Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

cnr River Terrace and Llewellyn Street, Kangaroo Point

Charles Dirksen Organ Co., Brisbane, 1958, for former meetinghouse on this site
2 manuals, 4 ranks extended, electric action
Rebuilt & installed in present location 2003 W.J. Simon Pierce
2 manuals, 6 ranks extended, electric action

Brisbane Australia Temple and Meetinghouse of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, Kangaroo Point
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2004)]

Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2011, 2012 (last updated June 2012)

Latter-day Saint missionaries began to proselyte in Brisbane in 1892. From 1904 to 1958, the Brisbane branch met in a small wooden chapel in Gibbon Street, Woolloongabba. The present site was formerly occupied by St John's College, University of Queensland, and the first Latter-day Saint meetinghouse was opened at this location in 1958. These buildings were demolished in 2001 to make way for the Brisbane Australia Temple and the new meetinghouse, which were opened in 2003.¹  The organ in the present meetinghouse was built by the Charles Dirksen Organ Co. of Brisbane for the first meetinghouse opened here on 9 August 1958.²

Charles Dirksen, a Dutchman, had trained with the firm of L. Verschueren, Heythuysen, Netherlands, before migrating to Australia. He spent two years in Adelaide before moving to Brisbane in 1956 for his honeymoon. Deciding to stay in Brisbane, he set up his own business there, but returned to Holland around 1963 after a period of ill health. A specialist in pipe-making, Dirksen made his own metal and wooden pipes in Brisbane. Around 1957, he secured a contract to build small extension organs for some 14 Mormon churches around the country.³ Originally comprising four ranks, the Kangaroo Point instrument was the largest of Dirksen's extension organs for Mormon chapels in Queensland, the others being of two ranks.⁴ In terms of the number of derived stops, it was also the largest of the Queensland four-rank extension organs.⁵

The organ was substantially refurbished during the 1980s by H.W. Jarrott of Brisbane,⁶ and survived without other major attention until the end of the century. Late in 2001, the instrument was removed to storage by W.J. Simon Pierce in preparation for rebuilding. The rebuilt instrument was installed in the new meetinghouse in 2003. It retains exactly the same specification as the original, but with two new ranks (Principal 4ft and Rohr Flute 4ft - shown as ranks E and F in the specification below) to reduce the reliance on extension. The chests were completely rebuilt, and Dirksen's electric action was overhauled with the provision of new magnets, solenoids and relays. A new façade was made using Victorian Ash.⁷

New façade following the rebuild by W.J. Simon Pierce in 2003
[Photograph by Geoffrey Cox (January 2005)]

The following specification shows both Dirksen's original derivation of the stops from four ranks A-D, as well as the revised scheme using also the new ranks E and F in brackets:

Tremolo
Compass: 61/32
Direct electric action
Detached stop-key console
Balanced swell pedal.⁸

The Dirksen console of 1958
[Photographs by Geoffrey Cox (January 2005)]

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1 Historical citation in foyer of new centre, cited by G. Cox, 2004.

2 Date supplied to G. Cox by Bishop Ralph B. Orth, 1974.

3 Personal communication to G. Cox from John Spall, an employee of Dirksen in Brisbane, 1973.

4 The two-rank instruments in Queensland were at the Mormon chapel, Toowoomba (1957), the Mormon chapel, Camp Hill (1957) and the Mormon chapel, Chermside (1958). The only two-rank Dirksen to survive in its original location outside of Queensland is at the Mormon chapel, North Parramatta.

5 The other three four-rank instruments in Queensland were at St Luke's Anglican Church, Ekibin (1957), the Presbyterian Church, Wynnum (1960) and Emmanuel College, St Lucia (1961).

6 Personal communication to G. Cox from Ray Smith, 2004.

7 The Organ Voice, vol. 28, no. 2 (June 2002), p. 24; The Organ Voice, vol. 28, no. 3 (September 2002), p. 28; The Organ Voice, vol. 28, no. 4 (December 2002), p. 42; Personal communication to G. Cox from Simon Pierce, December 2002.

8 Specification noted by G. Cox, 1973 and 2005. The Great Trumpet 16ft is omitted in the specification given in The Organ Voice, [vol. 29], no. 4 (December 2003), pp. 11-13.