Books › British violin-makers classical and modern; being a biographical and critical dictionary of British makers of the violin from the foundation of the classical school to the end of the nineteenth century, 1904 › scan 291
Scan 291
British violin-makers classical and modern; being a biographical and critical dictionary of British makers of the violin from the foundation of the classical school to the end of the nineteenth century, 1904
4 lines. Read by computer on 3 September 2026. No printed page number was found. See the scan on archive.org.
1to a cabinet carver, and he became so expert a workman that at the age of eighteen he purchased his indentures from his master for £100, and he at once commenced work as a journeyman. At this age his parents became dependent upon him, and he maintained them for the rest of their lives. Having studied music, and desiring to play the double-bass, he set about making one for his own use. Two of his friends becoming aware of the fact persuaded him to make one for each of them also. So soon as these were completed, the one which he had made for himself was so eagerly coveted by another friend that he must needs let it go. And so it happened with nine others—all made in sets of three, with corners like a violin—he was not able to keep one of them for himself. Thus, although he had made twelve basses, he was still without a bass for his own use. Previous to the time when Tarr took up the gouge, there was not a single privately owned bass in Manchester, the only ones in use being the property of churches and theatres. A curious circumstance illustrating this fact is that a man who played the bass in the Old Theatre Royal for forty-nine years never had a bass in his own house. The instrument he played upon is now the property of Mr. W. H. Stewart, principal bass of the Crystal Palace. This instrument it was that created in Tarr a first longing to make and play one, and he was often seen in the gallery listening to its tones.
3His business, subsequently, gradually resolved itself into that of violin- and bass-making, chiefly the latter, with that of repairing. He worked till he was about eighty years of age, and turned out two hundred and six basses, besides a number of violins, violas, and 'cellos. His eldest son was with him in the business till his eighteenth year, when he left home. Another son, Joseph, was also a violin-maker, and is now, I believe, in America. His youngest son, Shelley, is in business in Manchester. Tarr also built a number of organs and pianofortes, and took out several patents for his inventions in this line. At this time he had James Cole as pupil and assistant.
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