Henry Preece 1a 2a 3a 4a 5a 6a 7a 8a 9a 10 11a 5b 12a

Birth Name Henry Preece
Gender male
Age at Death about 75 years, 5 months, 1 day

Parents

Relation to main person Name Birth date Death date Relation within this family (if not by birth)
Father John Preesabout 178712 November 1859
Mother Margaret Stephensabout 179612 April 1869
    Brother     Stephen Preece about 1827 10 November 1872
    Brother     Alfred Preece about 1828 1 February 1904
         Henry Preece about 1831 2 June 1906
    Brother     William Preece about 1832 about January 1835
    Brother     George Stephens Preece about January 1835 about April 1835
 
Father John Preesabout 178712 November 1859
Ann Daviesabout 178824 September 1820
    Half-brother     John Prees about March 1810 10 February 1811
    Half-sister     Ann Prees about 1813 about July 1837
    Half-sister     Harriet Prees about 1814
    Half-brother     John Prees about 1816 26 April 1876
    Half-brother     James Prees about 1819

Attributes

Type Value Notes Sources
WikiTree Preece-928
 
FamilySearch KHDD-6K9
 

Source References

  1. 1841 United Kingdom Census
  2. 1851 United Kingdom Census
  3. 1861 United Kingdom Census
  4. Cardiff and Merthyr Guardian
      • Date: 7 April 1854
      • Page: Page 3
      • Citation:

        LLANDAFF PETTY SESSIONS, April 5th, 1854. - [Before the Dean of Llandaff, Rev. R. Prichard, and Evan David Esq.] - ... - Stephen Preece, of the Heathcock, Llandaff, applied to have the license transferred from himself to his brother, Henry Preece. Granted.

  5. Western Mail
      • Date: 6 June 1906
      • Page: Page 4
      • Citation:

        "DOCTOR OF BLOWERS" DIES AT LLANDAFF.

        AN OLD CATHEDRAL SERVANT'S QUAINT WHIMS.

        ORGAN-BLOWER WHO "BROUGHT UP" SIX ORGANISTS.

        The death occurred on Saturday at Llandaff North, after an illness of several months, of one whose form and figure were in past years very familiar to those who visited and worshipped in Llandaff Cathedral. Henry Preece was born in the city when it was a quaint village, with its ruined church and its clusters of thatched cottages. He was brought up in the shadow of the old cathedral, where his father had filled the office of sexton, and in the course of time the deceased became the organ-blower, a position which he held until the new organ with its electrical machinery deprived him of his vocation. He used to express grave doubts whether the new machinery would be as reliable as the hands which had worked the bellows for so many years. In his early days Henry Preece was employed by the parochial authorities to post notices on the surrounding churches, and he was fond of relating instances which had occurred during his long country walks on these occasions.

        Everyone going to the cathedral knew the quaint old official, who dubbed himself "The Doctor of Blowers," and claimed that he had been the master of successive organists, Dr. Gladstone, Mr. Aylward, Mr. C. Lee Williams, Mr. Hugh Brooksbank, Mr. G. G. Beale, and Mr. C. E. Gibbons.

        When the present vicar came to Llandaff in 1878, he met the organ-blower, who, with the importance befitting his position, gave him this word of encouragement: "Me and Mr. Williams, the organist, will do all we can to help you."

        In the absence of Mr. M. Morgan, the verger, Preece would conduct strangers round the cathedral, and rumour has it that on these occasions he would draw largely on his imagination in describing its monuments and the changes it had undergone. At length his sight failed, and as one of his former pupils saw his old master groping his way in darkness along the aisles of the church which he loved so well he felt inspired to write the following verses :-

        Though sightless, still thou hoverest around
        The sacred spot, the doubly hallowed ground,
        Where once in summer's heat and winter's cold
        Thou to the stranger wondrous story told.

        Told of the ruin of that ancient fane,
        Told of the ivy creeping o'er the pane;
        Told of dismantled tower and crumbling wall,
        Told of the lightning flash and hideous fall,

        Which battered in the roof of beauteous nave,
        Making a wreck, as when tumultuous wave
        Strews o'er the shore the fragements of the ship
        That lately rose and fell with graceful dip.

        A piteous sight, to make the angels weep
        When bending from on high they saw the heap
        Once fashioned with a noble, suble art,
        That told how zeal and knowledge had their part.

        And thou canst tell - for thou didst live the while -
        Of careless looking on that saddened pile;
        Till o'er men's minds a better spirit came,
        Restoring beauty with transforming flame.

        What wonder that thy later love doth keep
        A guard on turret, tower, and pointed steep!
        Thy life was lived within its restful shade,
        And there life's offering was made.

        O, tragic figure of a lonely man!
        Thou raisest eyes that can no longer scan
        Earth's fairest sight, or man's restoring skill,
        Unless thy soul those sightless orbs doth fill.

        What matters that thou hast not learning's store,
        What matters that thy labours now are o'er!
        Lean on thy staff and slowly climb the hill
        And teach the stronger love doth conquer still.

        Year by year, at every choir supper, the old man proposed the same toast, which he was careful to remind his hearers was the composition of the Doctor of Blowers - "May the members of the Church of England be as strong as the butt of an oak and as numerous as the birds thereon."

        By his death a quaint figure disappears from the cathedral city. He passed away peacefully in his quiet retreat at Llandaff North at the age of 74 years.

      • Citation:

        The late JOHN PREECE, [sic] "Doctor of Blowers," the organ-blower who "brought up" six organists. Preece died on Sunday at the age of 74.

      • Date: 15 September 1891
      • Page: Page 5
      • Citation:

        Mr. Henry Preece, the veteran organ-blower of Llandaff Cathedral, is styled the "doctor of blowers." He takes great pride in enumerating the "pupils" that have "blossomed into flowers" under his "tuition." Amongst these he claims Mr. Wilkes, Mr. Hamilton Clarke, Dr. Gladstone, and all other organists and students, past, present, and future. At local Church gatherings Mr. Preece is always in evidence with his celebrated self-constructed toast, "May the Church of England be as firm as the butt of an oak, and her members as numerous as the leaves thereof." The "doctor of blowers" is regarded as an accomplished pneumatic agent.

  6. findmypast.co.uk / Glamorgan Archives: Parish Registers - Glamorgan
      • Date: 7 June 1906
      • Page: Burial - Henry Preece (Llandaff)
      • Date: 24 August 1831
      • Page: Baptism - Henry Preece (Llandaff)
  7. 1881 United Kingdom Census
  8. 1891 United Kingdom Census
  9. 1901 United Kingdom Census
  10. General Register Office: England & Wales Death Index
  11. National Library of Wales: GB 0210 LLANDAFF - Diocese of Llandaff Records
      • Date: 29 June 1857
      • Page: LLCh/1813. - Letter from Henry Preece to the Dean of Llandaff requesting an increase of salary for his Sunday and weekly duty
  12. General Register Office: GRO Digital Image
      • Date: 15 April 1869
      • Page: Death - Margaret Preece