Hope Jones Saves the World (Hope Jones Save The World)

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Robin Richmond at the Wurlitzer Organ of the Trocadera at The Elephant http://stories-of-london.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/05/MWYW-21.11.63-ROBIN-RICHMOND.mp3

In 1914, Hope-Jones committed suicide, age 55, by inhaling gas fumes in a hotel in Rochester, New York, some months after leaving the Wurlitzer company. He had written a suicide note stating that he had legal trouble and that a suit was pending. This however was not the case and as a result the coroner declared his death "suicide while insane". [13] He is buried in Elmlawn Cemetery, Kenmore, Erie County, New York. Some have claimed that there were children [14] or least two daughters. [15] However the 1910 United States Census shows no family members other than the wife. Likewise, the 1903 immigration records show none. Robert Hope-Jones was born on the 9 th February, 1859 in The Wirral, Cheshire. After leaving school, he was apprenticed at Laird’s the shipbuilders and then joined the Lancashire and Cheshire Telephone Company in 1881 and eventually became its Chief Engineer. With his knowledge of the properties of electricity and his obvious interest in the pipe organ, he apparently spent much time experimenting in ways to improve the instrument. The basic premises of his studies lay in the beliefs that the pipe organ could imitate the instruments of an orchestra and that the console should be detachable from the organ. His work led to his design of an electro-pneumatic action for pipe organs, which for many is considered to be the single most important advancement in the development of the Theatre Organ. He became choirmaster and honorary organist of St John's Church, Birkenhead, doing similar work in connection with that institution. It was at this church and in connection with this organ that Hope-Jones did his first great work in connection with organ-building. The improved electric action, movable console and many other matters destined to startle the organ world, were devised and made by him there, after the day's business and the evening's choir rehearsals. He had voluntary help from choirmen and boys, who worked far into the night, certain of these men and boys later occupying positions with the Hope-Jones Organ Company. [2]However, shortly after doing this, he committed suicide in 1914 in Rochester, New York, apparently, it is said, as a result of frustrations with the Wurlitzer Company. Mr. Hope-Jones had been banned from the factory floor since he had difficulty deciding when the manufacture of an organ was complete. In its turn, the Wurlitzer Company was frustrated with his tinkering with what they considered to be the finished product and holding up delivery. It is tragic that Mr. Hope-Jones chose such a solution to his difficulties and a sad loss for lovers of the Theatre Organ. Most adults feel powerless and paralysed in the face of a problem as vast as climate change, and of course children do too. The responsibility isn’t theirs. It isn’t really ours either. If we’re going to save the world, change must come from governments and multinational companies, rather than the little people (us). One significant investor in this enterprise was Samuel Clemens, better known as the author Mark Twain. While I was writing the Hope Jones books, I was very conscious that I wanted encourage and empower children to do their own small part to save the world, while at the same time refraining from making them feel guilty, anxious, or scared.

Hope-Jones devised numerous mechanical changes to make the instrument easier to play and improve the operation and sound of the organ, including:Robert Hope-Jones is widely accepted to be the father of the theatre organ. Born in the Wirral on the 9th of February 1859, Hope-Jones’ initial career took him into telephony. From the start, he showed two traits which characterised his later endeavours; extreme inventiveness, and a remarkable ability to garner commitment and involvement (financial and otherwise) from a wide range of people to projects which, if not completely impractical, would certainly end up on the margins of sustainability. Hope-Jones’ activities continued, his enterprises frequently sailing very close to the financial wind and usually being wound-up in favour of yet another set-up. He licensed a number of organbuilders to use his designs, including Ingram of Hereford. Problems at the time of this last partnership resulted in Hope-Jones emigrating to America in 1903, where he immediately set about replicating the type of business activities he had left behind in England. Among his innovations in the field of organ design were improvements to electro-pneumatic action and the invention of such stops as the Diaphone and the modern Tibia Clausa with its strong 8-foot (2.4m) flute tone. The Tibia eventually became a staple of theatre organs. The thunderous 32-foot (9.8m) Diaphone was less successful, but made an impression on audiences of the era. In connection with telephony he invented a multitude of improvements, some of which were later in universal use. About this time he devised a method for increasing the power of the human voice, through the application of a relay furnished with compressed air. The principle was later utilised in phonographs and other voice-producing machines. He also invented the diaphone, later used by the Canadian Government for its fog signal stations and, in a modified form, also adapted to the church organ. [2] A huge advance was now offered in the form of the ‘Wurlitzer Hope-Jones Unit Orchestra’ (later known just as the ‘Wurlitzer Unit Organ’) – this could provide a fullness of sound similar to an orchestra, with a variety of instrumental sounds and effects, but under the control of just one musician, who could watch the screen and match the music to the action in the film, just as a pianist would.