Composer - bandmaster

Jump to: navigation, search

While researching my family tree, I discovered that my great-great-great-grandfather, James King resided in Derby, approximately from the 1860s till his death in 1888. This fact is substantiated by the Derby Censuses of 1861, 1871, 1881 and 1891 which state he was married to Elizabeth with seven children.

His Occupation is given as Professor of Music. I have news articles from the Derby Mercury that mention James King being the Bandmaster of the Derbyshire Yeomanry Cavalry and being in attendance at many local pageants such as concerts, balls and trademen's dinners from 1864 to 1884.

I have also discovered James was a composer of military music having penned well over 40 polkas and marches. Again, this can be verified by the British Library as they hold all his music in their archives. It was very popular in the 1800s.

I found that he enlisted in the Royal Staff Corps, aged 13, in 1821, at Hythe, in Kent, as a Bugler. He then became Bandmaster for the 5th Dragoon Guards between 1829-1850, when he was medically discharged with injuries sustained to his legs.

James was born in about 1809, in Dublin. He died in September 1888 and is buried in Derby's Nottingham Road Cemetery, along with his wife, Elizabeth, and son, William. His four sons were also very accomplished musicians, his son, William, succeeded him as Bandmaster of the Derbyshire Yeomanry.

At present, I am in the process of re-arranging his music with a local brass band where I live, in the hope of bringing about a renaissance of his work. Should anyone have any other information on James King that would enhance my quest to complete the King family tree in Derby I would love to see it.

Pages linking here

Composer/bandmaster

[edit]

FEEDBACK

Did you enjoy this article? If so, why not comment on it? Perhaps you disagree with something in it, or you know something the writer doesn't and can add some extra facts. You may want to ask a question about this article. Making a contribution is easy - either click 'edit' to insert more information or 'discussion' and then 'add comment.' This is your site. Please feel free to use it to the full and share your memories, thoughts and knowledge about Derbyshire with others.

If there is no 'edit' link showing it means the article has either previously been published in the Derby Evening Telegraph, or it has been protected by the site administrator and cannot be edited.'

Other tags that are relevant to composer/bandmaster

Help us to improve Bygone Derbyshire by adding more tags to this article. Simply edit this page, find this area and add the words in a list separated by commas next to the *.

To find out more about tagging please click here.

Return to composer

Return to Composer/bandmaster