ORGAN OF THE MONTH 13: July 2003
St Mary's RC, Wednesbury (W J Bird, c1900) |
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For the third successive month, we feature a church bearing the name of St Mary. This Roman Catholic church houses a largely unaltered, early twentieth century, small three-manual instrument by Walter James Bird & Son of Selly Park. Little is known of its history, although in recent years it has been maintained by Hawkins.
It was built during the pastorate of Father John Piris (1898-1916), but no precise date for its building is available. Father Piris himself made a contribution to the cost of its installation by presenting to the church £800 (a considerable sum in those days) won while on a cruise (in order to improve his health) to Sweden, where he had been persuaded to buy a ticket in the Swedish National Lottery! The instrument itself was the gift of a parishioner, Major E Smith.