On 25 March 2026 there was a photograph placed on a Cornet players Facebook page with a request for help in identifying a Cornet.
The photograph in question referred to a Sydney musical instrument seller by the name of Barratt.
I have a number of photographs of a cornet made by John York, and it looked as though the Barratt cornet was actually a York made instrument.
An interesting and well researched article “Playing On: John York and the Sydney Brass Musical Instrument Factory” by ANDREW EVANS was published in the Sydney Journal Vol 4, No 1 in 2013.
The article says “The history of John York and the Sydney Brass Musical Instrument Factory contains familiar elements of a quintessential nineteenth-century Australian narrative. It features a skilled English immigrant who brought his family to a developing capital city and became a manufacturer and small business owner. It is an unusual story in that York practised the specialised skill of brass instrument making and repairing and was one of a handful of brass instrument makers known to have operated in Sydney at the time.”
John York is the only Australian brass instrument maker that I know of, although there have been many Australian brass sellers who have commissioned makers from elsewhere and put their own names on those instruments.
On the other hand there were many brass instrument makers who emigrated to the United States from Europe and the UK, taking their skills, and presumably their tools and parts with them.
The Evans article continues –
“At the end of the nineteenth century the significant purchasing power of an expanding Australian middle class, and a strong demand for the many musical instruments required for home entertainment, generated vigorous competition amongst Sydney’s music retailers. Cheaper British mass produced instruments were aggressively marketed “
This page from 1902 obtained from the National Library of Australia [trove.nla] shows an example of John York’s advertising
The advertising in 1903 was referring to testimonials “FROM ALL MILITARY AND CIVIL BANDMASTERS IN N.S.W.” and said “Patronised by the Band Association of N.S.W.”
In 1904 York had added the claim “The Original and only practical Brass Musical Instrument Maker and repairer in N.S.W.” Although the Commonwealth of Australia [i.e. the Australian Federation] had only come into existence a short time earlier, I wonder why he didn’t lay claim to being the only brass instrument Maker in Australia. Were there others?
In this letter in March 1905 to the editor of the Sydney Morning Herald, York displayed His irritation with a situation which continues throughout the country to this day, namely the undervaluing of music in public places by public authorities in Australia
I believe that there must be a few John York instruments out there, although it is rare to see mention of them. I would love to hear about any other surviving instruments.
If there are any for sale please get in touch. I’d love to know about them.
2 replies on “John York and the Sydney Brass Musical Instrument Factory”
Good evening 🙂
My cousin Kel York and I are descendants of the York instruments makers of Sydney and Melbourne. Kel is 87 and has done much family history research.
There are 2 York instruments in the family and we are seeking to find and purchase more. We hope to hold an exhibition of Kel’s research and York instruments at an appropriate venue one day.
Please do reach out. We would love to connect with you.
One question I have is whether the Sydney York family was connected in any real way [beside name] with the USA York family, or with some other “branch” of the family elsewhere [such as UK]. I’m curious to know whether the Sydney York’s parts [valve clusters for example] were actually manufactured in Sydney.
In the US and Europe it was common for manufacturers to obtain and supply modules – could that approach have been adopted here?