Frederick William Collard (baptised 1772, died 1860) was a British piano manufacturer.

Life

Family vault of Frederick William Collard in Highgate Cemetery

Collard, son of William and Thamosin Collard, was baptised at

Wiveliscombe Wiveliscombe (, ) is a town and civil parish in Somerset, England, situated west of Taunton. The town has a population of 2,893. The Square, fronted by several listed structures, held the former market. The parish includes the nearby hamlet o ...

Somerset Somerset ( , ), Archaism, archaically Somersetshire ( , , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by the Bristol Channel, Gloucestershire, and Bristol to the north, Wiltshire to the east ...

, on 21 June 1772, and coming to London at the age of fourteen, obtained a situation in the house of Longman, Lukey, & Broderip, music publishers and pianoforte makers at 26

Cheapside Cheapside is a street in the City of London, the historic and modern financial centre of London, England, which forms part of the A40 road, A40 London to Fishguard road. It links St Martin's Le Grand with Poultry, London, Poultry. Near its eas ...

. In 1799 Longman & Co. fell into commercial difficulties, and a new company, consisting of John Longman,

Muzio Clementi Muzio Filippo Vincenzo Francesco Saverio Clementi (23 January 1752 – 10 March 1832) was an Italian-British composer, virtuoso pianist, pedagogue, conductor (music), conductor, music publisher, editor, and piano manufacturer, who was mostly ac ...

, Frederick Augustus Hyde, F. W. Collard, Josiah Banger, and David Davis, took over the business, but on 28 June 1800 Longman and Hyde retired, and the firm henceforth was known as Muzio Clementi & Co. After some time William Frederick Collard was admitted a partner, and on 24 June 1817 Banger went out. On 24 June 1831 the partnership between F. W. Collard, W. F. Collard, and Clementi expired, and the two brothers continued the business until 24 June 1842, when W. F. Collard retired, and F. W. Collard, then sole proprietor, took into partnership his two nephews, Frederick William Collard, jun., and Charles Lukey Collard. After 1832 the pianos which had long borne the name of Clementi began to be called ''Collard & Collard'', and many patents were in course of time taken out for improvements both in the action and the frame of the instruments. The firm soon gave up the business of music publishing, and confined themselves to pianoforte making, except that they had also the contract for supplying bugles, fifes, and drums to the regiments of the

East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...

until 1858, when the government of India was transferred to the queen. About this time a novelty was brought out, which was suggested by an article in ''Chambers's Journal,'' a piano of the cottage class styled pianoforte for the people, which was sold in considerable numbers. To the

Great Exhibition The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition that took ...

of 1851 Collard sent a grand, for which the musical jury awarded the council medal, but this award was not confirmed, owing to some feeling of jealousy. The firm suffered twice from large fires; on 20 March 1807 the manufactory in

Tottenham Court Road Tottenham Court Road (occasionally abbreviated as TCR) is a major road in Central London, almost entirely within the London Borough of Camden. The road runs from Euston Road in the north to St Giles Circus in the south; Tottenham Court Road tu ...

was burnt to the ground, and on 10 Dec. 1851 a new manufactory in

Oval Road Oval Road is a street in the Camden Town area of London. It runs northwards from Gloucester Avenue near Parkway to the Regent's Canal, a little to the west of the centre of Camden Town. Close to its southern end is the junction with Delancey Stree ...

Camden Town Camden Town () is an area in the London Borough of Camden, around north-northwest of Charing Cross. Historically in Middlesex, it is identified in the London Plan as one of 34 major centres in Greater London. Laid out as a residential distri ...

, was entirely destroyed. F. W. Collard died at 26 Cheapside on 31 Jan. 1860, aged 88, having always lived in the same house since his arrival in London in 1786. He was buried in a family vault on the western side of

Highgate Cemetery Highgate Cemetery is a place of burial in North London, England, designed by architect Stephen Geary. There are approximately 170,000 people buried in around 53,000 graves across the West and East sides. Highgate Cemetery is notable both for so ...

. William Frederick Collard, the brother and partner of the above, was baptised at Wiveliscombe on 25 Aug. 1776, and, in addition to an inventive genius respecting improvements in pianos, also developed a taste for lyric poetry. William retired from business in 1842, died at

Folkestone Folkestone ( ) is a coastal town on the English Channel, in Kent, south-east England. The town lies on the southern edge of the North Downs at a valley between two cliffs. It was an important harbour, shipping port, and fashionable coastal res ...

on 11 Oct. 1866 and was buried a week later in the Collard family vault in

Recordings made with Collard pianos

Neal Peres Da Costa Neal Peres Da Costa (born 1964) is an Australian harpsichordist, fortepianist and organist. He specialises in performance on historical keyboard instruments of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, for which he has gained international renown. He ...

Colin Lawson Colin James Lawson (born 24 July 1949) is a British clarinettist, scholar, and broadcaster. Life and career He was born in Saltburn-by-the-Sea and educated at Bradford Grammar School. A pupil of Thea King, Lawson was a member of the Nation ...

. Norbert Burgmüller, Franz Danzi, Anton Stadler, Carl Loewe, Carl Maria von Weber. ''A Grand Duo: The Clarinet and the Early Romantics''. Label: Clarinet Classics. Played on a Collard & Collard grand piano (1826). *

Nils Henrik Asheim Nils Henrik Asheim (born 20 January 1960 in Oslo, Norway) is a Norwegian composer and organist, living in Stavanger. (in Norwegian) Asheim is educated at Norges Musikkhøgskole and the Sweelinck Conservatory in Amsterdam. His production compr ...

. Frédéric Chopin. ''Mazurka: Researching Chopin''. Label: Challenge Records. Played on a Collard & Collard square piano (c. 1830). *

Peter Katin Peter Roy Katin ( ) (14 November 193019 March 2015) was a British classical pianist and teacher. Biography Katin was born in London; his father was sign-painter Jerrold Katin (who was born in Lithuania) and mother Gertrude. Katin was educated ...

. Frédéric Chopin. ''Chopin: First and Last''. Label: Diversions. Played on a Collard & Collard square piano (c. 1836). * Linda Nicholson. Carl Loewe. ''Piano Music, Volume One''. Label: Toccata Classics. Played on a Collard & Collard piano (1849-1850). *

Werner Güra Werner Güra (born 1964) is a German classical tenor in opera, concert and Lied, also an academic teacher in Zurich. Career Güra was born in Munich. He studied at the Mozarteum University of Salzburg. He continued his studies with Kurt Widm ...

Christoph Berner Christoph Berner (born 1971) is an Austrian classical pianist. Berner won the prizes for interpretation of the works of Mozart and Schumann at the 2003 Concours Géza Anda. Earlier, he took second in the 1997 International Beethoven Competition, ...

Roel Dieltiens Roel Dieltiens (born 1956) is a Belgian cellist and composer. Dieltiens plays both Baroque and modern cello. Dieltiens grew up in a musical family and initially studied piano. At the age of fifteen, just as he was about to give up music, his elde ...

, Julia Schröder. Joseph Haydn. ''Scottish Airs, Piano Trio Hob.XV:27''. Label: Harmonia Mundi . Played on a Collard & Collard piano (1866). * Nathan Jensen. ''Victorian Romances''.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Collard, Frederick William 1772 births 1860 deaths Burials at Highgate Cemetery People from Wiveliscombe Piano makers