Moutrie Pianos

[mmoutrie]

I am interested in finding any information on Moutrie pianos that people can offer, as I am trying to trace the family history back, and I believe that Moutrie pianos were built by my direct ascendants (great great grandfather). I am therefore interested in anything people can tell me, including where the pianos are now, any photographs, and any other information that may be useful in bringing the family history together.
Thank you.

[Bill Kibby]

I have several piano firms on file with the name Moutrie, and it seems likely they were related. The famous Collard firm began with a William Frederick Collard and a Frederick William Collard, but the Moutrie family included William Frederick Collard Moutrie!! Follow the instructions below and contact me direct.

[Bill Kibby]

Ignore the standard comment about photos below this message, and contact me direct. I'm sure that, between three of us, we can all learn something.

[Bill Kibby]

Have you seen

http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/genea ... akers.html

?

[Bill Kibby]

No dates of serial numbers are published for Moutrie pianos, can you give me any more detail about what is written on the piano?

Valuation is impossible without on-the-spot inspection by a tuner-technician, see

http://www.uk-piano.org/piano-gen/valua ... ianos.html

[mmoutrie]

As much as I would love to buy a Moutrie piano, regrettably I am currently living in a one bedroom flat with barely enough room to swing a cat, let alone keep a piano! There was a (Moutrie) grand piano on ebay recently which looked gorgeous, doubly so because my family were only aware of Moutrie uprights before finding it.

My grandfather (Moutrie)'s father's father (Moutrie)was a pianomaker, as was my grandfather's mother's father (Leadbetter) - my great grandparents got married in 1918, so an approximate date for the pianos would be about 90-100 years old, I would guess. I do not know when the Moutrie company was founded, or how prolific they were. I would like to find out as many details as I can to try and piece together the history of the company and the pianos.

I would also like details on where the Collard comes in - I know that James Moutrie (my great x4) grandfather married Eleanor Collard (1781) so I would guess that the Moutrie Collard connection comes in somewhere around here, but I have yet to find a piano connection other than on the piano names.

[Bill Kibby]

I probably have more on Moutrie than anyone else, including contacts with descendants, so email me, I'm sure we can help each other.

[Bill Kibby]

They certainly produced pianos in China, but there was a problem pronouncing the name, which became Moudeli. Photos would be very interesting, read on...

[gamini]

HI
I have a moutrie piano. I am from Sri Lanka. Its made in Shanghai and its a tree pedal piano with rose wood body. Must be about 50 -60 yrs old.

If you need more information I am glad to do so

Gamini

[gamini]

HI
I have a moutrie piano. I am from Sri Lanka. Its made in Shanghai and its a three pedal piano with rose wood body. Must be about 50 -60 yrs old.

If you need more information I am glad to do so

Gamini

[Bill Kibby]

I'm sure you and I could help each other with descendants, contacts and bits of information. If you have logged in, there is an email button below, otherwise type pianogen into your internet address bar.

[Angela Montford]

I would be very interested to hear from mmoutrie(Bath) and especially Margery Mahoney (Windsor). My husband is also a descendant of Samuel and Maria Moutrie. I have details of early family history from late 18th c onwards, including a photograph of Maria. I also have information on the Harrison organ building side.

[Bill Kibby]

Again, I'm sure we could have a useful exchange of information. If you have logged in, press the email button below. Otherwise, type pianogen into your internet address bar.

[Alvin]

I have a Moutrie piano with serial number 2003122 which I believe was made in 2004. Brand new assembled in Nanjing Piano Factory. German strings, german pinblock, British felt. I have no other information on it other than it must have stemmed from Collard & Collard. I have been owning English pianos for over a decade. Overall unbelievably rich sound for a 5' 1" with very powerful tones and bass. Treble produces much brighter tones and the sound is so remarkably magnificent even a Shigeru Kawai or Yamaha C7 comes nowhere close. These are the pianos that seem as though their soundboards were soaked in mud before assembly.

I am also looking for more information with regards to Moutrie or any connections it has or has had. I have a lot of faith in this piano and believe that a lot of effort is put into handcrafting this instrument. Here, check out my pictures..

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/whatabloo ... /my_photos

If you have any questions feel free to send them to me wteo340@yahoo.com I will try to see if I can answer them. I haven't found a camera good enough to capture the parts of the Moutrie with a close-up, clear shot. In time I will place pictures of the agraffes, unique rear-end bridge and coned-end bass strings.

[Bill Kibby]

As I told you before, no-one anywhere will give you a valid, unconditional valuation without on-the-spot inspection.

[andyaeola]

I'm holidaying in Malaysia with my in-laws and they have what can politely be described as an 'antique' Moutrie, though I am unable to check the serial number because of the vast amount of ornamants on top. I'd guess from the style of the cabinet it is from the 1950's. Apart from being a good tone out of tune through most of the range, odd hammers hitting the wrong strings, sustain dampers not working at various points (gosh how I miss my piano) what is most interesting to me it the way the keys are made.
They are one molded piece of plastic - no sharp edge where the horizontal meets the vertical, just a smooth rounded corner, AND the plastic is rivetted or tacked to the wood underneath - two tacks at the bottom of the small rise, and one at the far end of the horizontal.

Andy

[PianoGuy]

That key construction was common for school pianos (so the little darlings couldn't pull the ivories off) and for 'tropicalised' pianos exported to humid countries. I expect there's a mesh grille under the keyboard and across the back to discourage nesting moth and termites too.

As an aside, I fail to be conviced that a mere 5 footer of a Chinese piano could see off a Shigeru Kawai or C7 for tone quality.

