Organists and Choirmasters of Ormskirk Parish Church from 1731

From	To	Name	Notes
1731	1783	James Parrin	Nominated by Jane Brooke and ratified by the Earl of Derby; first Organist & Choirmaster following the Restoration and the installation of the new Organ by Samuel Shepard. Parrin must also have initiated and supervised the re-building of the organ by the illustrious Richard Parker of Salford (often known as being part of Glyn/Gwynn & Parker), only a short time later, in 1758.
1783	1835	Michael Heathcote	b.May, 1761; bound under R Wainwright, Mus.Doc, of St Peter’s, Liverpool. First Organist of St George’s, Douglas, IOM, 1781. Appointed by Lord Derby 23 Sept. 1783. Celebrated in memorial on inside West wall of South Tower, Heathcote remains one of the two longest-serving occupants of the position, alongside Parrin, completing 52 years each.
1835	1846	Thomas Harriot	Formerly chorister under Heathcote; Harriot had assisted Heathcote during his final illness and was the last Organist to be nominated by the Earl of Derby under the provision of Jane Brooke’s will. Harriot was also quoted in George Lea’s ‘Handbook to Ormskirk’, published in 1893.
1846	1888	James Watts	Formerly of Bristol Cathedral. b. Kingswood, 1809; d.1888 and buried in Ormskirk, along with his wife. Lived 17, Stanley Street.
1887	1887	George Watts	Son of James Watts. Born Wootton-under-Edge, Gloucs., 1845. Assisted his father towards the end of his tenure.
1889	1889	William George Watts	b. 1849, Paulton, Somerset. Nephew of James Watts, whom he had assisted for many years.
1889	1899	Edwin Heild	Covered when William(?) George Watts was detained, and seemingly continued in post on his return. b. 1854. Lived West View. Died in post.
1899	1902	F Arthur Brassey-Salt	‘From Birkenhead’ stated on appointment. FGCM; Provincial Warden of the Guild of Church Musicians, London (now the Incorporated Guild of Church Musicians). Sometime Deputy-Organist, Chester Cathedral; Organist of Mossley Hill Parish Church SS Matthew & James (1880-83). Founded a Choral Union in Ormskirk. Brassey-Salt became dissatisfied with the work of organ builder Robert Hope-Jones, whose electric action had been adopted by Denman. This resulted in a major dispute in the musical press.
1903	1926	Joseph Ormesher	Formerly of the Catholic Chapel, Ormskirk. FRCO, LRAM, &c. Born in Ormskirk, 1873. Originally worked in shop of his father, who was a boot & shoe maker. Lived 13 Wigan Road, where he taught piano. Also taught organ. Founding member of Liverpool Organists’ Association; 2nd. Chairman in 1911/12. Went to St Luke’s, Formby , until 1937 when he was succeeded by Norman Tucker. Also noted in advertisement as O&C of Holy Trinity, Formby, in 1910 (there is evidence of a re-appointment of the Organist – maybe he had he been to Holy Trinity for a short time. Note from web: Joseph’s musical career saw him play on the stage of the Working Men’s Institute on Moor Street for a benefit concert hosted by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool (the Hon. William Oulton) to raise funds for the destitute minors after the Tawd Vale Colliery Disaster in 1898
1916	1916	Master Harold Newton Myers (Deputy)	Lived in Ruff Lane. Mentioned as Deputy Organist, 1916, having been awarded the gold medal for pianoforte playing (1915) by Trinity College of Music (Liverpool District), presented by the Lord Mayor of Liverpool. Master Myers was also a Patrol Leader in the Ormskirk Troop of Boy Scouts
1926	1935	G Fred A Watts	No indication of any relationship to the earlier or later Watts organists
1935	1936	John Ball	Short tenure; asked to resign by the PCC and Wardens, seemingly as a result of dissatisfaction from the congregation. This sparked a major dispute with the choir, whose members went on strike as a result. Nevertheless, Ball tendered his resignation and left.
1936	1936	(Albert Parr) *not confirmed as official Organist	Temporary between Resignation of Ball and Appointment of Bamber.
1936	1962	Edward Bamber	‘Eddie’ Bamber, b.1914; ARCO, ChM, LGSM. Salary increased from £75 to £100 in 1947. Moved south in 1962. Left bequest to the value of half of his house to Ormskirk Parish Church
1942	1943	Charles W Bridson	FRCO; Native of the Isle of Man and Organist of Liverpool Parish Church which had been burnt out in the blitz; temporary appt. whilst Bamber away on military service. Returned to LPC in 1943 Succeeded Jos. Ormesher as Chairman of the LOA, 1912/13
1943	1945	Roderick Brown	Succeeded Bridson in filling in for Bamber; seemingly, he was the son of the gardener to Hugh Reynolds Rathbone at his residence, ‘Greenbank’. The house dated from the C18 and was owned by the Molyneux family, Earls of Sefton. It was leased to William Rathbone in 1788 and was sited in what is now Greenbank Road, adjacent to Sefton Park. Hugh Reynolds Rathbone was Pro-Chancellor of Liverpool University, and the young Brown was recorded as a very talented musician!
