science

John Compton (organ builder)

John Compton (organ builder) is a science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand John Compton (organ builder) rather than just read about it. In short: John Haywood Compton (1876–1957) was an English pipe organ builder. His business based in Nottingham and London flourished between 1902 and 1965.

Key takeaways

John Compton (organ builder) belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect John Compton (organ builder) to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of John Compton (organ builder) from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

John Haywood Compton (1876–1957) was an English pipe organ builder. His business based in Nottingham and London flourished between 1902 and 1965.

Life John Compton was born in Newton Burgoland, Leicestershire, England on 20 June 1876. He was an apprentice with Halmshaw & Sons in Birmingham. In 1898, he joined Brindley and Foster in Sheffield. Then he joined Charles Lloyd in Nottingham. He set up the business of Musson & Compton in 1902 in Nottingham with James Frederick Musson. The partnership was dissolved in 1904. In 1919, the business moved to workshops at Turnham Green Terrace in Chiswick, London, which had been vacated by August Gern. He occupied a new factory at Chase Road in Park Royal, North Acton, London in 1930. Compton worked primarily on electric-action pipe organs and electronic organs. His first electronic instrument was the Melotone, a solo voice added to theatre organs, followed by the Theatrone. The Electrone, an electrostatic tonewheel instrument introduced in 1938, evolved out of research by Leslie Bourn, an association begun in the 1920s. Throughout his organ-building career, Compton was assisted by the very capable and inventive James Isaac Taylor, who spent his entire working life with the Compton firm before his death in 1958. Compton also befriended a wealthy industrialist by the name of Albert Henry Midgley, one of the founders of C A Vandervell which later became CAV-Lucas Ltd; a major supplier of electrical equipment to the motor industry. Midgley was one of the most prolific inventors of his age, with over 900 inventions to his name. Following a rift with C A V-Lucas, he was appointed technical director of the Compton firm in 1925. Midgley's genius in electrical engineering and mass-production techniques helped the Compton firm to achieve an extraordinary level of productivity. The company was awarded many original patents in things ranging from simple organ mechanisms to the most complex, state-of-the-art electronic and electrical inventions. Many of those patents show that Midgley was cited as the inventor. On 13 June 1940, during the Second World War, Compton was arrested in Italy while holidaying on the island of Capri. He was interned as an enemy alien but spent much of his time restoring pipe organs before being permitted to return to England. Compton died at King Edward's Hospital in Ealing on 6 April 1957, and was cremated at Mortlake Crematorium. The business continued under the direction of Taylor, who died the next year. The business was wound up around 1965. The pipe organ department was sold to Rushworth and Dreaper and the electronic department became Makin Organs.

Compton organs

Compton cinema organs, built by the John Compton Organ Company of Acton, were the most prevalent of theatre organs in the UK. 261 were installed in cinemas and theatres in the British Isles. Comptons made many fine church and concert organs as well. The company's cinema organs employed the latest technology and engineering and many are still in existence. One of the most notable is the large 5 manual example at the Odeon Cinema Leicester Square in central London. The Pavilion Theatre, Bournemouth in Dorset continues to operate its stunning example, with regular performances from organists from across the United Kingdom.

List of new organs

Southern Grammar School for Boys, Portsmouth, c. 1957 Portsmouth Guildhall, 1959 St.Alban's Holborn, 1961

Rebuilds and restorations Holy Trinity Church, Hull, 1938 Holy Trinity Church, Exmouth, 1953 Christ Church Pennington, Leigh, 1953 Kinema in the Woods (formerly at the Super Cinema, Charing Cross Road, London, February 1928) St Catherine, Bearwood, Wokingham, Berkshire ,1952 (NPOR A00449) Tower Hill Methodist Church, Hessle, 2001 (formerly at Oxted United Reformed Church, Surrey) St Mark's, Portsmouth, 1955, later moved to St Edmund's, Southampton in 1969

References

Other sources Ivor Buckingham. "The Compton List: dedicated to the John Compton Organ Company and its products". Archived from the original on 29 September 2009. Includes details on Theatrones and Electrones "Compton Organ". Penistone Cinema Organ Trust. Archived from the original on 21 August 2008. Retrieved 29 October 2009.

External links "Introducing the Compton Electrone". Electrokinetica. Archived from the original on 12 March 2012. Retrieved 29 October 2009. Includes a thorough technical description. Video: Electrone at BBC's Maida Vale Studios being restored after 40 years on YouTube. Includes sound of organ. Accessed 29 October 2009. Video: Compton Church Electrone Organ on YouTube. Accessed 29 March 2010. Video: Compton Church Pipe Organ on YouTube. Accessed 29 March 2010. Video: Compton Theatre Pipe Organ with melotone on YouTube. Accessed 29 March 2010.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with John Compton (organ builder)

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what John Compton (organ builder) claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to John Compton (organ builder) before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about John Compton (organ builder) ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of John Compton (organ builder)

In research: John Compton (organ builder) appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses John Compton (organ builder) in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: John Compton (organ builder) is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1876 births, 1957 deaths, British pipe organ builders, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for John Compton (organ builder) outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “John Compton (organ builder)” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study John Compton (organ builder) in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what John Compton (organ builder) means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain John Compton (organ builder) out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is John Compton (organ builder) in simple terms?

John Haywood Compton (1876–1957) was an English pipe organ builder. His business based in Nottingham and London flourished between 1902 and 1965.

Why does John Compton (organ builder) matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study John Compton (organ builder)?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on John Compton (organ builder).