This weekend we became the owners of a beautiful piano, it had been sanded some years ago, in need of some work and is terribly out of tune, but it was a the kind gift from an internet auction couple whom we had never met before to our son, who is 6 and has been learning to play piano with his Grandma for 2 years
It has a metal name plate with the name Spark & Co Worcester on it, we have done a fair bit of googling to find out some information about the history of the piano maker, but we don’t seem to getting very far.
The only reference we find is an article on a Church Music Site about composer and music seller Caleb Simper of 54 High Street Worcester.
https://www.cul.co.uk/music/compx.htmExcerpt from the web page
As far as we know Simper had no formal musical training, though his first job that was recorded (certainly not his first employment) was as manager of E. J. Sparks & Co, a music warehouse based at 12 High Street, Worcester (just two doors away from Elgar Brothers, the music shop owned by Edward Elgar's father and uncle). It has been assumed that he moved to Worcester shortly after his marriage in 1879 to Emily Yates, a 30-year-old Australian who was living at the time with her aunt and uncle in Wilton, just a few miles from Barford. These details from Caleb and Emily's marriage certificate show, in fact, that Simper was already in Worcester by then:
And this really is it, we have no idea how old it is, if it’s a one off or the history of Spark & Co company, really hope you can help us, who doesn’t love a good mystery!
Topic: Spark & Co Worcester - anyone shed any light on this maker ??