1962	1965	Arthur Berry	From St Paul’s, Skelmersdale, where he was replaced by Peter Lyon, FRCO; formerly of Westhead St James; Peter Lyon was Deputy and then Organist (1962) at St Paul’s, Skelmersdale until 1968. Berry resigned 5 Sept 1965 to move for work purposes.
1965	1967	Graham Watts	No known connection with previous eponymous ‘Watts’ organists; resigned to take up teaching appointment in Bury St Edmunds.
1967	1967	Peter S Jones	ARMCM; taught at Sunnymede School, Southport
1967	1968	Leslie Holland	‘Les’ Holland was previously at St Luke’s, St Helens and before that at St Andrew’s, St Helens. Lived Windle Grove, St Helens. Later at St Paul’s, Skelmersdale in the 1970’s.
1968	1971	Ronald Sandbach	ARCM; ‘Ron’ Sandbach came to Ormskirk from Much Hoole, near Preston. Lecturer at Harris College, Preston. Formerly Organist at St Paul’s, Southport for ten years and subsequently Deputy at Holy Trinity, Southport. He was well-regarded by the congregation in Ormskirk and provided some stability after a series of short tenures. Resigned due to ill-health at Easter 1971
1971	1977	Peter Lyon	FRCO, GRSM, ARMCM; Previously Organist of St Paul’s, Skelmersdale, Lyon’s repertoire was extensive and challenging; his voluntaries for December 1971 included, amongst other items, ‘Dieu Parmi Nous’ by Messiaen, the Chorale no.3 by Cesar Franck, one of the D’Aquin ‘Noels’, the C-M Widor Toccata in F, Louis Vierne’s ‘Finale’ from his Symphonie no.1, A Chorale Prelude on ‘In Dulci Jubilo’ by Dietrich Buxtehude, as well as the equivalent by Johann Sebastian Bach and an unspecified Chorale Improvisation by Sigfrid Karg-Elert.
1977	1979	Dennis Fawcett	A Physics teacher by profession, Dennis Fawcett was responsible for the design of the currently-used LED Swell indicators at Liverpool Cathedral, alongside David Wells. Fawcett resigned in 1979, later to take up the position of Organist of St Andrew’s, Maghull
1968	1969	Mrs Audrey Burgoyne (Deputy)	Recognised as Deputy Organist to Ron Sandbach
1969	1987	George Crompton (Deputy)	Recognised as Deputy Organist, 1969; continued under subsequent Choirmasters
1979	1982	Paul Melville (Choirmaster)	Appointed as Choirmaster; Organist and Choirmaster became split roles. Resigned 1982 to take up Organist’s role at St Helens Parish Church
1979	1983	Tony Nightingale	GRSM, ARMCM; Had offered to re-amalgamate the role and take over on resignation of Paul Melville. Went to Sefton Parish Church
1984	1986	David Evans (Choirmaster)	Choirmaster. Offered then subsequently withdrew request to resign as Choirmaster, 1985
1984	1986	Philip Bell	Organist; Resigned Christmas 1986 Philip’s son, Tom Bell, was a chorister here, became a prizewinner at the Royal Northern College of Music and is now the Royal College of Organists Director for the North of England, Wales and the Isle of Man
1987	1994	George Crompton	Deputy redesignated as Organist
1986	?	Alan Hood (Choirmaster)	Choirmaster only
?	1994	Steve Kyriacou (Choirmaster)	Choirmaster only; date of succession from Hood unknown
1994	1997	Richard Bailey	BA, MA, PGCE; re-established joint role of Organist and Choirmaster. Resigned 1997 and was briefly at St Agnes, Ullet Road, before departing to take up a teaching appointment at Portsea. Currently (2024) Organist & Choirmaster of the Parish Church of King Charles-the-Martyr, Falmouth
1997	1999	Christopher Lennie	Resigned due to work commitments as Music Lead for Wigan Education LA. Chris’s late parents, Doug and Joyce, were members of the OPC congregation.
1999	2011	Michael Kelsall	Formerly student at Royal College of Music; Resigned to take post at St Luke’s, Orrell, to further choir work.
2011	present	Mark Rawsthorn	Formerly Priory Church of St Thomas-the-Martyr, UpHolland; previously St Agnes, Ullet Road; St Mary, Walton-on-the-Hill; and St James’s, West Derby

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