John Loosemore (August 1616 – 18 April 1681) was an English builder of

pipe organs The pipe organ is a musical instrument that produces sound by driving pressurised air (called ''wind'') through the organ pipes selected from a keyboard. Because each pipe produces a single tone and pitch, the pipes are provided in sets called ...

. He is best known for his organ at

Exeter Cathedral Exeter Cathedral, properly known as the Cathedral Church of Saint Peter in Exeter, is an Anglican cathedral, and the seat of the Bishop of Exeter, in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Exeter, Devon, in South West England. The presen ...

in Devon, which he completed in 1665. John Loosemore was born in

Barnstaple Barnstaple ( or ) is a river-port town and civil parish in the North Devon district of Devon, England. The town lies at the River Taw's lowest crossing point before the Bristol Channel. From the 14th century, it was licensed to export wool from ...

, Devon, where he was baptised on 25 August 1616. His father was also a builder and repairer of organs, and passed on the trade to his son, who moved to

Exeter Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...

sometime before 1645. The other two sons of the family,

Henry Henry may refer to: People and fictional characters * Henry (given name), including lists of people and fictional characters * Henry (surname) * Henry, a stage name of François-Louis Henry (1786–1855), French baritone Arts and entertainmen ...

and

George George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Gior ...

, also had a connection with organ music as they were eventually appointed organists at

King's College, Cambridge King's College, formally The King's College of Our Lady and Saint Nicholas in Cambridge, is a List of colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college lies beside the River Cam and faces ...

and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...

, respectively, probably under the patronage of

Dudley North, 4th Baron North Dudley North, 4th Baron North, Order of the Bath, KB (160224 June 1677) of Kirtling Tower, Cambridgeshire was an English politician, who sat in the House of Commons of England, House of Commons at various times between 1628 and 1660. Life North ...

. During the rule of the

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

in Exeter from 1646 to 1660, church music was frowned upon. Many church organs, including the previous instrument in Exeter Cathedral, were vandalised or destroyed during the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. During this period, Loosemore was employed primarily in repairing organs and building other keyboard instruments for private ownership. One of his

virginal The virginals is a keyboard instrument of the harpsichord family. It was popular in Europe during the late Renaissance and early Baroque periods. Description A virginals is a smaller and simpler, rectangular or polygonal, form of harpsichord. ...

s dated 1655 has been preserved in the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (abbreviated V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.8 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen ...

. With the restoration of Charles II to the throne in 1660, Loosemore was commissioned first to repair the old organ in Exeter Cathedral, and then, in 1662–1663, to build a new one which was completed on 27 May 1665. He reported the cost of the new organ as £847.7s.10d. Loosemore constructed at least two other organs during his lifetime: another in Exeter Cathedral for the choir school and one at

Nettlecombe Court Nettlecombe Court and park is an old estate on the northern fringes of the Brendon Hills, within the Exmoor National Park. They are within the civil parish of Nettlecombe, Somerset, Nettlecombe, named after the house, and are approximately fro ...

, Somerset, for Sir George Trevelyan. After the marriage of his eldest daughter Joan to his assistant John Shearme in 1674 or 1675, Loosemore turned over much of his business to him and lived in semi-retirement. After a period of increasing infirmity, he died on 18 April 1681, and was buried in Exeter Cathedral. His gravestone was originally placed in the floor at the east end of the nave near the entrance to the south aisle of the choir, close to his organ, but has since been moved to the north choir aisle near the north wall. He is the namesake of the John Loosemore Centre for Organ and Early Music in

Buckfastleigh Buckfastleigh is a market town and civil parish in Devon, England situated beside the Devon Expressway ( A38) at the edge of the Dartmoor National Park. It is part of Teignbridge and, for ecclesiastical purposes, lies within the Totnes Deanery. ...

, Devon, founded in 1974 by John Wellingham, William Drake and Allan Thomas as a teaching establishment offering tuition in both organ playing and history, and construction of organs in an adjoining workshop. The teaching programme has been discontinued, but the building (a former Congregational chapel) remains in use by William Drake Ltd, a firm of organ builders and restorers.

References

External links

Cathedral organs
– Exeter Cathedral

More Loosemore genealogy information
{{DEFAULTSORT:Loosemore, John 1616 births 1681 deaths Businesspeople from Barnstaple Pipe organ builders