G

[andyaeola]

"As an aside, I fail to be conviced that a mere 5 footer of a Chinese piano could see off a Shigeru Kawai or C7 for tone quality."

Me neither.


This Moutrie I am visiting in Penang - has no mesh that I can see. Under the keys it appears to be solid or ply wood. Also the back of the piano is solid flat wood i.e. nowhere to hold when moving the instrument. The only external protrusions to the rear are the four bolts holding the frame to the cabinet. There could be mesh within, but I can see nothing between the soundboard and the back panel either.

Inside on the cabinet base there are eight small packs of mothballs, I wonder if they came with the piano in the 50's.
Even the practice pedal does not work. It has not been tuned for 4 years and has my three nieces learning on it with typewriter touch. Poor old piano.

Andy

[PianoGuy]

The flat wood panelling does the same thing as the mesh, ie it keeps insects out... Except in this case, being solid, it'll probably keep the sound in too!

[Angela Montford]

[quote="lja"]HI

I'd be pleased to exchange information on the Moutrie piano makers with lja. I have traced the piano makers line back to the 18th century and have also begun to discover the roots of the Chinese connection. I would love to know where the William Moutrie family fits into the tree.





Have just been researching our family and came across this forum. My mum was a Moutrie before marriage and grew up in a large family of Moutries out in Southend On Sea...many maiden aunts who never married after the 1st World War. Her father was one of about 13 children , he being the youngest born in 1899. William Moutrie worked in the city of London, having a house in Eastcote, Ruislip and part of the family had a greengrocers in London. The piano company is a well known story in our side of the family although none of us have a piano by them !! I am close to Bath too so was suprised to see a Moutrie there ! Perhaps we can fill in some more blanks in the family tree...my mother is still alive and well at 76 and between us we have a number of photos and a rough family outline.[/quote]

[Alvin]

Forum Admin: 1st warning
Every once is entitled to their opinion and as this is an open forum you will get visitors who do not agree with your views. However, we require that all who reply to views not agreeing with theirs do so in a civilised manor your post has been edited




"As an aside, I fail to be conviced that a mere 5 footer of a Chinese piano could see off a Shigeru Kawai or C7 for tone quality."

First of all, I am not trying to "convice" you. In this forum people post entries of their pianos here and I am stating how I feel,


Secondly, it is an English piano made in China, not a Chinese piano. I am not as rich and stupid like you who would rather buy a Kawai than a Steinway with the money you have. I was stating my own personal opinion.

[Anne16]

Hi - I have my grandparents' upright Moutrie piano @ my home in Hampshire, UK. It was apparently made in Singapore in the early 1940's (?) & delivered to their home in Hong Kong. From there, it was shipped back to West London in the late 1940's and has moved twice since: to Hertfordshire and now Hampshire. We are in the process of trying to find someone to take it away, preferably to re-cycle it for use repairing other pianos, as we are reluctant to let it go. It's a bit battered & out of tune, & sadly there is no-one left in the family who can play anymore. If anyone is interested, please let us know.

[Bill Kibby]

I thought the Singapore ones were sold as "Moudeli". It is very difficult getting rid of old pianos if they are not worth the cost of restoration. Years ago, I tried collecting piano parts to build up a stock, but they are so varied, there was no future in them, and they were scrapped. It might help you if you could post photos here to show what the whole piano looks like, or email them to me to post.

[fluffy82]

Hey all,

I don't know about a Moutrie piano, but I was curious about something similar.
The Moutries were apparently very close to several piano, pianoforte, organ and harmonium makers. Not only Collard and Harrison, but also my ancestors the Grahams were related.

James Moutrie had an organ building workshop on 16 Henry Street in Pentonville, London, up to his death in 1896. His sons James and Robert continued as "J & R Moutrie" in Clerkenwell (another son, George, was also an organ builder). In Pentonville, however, we find from the mid 1880's 3 brothers Walter, William and Frederick Graham. All american organ builders and harmonium makers.
William Graham married Ann Jane Moutrie, James' daughter and sister to James, George and Robert Moutrie.

If anyone ever spots a Graham harmonium, I'd be interested to know. There was one for sale a couple of years ago for £10 (!) by someone who found it in an old house he bought and wanted to get rid of it...

Regards,
Tom

[Bill Kibby]

I do come across occasional references to Walter, like this 1892 one, but not the others, and no actual harmoniums so far! I would say thirty pounds to ninety is quite a common range, but like antique pianos, some sell for tuppence.

[fluffy82]

1892Graham132x.jpg

I do come across occasional references to Walter, like this 1892 one, but not the others, and no actual harmoniums so far! I would say thirty pounds to ninety is quite a common range, but like antique pianos, some sell for tuppence.

Thanks Bill! They do pop up quite a lot in newspapers and some directories.

Someone pointed me into another direction. The three Graham brothers were living and working in Islington. There was an organ maker and "piano tuner & manufacturer" named William Graham in Newcastle as well. On the censuses he and his family stay around Newcastle, except in 1861, when we can find them in... Islington!
I am now trying to establish a family link - if there is any.

Though early censuses mark him as an organ builder, the later ones agree more on the piano making and tuning. There are several references to his shop (on Portland Place I believe) in newspapers as well.
His son, Cuthbert Graham, is also a "pianoforte tuner" and joins the freemason's loge as "musician".
He must have taken on his father's shop. William died in the 1880's, but there is an advertisement in 1899 that speaks about "the Graham family, making and selling pianos for almost 100 years".

Lots to discover still...

[Bill Kibby]

Yes, I still have a long list of archives to visit, including Newcastle, where there were 2 firms, Graham & Adam, and Graham & Young.

Unfortunately, Graham is a common surname, there was John Graham and James Graham in Scotland, and various others around Britain.