The Ingram Organbuilding Company

The Cinema Organs of Ingram & Co. Ltd. Edinburgh

Contributed by Larry McGuire
based upon original material supplied by Michael Thompson, Aberdeen

Please acknowledge the authorship
if using any of the following for research purposes

The Edinburgh firm of Ingram & Co. Ltd. was established in the early 1880's, and was the builder of many fine organs throughout Scotland, their business benefiting greatly from the beneficence of the millionaire Andrew Carnegie, originally from Dunfermline, Scotland, when he donated funds to the Church of Scotland to install pipe organs into their many buildings.  Arthur Ingram, the founder of the firm, was the younger son of Eustace Ingram Sr, and brother to Eustace Ingram, who traded as an organbuilder in Hereford.  From the records available, it would appear that the two brothers must have traded both separately, and together, with Arthur Ingram trading variously as Arthur Ingram, Ingram & Co, and Ingram of Edinburgh Ltd, whilst his brother, taking over the family firm of Eustace Ingram, also traded as Ingram Brothers, Ingram of Hereford, and Eustace Ingram Ltd.

The first theatre organ to be built by Ingram was for the St Andrew's Square Picture House, Edinburgh, in 1925/26.  With their solid background in church organ building, it is not surprising that this instrument was a 'straight' one of 2 manuals and 28 speaking stops, with the stop tablets arranged in a single row above the keys.  The action was electro-pneumatic, and the instrument was sold to St Ninian's Old Parish Church, Stirling, in 1939, where it still sounds forth. The cinema itself was destroyed by fire in 1953.

Their first 'true' cinema organ was Opus 993, built in 1928 for the Capitol Cinema, Leith, in 1928.  The organ was opened by famous Scottish organist Lyndon Laird at the same time as the cinema.

The organ was a 2/8, installed in a single chamber.  Soon after the cinema was converted for bingo use in 1968, the organ was removed. By this time, the console was in a ruinous condition, and apart from some parts being reused for spares, the bulk of the instrument was scrapped.

Their next two instruments were built in 1929.

Opus 1012 was a 2/6, installed in the Beverley/Blue Halls Cinema, Tollcross, Edinburgh.  Although the console was prepared for a further 2 ranks, these would appear never to have been installed.  This organ was removed, tonally revised, and rebuilt in a Stirling Church in 1960, but its original console was moved to an organbuilder in England, who had it stored in a church for some time.  Its present whereabouts are unknown.

Opus 1013 was the 2/4 of the Astoria Cinema, Corstorphine, Edinburgh, and opened on New Year's Day 1930.  This organ was played by Norah Milne, and broadcast many times in its life.  Taken out of use in the 50's, it was restored in the Cinema in 1969/70 by members of the Cinema Organ Society/Scottish Theatre Organ Preservation Society, and played on Fridays and Saturdays during intermissions and for play-ins, until late 1973.  The organ was removed in 1974, and the cinema demolished.   The organ was first stored in the garage showroom of Robt. Gallo of Edinburgh, subsequently sold to an Edinburgh antiques dealer - who burned most of its wooden parts - and subsequently bought by C M Davidson, who has now had the remains of the instrument in storage for some 20 years.

The last Ingram Cinema organ was also perhaps their finest, the 3/11 plus Piano, installed in the Rutland (later Gaumont) Cinema, Edinburgh, and opened in the summer of 1930.  Installed in three chambers over the proscenium, it was removed by F Bell of Edinburgh in 1958, who broke it up for parts.

Although not a cinema organ, the instrument installed by Ingram in 1900 in the Hydropathic Hotel, Crieff, Scotland, is typical of their smaller instruments.  Of two manuals and pedals, with exhaust tubular pneumatic action, it comprised the following:-

 

PEDAL			SWELL (enclosed)
Bourdon	16		Geigen Diapason	8
Bass Flute	8		Lieblich Gedackt	8
Great to Pedal			Salicional	8
Swell to Pedal			Gemshorn	4
			Oboe	8
GREAT			Tremulant
Open Diapason	8
Clarabella	8		Swell Suboctave
Dulciana	8		Swell Octave
Harmonic Flute	4
Clarinet	8		Unbalanced Swell pedal
Swell to Great			3 x Composition pedals to Swell & Great

Ingram of Edinburgh were taken over by Rushworth and Dreaper in 1956.

Also of interest, is what appears to be the sole 'theatre' organ built by his brother Eustace Ingram, for the Duchess Theatre, Balham, London, in 1899.  This was a 2 manual and pedal instrument, with a casework dived into three parts. It comprised the following :-

 

PEDAL			SWELL
Open Diapason	16		Violin Diapason	8
Bourdon	16		Lieblich Gedackt	8
Octave	8		Salicional	8
Great to Pedal			Voix Celeste (probably TC)	8
Swell to Pedal			Geigen Principal	4
			Cornopean	8
GREAT			Tremulant
Open Diapason 1	8
Open Diapason 2	8		Swell Suboctave
Stop'd Diapason & Clarabella	8		Swell octave
Principal	4
Harmonic Flute	4
Harmonic Piccolo	2
Swell to Great

It is interesting to note that Robert Hope Jones, the founder of the theatre organ as it known today, worked with Eustace Ingram during 1901 to 1902, trading as Ingram, Hope-Jones & Company.  The design of the Astoria Edinburgh's 2/4 Ingram was almost identical to a similar size of instrument manufactured by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company in America who had bought the Hope Jones designs in 1910, although none of that type had ever been imported to Britain.  The relays were almost identical to those of Wurlitzer, as was the chest action and percussion actions, indicating the influence of Robert Hope Jones was present in Ingram's almost 30 years later.