A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Barker, Charles

by William H. Husk

BARKER, Charles Spackman, was born at Bath Oct. 10, 1806. Left an orphan at five years old, he was brought up by his godfather, who gave him such an education as would fit him for the medical profession. But Barker, accidentally witnessing the operations of an eminent London organ-builder, who was erecting an organ in his neighbourhood, determined on following that occupation, and placed himself under the builder for instruction in the art. Two years afterwards he returned to Bath and established himself as an organ-builder there. About 1832 the newly-built large organ in York Minster attracted general attention, and Barker, impressed by the immense labour occasioned to the player by the extreme hardness of touch of the keys, turned his thoughts towards devising some means of overcoming the resistance offered by the keys to the fingers. The result was the invention of the pneumatic lever, by which ingenious contrivance the pressure of the wind which occasioned the resistance to the touch was skilfully applied to lessen it. Barker offered his invention to several English organ-builders, but finding them indisposed to adopt it, he went to Paris, where he arrived about the time that Cavaillé-Col was building a large organ for the church of St. Denis. To that eminent builder he addressed himself, and Cavaillé, seeing the importance of the invention, immediately adopted it. Barker afterwards took the direction of the business of Daublaine and Callinet (afterwards Ducroquet, and later Merklin and Schütz), and built in 1845 a large organ for the church of St. Eustache, which was unfortunately destroyed by fire six months after its erection. He also repaired the fine organ of the church of St. Sulpice. Later the pneumatic lever came gradually into use in England. Barker is also the inventor of the electric action. He has returned to England, and at present (1878) resides in London.

[ W. H. H. ]

[App. p.530–1 "The following additional details were communicated by him to the writer. He learnt his art under Mr. Bishop, of London. His invention of the pneumatic lever was not adopted in the organs at York and Birmingham, for financial considerations. He went to France in 1837. Besides the organ of St. Denis, his pneumatic lever was applied to those of St. Roch and the Madeleine in Paris. He took out a brevet d'invention for it in 1839. About 1840 he became director of Daublaine & Callinet's factory, and at the Paris Exhibition of 1855 he received a first-class medal and the Cross of the Legion of Honour. His patent for electric organs was purchased by Bryceson of London. He remained with Merklin until 1860, when he set up a factory of his own under the firm of Barker & Verschneider, and built the organs of St. Augustin and of Montrouge in Paris, both electric. The war of 1870 caused him to leave Paris and return to this country, where he built the organs for the Catholic cathedrals of Cork and Dublin. He died at Maidstone Nov. 26, 1879."]

[ V. de P. ]