Percy William Pilcher Explained

Percy William Pilcher (5 July 1866 – 3 May 1937),[1] [2] ARCO,[3] was an organist, composer, and a railway photographer, who was one of the first in Britain to capture images of moving trains. 250 of his glass plate negatives from the F. Burtt collection are held by the National Railway Museum (NRM) in York, the earliest of which has been dated to around 1881–2. Pilcher sold much of his work to F. Moore's Railway Photographs (later the Locomotive Publishing Company), who published them as uncredited prints and postcards. The corresponding negatives are also now in the possession of the NRM.[4] [5]

Biography

Pilcher was born in Boston, Lincolnshire on 5 July 1866, the son of Margaret[6] (née Westland) and William John Pilcher, FRCS, LRCP.[7] [8] He was educated at Bath College from 1879 to 1884, before moving on to Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge, where he changed subjects from medicine to music. Graduating with a B.A. in 1888 and an M.A. four years later, he studied externally under Frederick Bridge and was appointed to the position of organist at Shrewsbury Abbey in 1892. It is likely that he exerted some influence regarding the design of a new organ the abbey ordered from William Hill & Sons in 1911, but never fully completed.[9] In Shrewsbury, Pilcher is reported to have been on the committee of the local motorcycle club in 1910.[10] He became a member of staff at Shrewsbury School in 1918 and remained there until his retirement in 1935. He died suddenly at his home in the town on 3 May 1937.

Pilcher married Margaret Mowbray Harewood at St Botolph's Church, Boston on 16 April 1895.[11] The couple had four sons, the eldest of whom, Lt. Gerald Aubrey Pilcher (b. 27 February 1896), died at Ypres on 26 October 1917 as a result of wounds received during the Battle of Passchendale.[12] [13] Their second son, Col. Alan Humphrey Pilcher (b. 12 July 1898), served in the British Army during World War I (when he won a Military Cross) and also World War II.[14]

Evidently, Pilcher shared an interest in photography with his brother, Cecil Westland Pilcher, MRCS, LRCP (d. 17 July 1943), who "acquired considerable repute as an artist, photographer and etcher",[15] and was president of the pre-World War I Boston Camera Club.[16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Photography

Pilcher's earliest photographs seem to have been taken around 1881–2 in the Boston and Grantham area, and in 1889, whilst a student at Cambridge, advances in the speed of photographic emulsions enabled him to become one of the first people to successfully capture a train in motion (others cited in connection with this feat are Tice F. Budden, Edward J. Bedford, and A. H.Malan).[21] [22] However, the majority of Pilcher's work dates from after his move to Shrewsbury in 1892, when he was presented with the opportunity to photograph an especially diverse selection of rolling stock. In part this was because the town's station was jointly owned by the two largest railway companies in Britain at the time, the Great Western Railway (GWR) and London and North Western Railway (LNWR), but an additional advantage was that both organisations sent their most modern locomotives to Shrewsbury whilst simultaneously consigning those nearing retirement to duties in the area.

From 1896, the publication of illustrated railway magazines provided photographers interested in the subject with a new market for their work, although the standard of reproduction was poor and contributors had little incentive to contemplate "the finer points of their craft". Moreover, the publications involved "were content to publish an interminable series of pictures of trains, taken time after time at some well-known convenient spots, together with the dullest official photographs of locomotives".[22]

A notable event which Pilcher found himself ideally placed to document was the Shrewsbury railway accident of 15 October 1907, when an LNWR passenger and mail train derailled at the junction just to the north of the station, killing 18 people and injuring over 30 more.[23]

Pilcher was a treasurer of the Shropshire Camera Club.[24] At their Annual Invitation Exhibition in 1900, Pilcher showed a set of slides which included a "very fine" portrait of a "North Sea skipper".[25] At the same event in 1903, he sent six slides to be shown, "A Contented Mind" being amongst them.[26]

Published music

Pilcher composed several known, published works[27] [28] for organ,[29] [30] piano, and four-part choir:

Organ music

An apparently unpublished "scherzo for strings and organ" (c.1900) is also documented, having been performed by the Shrewsbury Orchestral Society at public concerts on at least two occasions.[36] [37]

