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William Sweetland born at Devizes, Wiltshire in 1822. 'At
the classical school to which he was sent he was considered a dunce,
probably because he was misunderstood. He was fond of sketching and
heraldry. When four and a half years of age he essayed the making of
a musical instrument - a May horn. Aged six he made a dulcimer, and
at nine years of age, lacking the means to buy an accordion, he made
one with eight keys. Then when he was ten he made a guitar. Not
being satisfied with the tone of the instrument, he told his father
(a carpenter and builder) that he would like a violin. The father,
probably with a view to incite the boy to make one for himself, said
that he would never have one brought into the house. Young Sweetland
brooded over this remark; and, perceiving that his father had not
said he should not make one, went to work and produced a facsimile
of one he had seen.
 As the violin progressed he hid it beneath
the bench. One day, his father having dropped a tool, stooped to
search amongst the shavings and discovered the violin then nearly
finished. The boy of course expected severe punishment; but greatly
to his relief it met with his father's approval, and he was allowed
to complete it. Sweetland then learnt to play it, sacred music
being the only kind permitted. He was 11 years of age when he made
this violin. At 12 he made a cello and a harp at 13. Sweetland was
in the habit of rising at six and working until two in the morning;
and although his parents hid the candles, he managed to get others.'
Sweetland the Organ Builder Sweetland
set up in business on his own in the late 1840s and eventually
retired in 1902. His first church organ was opened at St Michael's
Broad Street, Bath in 1849 and thereafter he made instruments for
churches and chapels in all parts of the country. The
Sweetland organ factory in Bath was built at the back of his
house in Cleveland Place West around 1870. His organs were
pronounced by W T Best, Sir Walter Parratt and Sir F A Gore Ouseley,
Doctor of Music, to be the best in England of their size; and under
the last gentleman's supervision he built a large number. Mr.
Kendrick Pyne, of Manchester Cathedral, considered Mr. Sweetland to
be the finest mechanist in England.
Examples of Sweetland's work can still be found in Cornwall, Devon,
Dorset, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Kent, Somerset,
Surrey, Warwickshire and Wiltshire - the county of his birth.
A few instruments remain in Wales, including the small organ
at Ewenny Priory Church, previously housed at Wells
Cathedral.
Sweetland
the Artist
INSPIRED BY THE
GREAT BATH ARTIST EDWIN LONG whose pictures are displayed in Bath's
Victoria Art Gallery
Sweetland's first
interest in painting was during a business trip
to Edwin Long's house in London when
he saw the Bath artist painting 'The Pool of Bethesda and
Jepthah's Rash Vow' Sweetland consequently started
painting in his early sixties and became an
established artist. Sweetland’s first picture
was of a Spanish monk, with book in hand, in
the act of singing. The picture was judged to
be a fine work of art and Sweetland went on
to paint a number of other works including a
picture of Broad Street, Bath in 1883. His most
ambitious work was a painting with a subject
of the Resurrection, painted at the age of 76
years. His conception of the Rising of the Dead
occupied nearly the whole of a room and he was
engaged on it for 12 years. It was not entirely
completed but the press extracts were rapturous:
'The conception of a genius, 'Sweetland's
most ambitious work, ˜The most wonderful effect
of realism we have ever seen and the spectacle
of the opened Heaven is grand beyond conception,
The picture in its present state is worth going
a hundred miles to see; when it is finished,
no pilgrimage would be too great. |