John Broadwood (6 October 1732 – 17 July 1812) was the Scottish founder of the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keybo ...

manufacturer

Broadwood and Sons John Broadwood & Sons is an English piano manufacturer, founded in 1728 by Burkat Shudi and continued after his death in 1773 by John Broadwood. Early history John Broadwood (1732–1812), a Scottish joiner and cabinetmaker, came to London i ...

Life

Broadwood was born 6 October 1732 and christened 15 Oct 1732 at St Helens,

Cockburnspath Cockburnspath ( ; sco, Co’path) is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. It is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way a long-distance footpa ...

Berwickshire Berwickshire ( gd, Siorrachd Bhearaig) is a historic county, registration county and lieutenancy area in south-eastern Scotland, on the English border. Berwickshire County Council existed from 1890 until 1975, when the area became part of t ...

, and grew up in

Oldhamstocks Oldhamstocks or Aldhamstocks ("old dwelling place") is a civil parish and small village in the east of East Lothian, Scotland, adjacent to the Scottish Borders and overlooking the North Sea . It is located south-east of Dunbar and has a popul ...

, East Lothian. He inherited his father James Broadwood's (b1697 Oldhamstocks) profession, that of a wright or carpenter/

joiner A joiner is an artisan and tradesperson who builds things by joining pieces of wood, particularly lighter and more ornamental work than that done by a carpenter, including furniture and the "fittings" of a house, ship, etc. Joiners may work in ...

, and as a young man walked from Oldhamstocks to

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, a distance of almost , where he worked for the harpsichord maker Burkat Shudi. Burkat Shudi died in 1773, and John Broadwood took control of the company from his brother-in-law in 1783. Broadwood is credited, together with Robert Stodart, founder of another famous firm of piano makers, of helping

Americus Backers Americus Backers (died 1778), sometimes described as the father of the English grand pianoforte style, brought the hammer striking action for keyboard instruments from his master Gottfried Silbermann's workshop in Freiburg to England in the mid-18 ...

to perfect the English Grand Action, which remained in use by many makers virtually unchanged for 70 years and, in Broadwoods' case over 100 years, and continued in use in various improved forms until the early years of the 20th century. In time his sales of pianos exceeded those of harpsichords, to the point that he ceased to manufacture harpsichords in 1793. He died in

. Broadwood's other technical innovations in piano manufacture include: adding a separate bridge for the bass notes,

patent A patent is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the legal right to exclude others from making, using, or selling an invention for a limited period of time in exchange for publishing an enabling disclosure of the invention."A ...

ing the piano pedal in 1783 and expanding the then-standard five octave

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upwards by half an octave, in response to a request of

Dussek Jan Ladislav Dussek (baptized Jan Václav Dusík, Černušák, p. 271 with surname also written as Duschek or Düssek; 12 February 176020 March 1812) was a Czech classical composer and pianist. He was an important representative of Czech music ...

, and then by half an octave downwards. As a company, Broadwood and Sons prospered, and was passed into the hands of his sons, James Shudi Broadwood and Thomas Broadwood.

Family

John married Shudi's daughter Barbara in 1769. They had four children, then Barbara died. He then married Mary Kitson in 1781 and had a further six children. Many of his descendants were involved in pianoforte manufacturing in England and some were involved in the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

during the reign of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 216 days was longer than that of any previo ...

. Others emigrated to Australia, where Broadwood descendants still live. The Broadwood

family tree A family tree, also called a genealogy or a pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. More detailed family trees, used in medicine and social work, are known as genograms. Representations of ...

can be traced back to circa 1580. The British general Robert George Broadwood (1862–1917) was a grandson by his son Thomas (son by John's second wife Mary Kitson) and Mary Athlea Matthews.

References

* ''Piano: An Encyclopedia'', page 57 * ''Pianos and Their Makers'' by Alfred Dolge, page 244 * ''Broadwood by Appointment" by David Wainwright, Quiller Press, London 1982

External links

John Broadwood and Sons
official website
John Broadwood and Sons Piano Manufacturers
by Sally Jenkinson, Surrey County Council
John Broadwood & Sons (Grand Piano 16000) - ''The Piano in Polish Collections''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Broadwood, John 1732 births 1812 deaths 18th-century Scottish people 19th-century Scottish people People from Berwickshire People from East Lothian Harpsichord makers Piano makers Scottish businesspeople Scottish inventors Scottish musical instrument makers