Goulburn London piano

[litenbror]

Hi,

I just received this piano as a gift and I am trying to find out a bit more about it.

The name on it is Goulburn London, both on the inside of the lid and inside the piano.

If anyone has any information on these pianos I would be most appreciative.

Jason

[Bill Kibby]

It is not usually possible to tell you anything about an individual piano just from the name. If you can post photos here to show what the whole piano looks like, or email them to me to post, I may be able to tell you more. So far, I can find no references in our many London lists to a maker or retailer named Goulburn. I am assuming that you checked the spelling!

Some of the mysteries of piano names are discussed at
http://www.pianohistory.info/names.html
and many piano names are meaningless. I am not aware of a real maker named Goulburn, but I will check through my paper files, which include THE WORLD'S LARGEST DIRECTORY OF PAST UK PIANO FIRMS.

If you want to search inside the piano for clues, have a look at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

The only Goulburn on my files was one Her Majesty's commissioners who presided over bankruptcies for a couple of piano makers.

[litenbror]

Hi Bill,
Thanks for the reply I have sent you some photos of you could have a look that would be great. Under the keyboard on the cast piece there are the words imperial and the code BB310 I also found the date 29/5/44 written in pencil on the left hand side on a piece of timber that runs across behind the hammers.

[Bill Kibby]

Unfortunately, because of a change in software on this forum, I am having trouble inserting your photos, so I am waiting for advice.

The fact that the name is cast into the iron frame, as well as being on the front, suggests that the piano was always intended to be a "Goulburn", but so far, I can find no evidence of a firm with that name. I will continue searching through paper files.

The BB mark is thought to indicate that the frame was supplied by Booth & Brooks, and you can find some information on them about halfway down the page at
http://www.pianohistory.info/archives.html

This appears to be a typical upright of the twenties. The 1944 date is unlikely to be the date of manufacture, and since you don't show any dates on the bottom of the iron frame, the only answer is to look under the keys, as explained at
http://www.pianohistory.info/datemarks.html

[litenbror]

Thanks for the info Bill I will have at look under the keys and see what I find.
Cheers Jason