for insertion in the fingerboards of the banjos he made. No two Parslow banjos would be identical in this respect. He devised and patented his own non-slip pegs and used an all-metal adjustable perch-pole in his banjos which could be tightened at both ends by scew-nuts to make the hoop rigid. He also devised a special tailpiece; the lugs for the strings being hinged to make the fixing of the (gut) string easier. He often used the "split" second fret on his zither-banjos.

In addtition to his instrument- making he maintained a teaching studio and ran a successful banjo quartet (with outstanding pupils) which appeared at local concerts and help to advertise the Parslow instrums. He died in 1920

PIDOUX

John Pidouix, of Birmingham, the successful teacher, concert artist, recording star and broadcaster, sold many banjo, and zither-banjos bearing his name as the maker. All these instruments were made for him: at first by Windsor and then by Joseph Riley Sons. He was associated with the latter firm, as a teacher and demonstrator from about 1894 to 1898.

PUMBRIDGE

W. H. Plumbridge was a well-known teacher of the banjo, mandolin and guitar who settled in Brighton in 1883. For many years he conducted a successful teaching studio there and led an amateur B. M. & G. orchestra in the seaside town. At the turn of the century he established a teaching studio at John Alvey Turner's in London which he attended twice a week For some time he also conducted a London amateur B. M. & G. Orchestra. He was a self-taught player of the banjo, having started to play on seven string instrument. He became well-known as a banjo soloist after he changed to the five-string instrument and until 1893 used a Weaver banjo. He started to play and sell his own make" banjos but the instruments bearing his name as maker were made for him by John E.Dallas. He died in 1925.

RILEY

Joseph Riley &- Son,;, of 23/25 Constitution Hill Birmingham were established in 1851 as Musical Instrument Merchants, Patentees and Manifacturers." In 1894 they had a stand at the Birmingham Industrial Exhibition on which they displayed and advertised themselves as being agents for Windsor banjos and zither-ban'jos. Following the success of this Exhibition, they engaged Olly Oakley to demonstrate Windsor instruments in their store. They appear to have started to manifacture their own banjos and zither.banjos a year later and in 1896 filed a patent for an improved zither.-banjo the inner hoop, or hoop proper, having, outwardly projecting lugs round the bottom edge, which rest on corresponding inwardly projecting lugs on the outer hoop or casing." In the same patent they also included the specification of making, the necks of banjos and like instruments, hollow. In 1897 the firm was advertising its "Riley-Baker Perfected Banjo" in which the hoop was "stiftened or reinforced by an internal annular flange or horizontal feather, which is directed internally from the inside walls, at a point rather above the middle line of ....."

ROYLANCE

Charles Roylance of 184 Tottenham Court Rd London was an important music publisher and dealer in musical instruments in the earl 1880’s (he published several tutors for the 7, 6 and 5 string banjos in 1883) He sold many banjos bearing his name as maker but most were made for him by Spratt and Temlett. At a later date he changed his label to read “ Manufactured expressly for C. Roylance".

RUSHWORTH & DREAPER

Rushworth &, Dreaper Ltd., the Liverpool firm of musical instrument manufactures and dealers established in 1828 and they introduced a line of zither-banjos in 1910 using the brand name of "Apollo." The instruments were not made by them but were constructed to their specifications (probably by Windsor or Matthews of Birmingham In the early 1920s, the dance band boom induced them to launch their “Ardetone"(R-D-tone) plectrum-banjos and tenor-banjos which were styled on the American "Paramount" instruments. With only slight modifications they are very good copies of the instruments from across the Atlantic.