Concertina History Resources

Wes Williams

Contributions to the Concertina Library by Wes Williams.

williams-serial-number-muddle Serial Number Muddle in Early Wheatstone Ledgers
by Wes Williams
A major contribution to the muddling of serial numbers in the early ledgers is that multiple ranges of serial numbers are in use at any one date, and this is further complicated by instrument exchanges and hires. The multiple ranges begin as a feature of sales before 1850, but after that the multiple range-lines dominate the structure of sales, with many simultaneous ranges extended over longer periods. Scatter-plots of serial numbers and dates transcribed from the Wheatstone Ledgers reveal the pattern. This is a preliminary version dealing only with the first four ledgers (to early 1854); the completed article will appear soon.
Posted 15 December 2005
» read full article
ledgers-serial-and-date-indexes Serial Number and Date Indexes to the Wheatstone Ledgers
Directory
Indexes listed on this page contain serial numbers and dates from the Wheatstone Ledgers at the Horniman Museum, London. Each item listed is a single index (either serial numbers or dates) to a single ledger. Indexes lead to the ledger identification and page number as a live link: click on it to see the colour photograph of the page from which the information was taken. There is also an automated lookup which finds all records for any single serial number throughout all the indexed ledgers. (Only indexes to nineteenth-century ledgers are yet completed. Additional indexes to the twentieth-century ledgers will be listed here as they are published.)
Posted 15 December 2005; updated 01 February 2006
» go to directory
williams-hayden-chat A Chat with Brian Hayden
by Wes Williams
Brian Hayden was interviewed in 2001 about his background, his invention of the Hayden System, his views on other duet systems, and his suggestions for learning and playing the duet concertina. Contains keyboard diagrams for nine duet systems: the Early Wheatstone Duett, Early Wheatstone Double, Maccann, Jeffries, Crane (Triumph), Linton, Rust ("Piano"), Late Wheatstone Chidley, and Hayden. (There is also a PDF version of the article.) Also published at concertina.net.
Posted 15 February 2003
» read full article
» read full article in pdf
williams-fingering-charts Fingering Charts for Concertinas
by Wes Williams
Keyboard diagrams for the most important concertina fingering systems: English, Anglo, and Maccann Duet, plus Early Wheatstone Double Duet, Early Wheatstone "Duett" Duet, Crane (or Triumph) Duet, Jeffries System Duet, Late Wheatstone Chidley Duet, and Hayden (or Wicki) Duet.
Posted 07 March 2005
» read full article
williams-timeline-snippets A Timeline of Snippets of Concertina History
by Wes Williams
Facts about concertina history and brief self-explanatory clippings arranged in a timeline. This arrangement frequently gives insight into dating instruments or archival materials through their internal evidence.
Posted 15 February 2003
» go to website
williams-minor-makers Minor Historic Concertina Makers and Dealers
by Wes Williams
A valuable compendium of hard-to-find facts about minor concertina makers and dealers. Includes available material for: Jabez Austin, Ball Beavon, Barnet Samuel, Boosey & Co., R. Carr, George Case, Rock Chidley, Edward Chidley, J. B. Cramer & Co., Dove, Dowsett, Ebblewhite, Henry Harley, Keith Prowse & Co., Myers, Nickolds, Parker & Son, Roylance, Joseph Scates, A. B. Sedgwick, Shakespeare, John Simpson, Vickers, and Wallis.
Posted 15 August 2005
» go to website
jeffries-man-and-family Charles Jeffries: the Man and His Family
by Chris Algar, Stephen Chambers, Robert Gaskins, David Lee, Randall C. Merris, and Wes Williams
New information about Charles Jeffries and all of his family that participated in the concertina making business. Contains the first known pictures of Charles and Mary Ann Jeffries, and reproductions of birth, marriage, and death certificates where known. Summary table of Jeffries descendants. Brief descriptions of the addresses where Charles Jeffries lived and worked, with maps of the Praed Street area, White Lion Passage, and the Kilburn area. Based on information from members of the Jeffries family.
Posted 15 November 2005
» read full article
williams-victorian-repair Concertina and Melodeon Tuning and Repairing
by Henry Dryerre
Article on techniques of tuning and repairing concertinas and melodeons by Henry Dryerre, 1890. 3 pp.
Posted 15 August 2005
» go to website
williams-concertina-history The Concertina History Resource
by Wes Williams
This site (still early in its development) contains historical information about concertinas and concertina makers. A timeline helps to organize information about the changes of name and address among the major makers as bits of data are discovered. One use for this information is to help in answering the question “when was my concertina made?” which is very difficult to answer for most makers.

Search Concertina History Resource powered by Microsoft
Posted 15 February 2003
» go to website

Chas. Jeffries receipt
Receipt, 1913, for Jeffries
31-key Anglo Concertina,
in the amount of £6.6.–