King's College Chapel, St Lucia
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
King's College Chapel, St Lucia
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
Historical and Technical Documentation by Geoffrey Cox
© OHTA 2012 (last updated January 2012)
King's College was founded by the Methodist Conference of Queensland and opened in 1913 on River Terrace, Kangaroo Point. For many years, as well as providing accommodation for university students, King's was involved in the theological education of candidates for ministry. The college was transferred to the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland in 1954.1
The organ in the college chapel was built by Whitehouse Bros of Brisbane in 1956 at a cost of £3,183.13.9.2 It was of similar size to their organ built in the previous year for Cromwell College, which used tubular-pneumatic action. Electro-pneumatic action was essential at King's because of the distance between the organ and the console. The pipework is located behind a decorative screen at the front of the chapel, with the console to one side at the same end of the building.
The interior of King's College Chapel, St Lucia
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
W.J. Simon Pierce carried out substantial re-wiring of the organ in 1989, at the same time re-voicing the Suabe Flute 4ft on the Great, and replacing the Gamba 8ft stop on the Swell with a Gemshorn 2ft.3 The original Gamba later found its way to St John's Lutheran Church in Bundaberg.4
Console of the 1956 Whitehouse organ
[Photograph by Howard Baker (1990s)]
| GREAT Open Diapason Dulciana Suabe Flute SWELL Clarabel Principal Gemshorn Oboe PEDAL Bourdon COUPLERS Swell to Great Swell to Pedals Great to Pedals Swell to Great Super Octave Swell to Great Sub Octave |
8 8 4 8 4 2 8 16 |
[1989; replaced original Gamba 8ft] |
Detached stop-key console
Balanced swell pedal
Electro-pneumatic action
Compass: 61/30.5
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1 'King's College: About Us-History' at http://www.kings.uq.edu.au - accessed January 2012.
2 Whitehouse Bros List.
3 Organ Society of Queensland Newsletter, vol. 16, no. 5 (April 1989), p. 49.
4 Personal communication to G. Cox from Simon Pierce, 2001.
5 Specification noted by G. Cox, 1972, and Howard Baker, 1990s.