St Mary Star-of-the-Sea Catholic Church, West Melbourne, 1898-1900

St Mary's Church was designed in a French Gothic idiom by Melbourne architect Edgar J. Henderson, whose other major church designs include St Mary's Cathedral, Sale, St James's Church, Gardenvale and St Mary's, Echuca.[1] The foundation stone was begun in 1891 and the completed building (apart from the tower and spire) opened on 18 February 1900. The total cost of the building was estimated at 27 or £28,000, and was among the most costly parish churches erected in Australia.

The building, of cruciform shape, includes an aisled nave of five bays, with tall clerestory, wide transepts, eastern chapels, and a two-bay sanctuary terminating in a tripartite apse. The total length of the building is 175ft, and the height to the roof ridge is 75ft, with an internal height of 60ft to the groined wooden ceiling, a magnificent example of Victorian craftsmanship. The building was designed to seat 1200 persons and is regarded as Melbourne's largest parish church.[2]

George Fincham was born in London on 20 August 1828. He was apprenticed to the leading London organ builder Henry Bevington and was later a foreman with J.C. Bishop, where he worked alongside Alfred Hunter and John Courcelle, who were later to export a number of fine organs to Australia.

Fincham arrived in Victoria in 1852 but did not proceed to build his first Australian organ until 1864. He established a factory at the corner of Bridge Road and Stawell Street in Richmond, which was progressively enlarged until it occupied a large block. In 1866, Fincham was awarded £100 pounds by the Victorian Government for establishing the organ building industry in Victoria.

Fincham’s instruments were widely sought after and in the ensuing years he built close to 200 instruments for buildings in Victoria, South Australia, New South Wales, Tasmania and New Zealand. His magnum opus was the grand organ of four manuals and 70 speaking stops, built for Melbourne’s Royal Exhibition Building, opened in October 1880.

Fincham exhibited instruments in a number of exhibitions both in Victoria and interstate. Invariably they received awards on account of their mechanical and tonal excellence.

In 1882 he established a branch in Adelaide under the direction of his former apprentice Arthur Hobday, who was later to become a partner until his departure to New Zealand in 1897.

In its peak years, the firm built many large organs including those at Freemason’s Hall (three manuals, 42 speaking stops), the Australian Church, (four manuals, 53 speaking stops) and St Kilda Town Hall (three manuals, 37 speaking stops).

Fincham used excellent quality materials in building his instruments. The metal pipework, in particular, was particularly fine, consisting invariably of spotted metal, although Belgian zinc was used for flue basses longer the 4ft from 1880 onwards. His wooden pipework was also skillfully made and voiced.

During the 1880s, Fincham developed and patented a form of tubular-pneumatic action which was used for all large organs from that date onwards. This enabled consoles to be detached from organs, a full range of couplers to be supplied, and pistons to be provided for adding and subtracting stops.

George Fincham's specification for a three-manual organ of 37 speaking stops was accepted by the church on 12 September 1898, the cost being quoted as ´£1,551. Later, it was agreed to incorporate a Mixture III ranks on the great and a Fifteenth 4ft on the pedal. The organ was installed in the church by 19 December 1899 and the instrument opened on 18 February 1900, the certificate of completion dating from 19 March 1900.

The organ was described in The Austral Light of February 1900:

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