Walter Clabburn snr (1862-1942) and Walter Clabburn jnr (1886-1947)
Dulcimer player Ian Clabburn told us that it was known within the family that his grandfather, Walter Clabburn (born 1886), played a dulcimer which had been made by his father, but the instrument has not survived – or at least its whereabouts are not known.
Walter George Clabburn senior (born 1862) – Ian’s greatgrandfather, who made the dulcimer – was born at a period where industries in Norwich were undergoing big changes and new opportunities were opening up to replace the ailing textile industry. Walter senior’s father was a sawyer and he may have instilled his son with an interest in carpentry which led him to make his own dulcimer. However the late 19th century was a period when there were many dulcimer players around in Norwich, and the area he was born and brought up in was where Mark Widdows, dulcimer maker extraordinaire had lived and worked; their lives overlapped by 27 years. Walter Clabburn (senior) worked as telephone linesman for the G.P.O. receiving a pension through ill health in 1920.
Walter George Clabburn (junior) left Norwich for London as a young adult, working initially as a pub barman: in 1911 at the Queens Arms, Hackney, and 1921 at the Salisbury Arms, Burdett Road, Mile End. By 1939 he was working in the boot trade – a skill that he might have originally picked up in Norwich, as it was an important trade in the city well into the mid twentieth century. He spent the remainder of his life in east London, where he died in 1947.
The Clabburn dulcimer
It’s not known whether the dulcimer made by Walter Clabburn snr survived, or when it was built, but the most likely period would be 1880-1920 when the instrument was at the height of its popularity and D-I-Y magazines published articles on how to make your own dulcimer. (See the Tuning pages for further information on this aspect.)
Thank you to Ian Clabburn for the family photos.
Sadly Ian passed away in May 2025 and so updating and uploading this page was prioritised, as a tribute to him and his family.
And amazingly, Ian’s son has located and bought a dulcimer made by Ian, so the family tradition of playing dulcimers can carry on to a new generation.
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