Piano music

Choral music

Pilcher also arranged "A Song of the Oar" by F.T.Prior of Shrewsbury School, for solo voice and unison chorus, published by Novello & Co. in 1900.[40] [41]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Venn, John . 1898 . John Venn . Biographical History of Gonville and Caius College 1349-1897, Volume II: 1715–1897 . Cambridge . Cambridge University Press . 471 . . 2 October 2022.
  2. News: . 7 May 1937 . Sudden Death – Passing of Mr P. W. Pilcher . subscription. The Boston Guardian. 4297 . 10 . 2 October 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  3. News: . 15 December 1905 . Tuition - Mr. P.W. Pilcher, M.A., A.R.C.O. . subscription. Shrewsbury Chronicle. 133 . 1 . 2 October 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  4. Web site: . The P W Pilcher collection of railway photographs . . London . 30 September 2022.
  5. Book: Patrick, David J. . 2007 . The Railway Photographs of P. W. Pilcher . Chester . London & North Western Railway Society . 9780954695149.
  6. News: . 10 March 1923 . Boston Lady's Death - Funeral of Mrs. Margaret Pilcher . subscription . Boston Guardian . 3559 . 2 October 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  7. Obituary . The Lancet . August 1897 . 150 . 3861 . 570 . 10.1016/S0140-6736(00)31244-2 .
  8. News: . 16 August 1897 . Death of Dr. Pilcher, of Boston . subscription . . 1403 . 3 . 15 October 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  9. Pursey . Nigel . Owens . Gary . amp . 2019 . Renovating and Completing Shrewsbury Abbey's 1911 Hill Organ . PDF . Organists' Review . . 106 . 4 . 31–35 .
  10. News: . 25 March 1910 . Shrewsbury Motor Cycle Club . subscription . Shrewsbury Chronicle . 133 . 7 . 18 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  11. News: . 18 April 1895 . Marriages – Pilcher-Harewood . subscription . . 22088 . London . 1 . 15 October 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  12. News: 13 November 1917 . Daily List of November 5th (No. 5408) In Thirteen Parts . subscription . War Office Weekly Casualty List . London . . 15 . 1 . 15 October 2022.
  13. Web site: Lieutenant Gerald Aubrey Pilcher . . 15 October 2022.
  14. News: . 1 August 1957 . Obituary – Mr. Humphrey Pilcher: Contribution to Life in Assam . subscription . The Times . 53908 . London . 10 . 16 October 2022.
  15. News: . 21 July 1943 . Great Loss to Boston – Passing of Dr. C. W. Pilcher . subscription . The Boston Guardian . 12052 . 4 . 15 October 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  16. News: . 2 April 1904 . Boston Camera Club . subscription . The Boston Guardian . 2575 . 5 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  17. News: . 13 January 1906 . Boston Camera Club Exhibition . subscription . The Boston Guardian . 2667 . 3 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  18. News: . 26 April 1907 . Boston Camera Club . subscription . The Boston Guardian . 2733 . 5 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  19. News: . 6 April 1912 . Boston Camera Club . subscription . The Boston Guardian . 2988 . 7 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  20. News: . 19 April 1913 . Boston Camera Club . subscription . Boston and Lincolnshire Standard . 1 . 42 . 12 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  21. Web site: . 2018 . Guide to NRM Photographic Collections . live . https://web.archive.org/web/20220127104756/https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/sites/default/files/2018-03/Photographic%20Collections%20Summary%20Guide.pdf. 27 January 2022 . York . National Railway Museum . 8,155 . 24 October 2022.
  22. Book: Riley, R. C. . Simmons . Jack Simmons (historian) . Jack . Riddle . Gordon . 1997 . Photography . https://archive.org/details/oxfordcompaniont0000unse_z2r0/page/377/mode/1up . The Oxford Companion to British Railway History from 1603 to the 1990s . registration . Oxford . Oxford University Press . 0192116975 . 177–179 . Internet Archive.
  23. Yorke . H. A. . 12 February 1908 . London and North-western and Great Western Joint Railway . London . . 10 November 2022.
  24. News: . 25 October 1901 . Shropshire Camera Club . subscription . The Shrewsbury Chronicle . 129 . 5 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  25. News: . 2 March 1900 . Shropshire Camera Club – Annual Invitation Exhibition . subscription . The Shrewsbury Chronicle . 128 . 6 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  26. News: . 21 February 1903 . Shropshire Camera Club – The Invitation Exhibition . subscription . Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News . 2507 . 10 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  27. Book: Baillie . Laureen . Balchin . Robert . amp . 1985 . Pilcher (Percy William) . https://archive.org/details/catalogueofprint0000brit/page/193/mode/1up . The Catalogue of Printed Music in the British Library to 1980 . registration . 45 . London . S. G. Saur . 086291342X . 193 . 20 December 2022 . Internet Archive.
  28. Book: Pazdírek, Franz . 1985 . Pilcher P. W. . https://archive.org/details/universalhandboo14pazd/page/363/mode/1up . Universal-Handbuch Der Musikliteratur Aller Völker . The Universal Handbook of Musical Literature. . Vienna . 22 . 362 . 21 December 2022 . Internet Archive.
  29. Web site: Works by composer – Percy William Pilcher . . 1 October 2022.
  30. Book: Henderson, John . 2005 . Pilcher, P. W. . https://archive.org/details/directoryofcompo0000hend/page/579/mode/1up . A Directory of Composers for Organ . registration . Third . Swindon . John Henderson (Publishing) Ltd. . 0952805022 . 579 . 20 December 2022 . Internet Archive.
  31. Web site: Andante Grazioso . Alexander Street . 2 October 2022.
  32. Web site: Andante Grazioso – Pilcher, Percy William . . 2 October 2022.
  33. Review of Original Compositions for the Organ. Nos. 137-140 . The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular . 1891 . 32 . 579 . 297 . 10.2307/3362494 . 3362494 .
  34. Web site: Prelude No. 1 & No. 2 . Alexander Street . 2 October 2022.
  35. Web site: Prelude No. 1 – Pilcher, Percy William . Boosey & Hawkes . 2 October 2022.
  36. News: . 31 March 1900 . Orchestral Society's Concert . subscription . Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News . 2357 . 10 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  37. News: . 15 December 1900 . Concert at Shrewsbury . subscription . Wellington Journal & Shrewsbury News . 2394 . 3 . 17 December 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  38. Back Matter . The Musical Times and Singing Class Circular . 1892 . 33 . 598 . 748–768 . 3361436 .
  39. News: . 10 December 1892 . Miss Rachel Gray's Concert at Shrewsbury . subscription . Wellington Journal and Shrewsbury News . 1976 . 6 . 2 October 2022 . British Newspaper Archive.
  40. . 30 August 1901 . More School Songs . . 24 . 1233 . 767 . 21 December 2022 . Google Books.
  41. 1 August 1900 . During the Last Month. Published by Novello & Co., Limited . The Musical Times and Singing-Class Circular . 41 . 690 . 550 . Internet Archive . 21 December 2022.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Percy William Pilcher".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.