Colin,
Your query rang a bell with me. 30 years ago, as a boy
chorister/soloist-for-rent I spent three weekends in the Woodstock home
of Dr. G A C Webb, organist at the large ( name escapes me ) United
church on Vansittart Ave (hiway 59). He had built himself an amazing
trapezoidal house in the late '50's dominated by a long tall A-frame
music room containing a 9' grand, a 7' two manual harpsichord and a
3/30+ Woodstock Organ Co pipe organ. Dr. Webb, a decorated WW2 medical
veteran and superb musician, was also a morphine addict in his early
70's. Since he was mostly 'on another planet' I was free to spend my
time in, around and under this most wonderous installation.
The house still stands although the instruments are long gone. I
understand that some of his pipe-work was incorporated in the same
church's organ refurbishment seven{?) years ago. The house was for sale
three years ago and I arranged to view it for old times' sake. It is
now in sad shape, cut up as low-rent units.
More to the point Dr Webb was an inheritor/director (?) of the
Woodstock Organ Co and a prominent citizen of Woodstock who loved
piloting his sky blue 1963 Cadillac four-door hard-top while fiddling
all the power accessories. I also clearly recall seeing the name G
Roland Webb inked on several books and folios.
I imagine that contacting the Woodstock Historical Museum and/or a
Woodstock Library search, perhaps on the 'net, will fill in the blanks.
I also reccomend telephoning Woodstock area organ tuner/maintenance
listings from the Yellow Pages and speaking to an 'old boy'; they are
the best historians we've got, bless 'em... Hope this is useful;
certainly it's a good story.
Dave Kerr
sprocket@orc.ca
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