This is an alphabetical list of known historical dulcimer players in Cambridgeshire.
Names highlighted in yellow will lead you to individual pages with portraits, biographies and photos of their instruments.
The best-known players from Cambridgeshire were the Lawrence family from Thriplow, who were also makers.
ABBOTT, Mr – Whyton
A newspaper report from Wyton, halfway between St Ives and Huntingdon, of a concert in aid of the church restoration fund mentioned a Mr. Abbott playing ‘popular airs, with variations … with great taste and effect’ on the dulcimer. (Cambridge Chronicle, 8 June 1867).
I have not been able to identify this person through genealogical research.
ASHBOLT, Frederick – Huntingdon
BARNARD, Willis – Haslingfield
BLOWER, Arthur – Wisbech
A letter from musician Harold Covill to Russell Wortley in 1962 mentioned a Mr A.E. Blower from Elm, near Wisbech: ‘I understand he has just made another dulcimer, and he can still play very well. I am sure he would like to see the one which you have Russell, his are not quite so large, but from what I can remember they have a very nice tone.’
This was Arthur Ernest Blower (1893-1973), who was born in the St Benedict’s area of Norwich, and lived with his single mother and grandparents who ran a marine store. His mother married in 1905 and twelve year-old Arthur moved with her and his new stepfather to South Walsham, on the Broads, until moving to Wisbech, on the Cambridgeshire/Norfolk border, where he married in 1923 and lived the rest of his life.
CORNELL, Stanley – Madingley
Russell Wortley mentioned a dulcimer player from Madingley called Stanley Cornell. I have identified him as Stanley William Cornell (1893-1981), born in Brixton, south London. His father was from Icklingham in West Suffolk and his mother from Whittlesford in Cambridgeshire. Stanley moved up to Madingley whilst in his twenties, initially to the Three Horseshoes pub, where his father had become the licensee. He married locally, worked as a tractor driver and lived in the same house on Church Lane, Madingley, until his death in March 1981.
INGRAM, John – Huntingdon
A court report in the Cambridge Chronicle (27 Oct 1877) mentioned a man called John Ingram who “visited feasts and fairs and played a dulcimer.” He was summonsed to appear in front of the Huntingdon Board of Guardians, on a charge of not keeping up with payments for an unspecified relative in the workhouse, but he did not appear in court.
I have not been able to identify this person through genealogical research.
JEPSON, Mr – Tydd St Giles
A newspaper report from Tydd St Giles, the most northerly village in Cambridgeshire, of a concert in the school in 1890 mentioned a Mr. Jepson playing a dulcimer solo. (Thetford & Watton Times, 24 May 1890).
I have not been able to identify this person through genealogical research.
LAWRENCE, George Wilmott – Thriplow
LAWRENCE, Herbert – Thriplow
LAWRENCE, Will – Comberton
LEE, Mr – Harston
In 1914, at a supper in aid of the village clothing club in Harston, the “songs and selections” played on the dulcimer by Mr. Lee of Cambridge were “much appreciated”. (Cambridge Independent Press, 18 Dec 1914).
I have not been able to identify this person through genealogical research.
MARCH, Mr – Godmanchester
The dulcimer was a popular instrument for travelling musicians, and one such, a Mr. March, was much praised in a newspaper report from 1844. His visit to Godmanchester had been much appreciated, and he was bound for St Neots next – there is no indication where he came from or what sort of locations/events he performed at, but interestingly, “he has a very superior dulcimer” according to the reviewer! (Cambridge Independent Press, 7 Dec 1844).
I have not been able to identify this person through genealogical research.
MURFITT, Mr – Linton
Among the performers of various musical items at a Peace Day tea for the old people of the village of Linton in 1919 was a Mr. Murfitt on the dulcimer (Cambridge Press, 1 Aug 1919).
This seems likely to be Charles Murfitt (1860-1930), who was the station master in Linton from 1913. Charles was the son of a blacksmith in Newmarket, where he started his working life as a railway parcels clerk. He went on to work in King’s Lynn and then became station master at a succession of small stations in the Fens before moving to Linton in 1913, where he worked till retirement and then lived out his later days in a house on the High Street.
NELSON, Mr – Cambridge
There are two newspaper references to a Mr Nelson playing the dulcimer in Cambridge in 1858. In August it was stated that he had recently moved to the city, and the news item indicated that he also played what we would call a xylophone – ‘a dozen pieces of common deal … on which he performs with his sticks’ which was apparently placed on straw. The word xylophone was not in common usage until the 1870s and we have found other instances of them being described as dulcimers. Whether this was the only instrument he played, or whether he played a stringed dulcimer as well, is not known, but I think the phrasing (“The musical sounds, too, produced from a dozen pieces of deal …”) suggests that the xylophone was a second instrument, played in addition to the (stringed) dulcimer. In December, he played “many Spirited Airs” on his “melodious dulcimer” as the after dinner entertainment at the annual Police Dinner, held in the Fountain Inn on Regent Street in central Cambridge.
I have not been able to identify this person through genealogical research.
NICHOLLS, Mr – St Neots
Three news reports from St Neots in the 1880s mention a Mr F. Nicholls playing the dulcimer at community events, two of which were in the suburb of Eynesbury. The first concerned an entertainment put on by the recently formed Youths’ Club in St Neots, and Nicholls was singled out as one of the people who contributed most to the success of the evening, with two dulcimer solos, one of which was The Bluebells of Scotland.
In January 1885 and 1886, Mr F. Nicholls was part of the dance band playing for the annual Choir Soirée in the schoolroom, which was packed with about 120 people. The description of the 1885 event is wonderful:
‘Soon after nine, dancing was in full swing, polkas, waltzes and country dances finding most favour. [… ]Mr Nicholls delighted the company by his skilful manipulation of the dulcimer, an instrument on which he displayed no little dexterity. […]The band was composed of the following members of the Choir:- Messrs Flavill, Ives, Gaunt, Redwell and the Choir Master, violins; Messrs Sutton and Kemp piccolo; Mr Emery flageolet and Mr Nicholls, dulcimer.[…] Little time was lost between dances, and half-past one came all too soon, when Sir Roger [Sir Roger de Coverley, the traditional finishing dance] was commenced, and with the chimes of two were mingled the strains of God Save the Queen.’ (St Neots Chronicle, 10 Jan 1885)
Both the report and the band were slightly smaller in 1886, but Mr F. Nicholls was there with his dulcimer once again.
There was only one F. Nicholls living in the area in the 1880s, and that was Frederick Nicholls (1866-1940) who lived on Berkley Street in Eynesbury. He was only fifteen at the date of the first news report, but then he was a member of the Youths’ Club, so that fits. He was born in Hail Weston, Huntingdonshire in late 1866 and his father died when Fred was only a toddler. He lived with his mother and sister, carrying on the family laundry business, in the same house for the rest of his life. He died in early 1940, after a spell in St Neots Institution (the former workhouse) due to illness.
WILKINSON, William – Grantchester
All material on this website is copyright. Anyone wishing to quote or use this original research should credit it to Katie Howson and cite this website as the source. Please see our Terms and Conditions page for more information, and do contact me if you wish to use any of the contents in any way. Thank you.