Fraud, Burglary and Sex in the Musical Instrument Workshops of Georgian London

This presentation explores the activities of musical instrument makers viewed through the lens of legal documents, shedding light on their daily activities, both legal and illegal.

Throughout the Georgian period, London was the most significant British centre for musical instrument manufacture.  Traditionally, research has focussed on surviving instruments and on the largest or most successful firms.  However, we can learn a lot more about musical instrument makers and their lives through examining a range of archives, from the Proceedings of the Old Bailey to Newspapers.  As well as illuminating the formal business operations of makers, including the position of apprentices within the workshop (rather too close to their master’s daughter in some cases), we can see how certain makers bent or broke the rules and what the results were – in extreme cases deportation or even death by hanging.  As a result, we have a much more holistic view of musical instrument making in the capital as well as a fascinating window into everyday life in Georgian London.

Jenny Nex is Curator of the Musical Instrument Collection and Lecturer in Musical Instruments at the University of Edinburgh. Building on her PhD relating to the business of instrument making in London between 1760 and 1820, her research interests focus on musical instruments and their social and cultural contexts, notably exploring the financial and business operations of makers through diverse archival sources. Publications include work relating to London-based firms such as Longman & Broderip and to specific types of manufacture such as the gut string making trade, as well as highlighting the roles of women in the instrument business. Following her degree in Music from the University of Edinburgh, Jenny studied singing at the Guildhall School of Music and continues to sing as much as possible, notably in the Scottish Chamber Orchestra Chorus, the choir of Old St Paul’s Church and as a soloist specialising in historically informed performance practices.