W Howlett & Son, market place, Norwich

[cebrunet]

Good day all,

I really certainly inherited my grandmother's pump organ. It's absolutely beautiful. I understand this is a piano forum but I haven't had any luck so far. I'm curious to know more about the history. I'm not getting far with web searches. I did learn quite a bit about harmoniums, pump organs, reed organs and the like, but nothing about the history of this particular company. Can anyone help? I'd like to know about the area where it came from, the history of the company, and be able to identify a time frame or even narrow down more information about this specific one.

I know that my grandparents brought it with them from Scotland in the 1980s. That's the extent of my knowledge. I've reached out to family members so hopefully I can learn a little bit more from them. In the meantime I'd appreciate any advice or direction.

I attached a picture of the front and back of the harmonium. On the back side our notes pointing to the imprint so I found.

Thank you for your time and talents!

[Bill Kibby]

Howlett was one of the biggest names in piano and organ retailing around Norfolk and Suffolk. There is no evidence that they ever had a piano or organ factory, so we can only guess that (like so many others) he put his name onto instruments bought in from wholesalers.
William Howlett claimed to have been established in or near Norwich in 1820, Norfolk, so he was probably born by 1800. We do not know if he was a pianoforte maker originally, but he was soon describing himself that way. Here's a "Howlett" piano we have, from 1907.