AS WE learned last time, Mr Davies had passed and Sir Henry was forced to stay longer in Oswestry and become the co-breadwinner.

Sir Henry remained in Oswestry until May 1885, when he returned to St George’s and continued to progress with his career of becoming an organist.

Sir Henry was taken on by Dr Davidson, the incumbent Dean of St George’s, as an assistant organist and part-time secretary. This employment saw Dr Davidson take Sir Henry on to help him further his career in a pastoral sense. Dr Davidson was described as “a kindly old soul”, but felt that Sir Henry’s skills at secretarial work were not up to scratch, despite Sir Henry’s “well-meaning” attitude towards the job.

Sir Henry began to realise this as well, so, with the blessing of Dr Davidson, transferred to Windsor Park Chapel Royal in London, where he was taken on as the organist, on a wage of £40 per annum.

This new position as organist made Sir Walford his own boss for the first time.

The money was flowing in, and he was teaching himself the skill of managing a choir. And then, by a stroke of luck, a chance encounter happened which had two rather profound effects on Sir Henry…

Upon attending a musical soiree at a house in Hampstead, he was given the chance to be audience to his first ever string quartet and came across the owners – a Mr and Mrs Matheson.

It turns out they had friends from Oswestry who were friends of Mr Davies’, and upon hearing the tragic tale of Mr Davies, they felt compelled to help him out in some way, which lead to Sir Henry’s invitation to the soiree. Sir Henry and the Mathesons continued to meet and eventually became friends, even treating Sir Henry as one of their own.

The Mathesons managed to enrol Sir Henry into continuous lessons by various private music tutors, which led to his taking his Senior Cambridge Local exams in 1888, and passing, which sent him on his way to study at Cambridge University. Upon taking up his studying, he brought Mrs Davies and his siblings with him, moving into a house in Slough.

Although no longer a part-time secretary to the Dean or organist to Windsor Park Chapel Royal, Sir Henry never left his position as assistant organist at St George’s and continued in this position while he studied.

After a few academic setbacks, Sir Henry transferred to the Royal College of Music in 1890, completing his Bachelors in Music in 1891.

This graduation saw Sir Henry take up positions as organist to various churches, including St Anne’s Church in Soho, but a sudden bout of illness saw him leave the house in Slough, move into the Mathesons’ house and scale his work down to the local Christ Church in Hampstead.

This completes our look at how an individual from Oswestry began the process in becoming one of the nation’s musical greats and, in some respect, a national icon.

The content of these articles was provided by Sir Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941) – Master of the King’s Musick – An affectionate tribute.

We recommend you buy the book, which covers Sir Walford’s career in the Royal Air Force and at the BBC.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walford_Davies

Sir Henry Walford Davies (1869-1941) – Master of the King’s Musick – An affectionate tribute [Chapter 3, Paragraphs 2-7 - Pages 8-10], by Christopher Symons.