John Broadwood was the Scottish founder of the piano

Piano

The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...

 manufacturer Broadwood and Sons

Broadwood and Sons

Broadwood and Sons is an English piano manufacturer, founded in 1728 by Burkat Shudi and continued after his death in 1773 by John Broadwood.- Early history :...

.

Life

Broadwood was born 6 October 1732 and christened 15 Oct 1732 at St Helens, Cockburnspath

Cockburnspath

Cockburnspath is a village in the Scottish Borders area of Scotland. It lies near the North Sea coast between Berwick-upon-Tweed and Edinburgh. It is at the eastern extremity of the Southern Upland Way, a long-distance footpath from the west to east coast of Scotland, and it is also the terminus...

 in Berwickshire

Berwickshire

Berwickshire or the County of Berwick is a registration county, a committee area of the Scottish Borders Council, and a lieutenancy area of Scotland, on the border with England. The town after which it is named—Berwick-upon-Tweed—was lost by Scotland to England in 1482...

, and grew up in Oldhamstocks

Oldhamstocks

Oldhamstocks or Aldhamstocks is a civil parish and small village in the east of East Lothian, Scotland, overlooking the North Sea. It has a population of 193, and overlooks the North Sea. The parish church was consecrated in 1292.The summer Gala Day hosts activities such as sporting events...

, East Lothian

East Lothian

East Lothian is one of the 32 council areas of Scotland, and a lieutenancy Area. It borders the City of Edinburgh, Scottish Borders and Midlothian. Its administrative centre is Haddington, although its largest town is Musselburgh....

. He inherited his father James Broadwood's (b1697 Oldhamstocks) profession, that of a wright or carpenter/joiner

Joiner

A joiner differs from a carpenter in that joiners cut and fit joints in wood that do not use nails. Joiners usually work in a workshop since the formation of various joints generally requires non-portable machinery. A carpenter normally works on site...

, and as a young man walked from Oldhamstocks to London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, a distance of almost 400 miles, where he worked for the harpsichord

Harpsichord

A harpsichord is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It produces sound by plucking a string when a key is pressed.In the narrow sense, "harpsichord" designates only the large wing-shaped instruments in which the strings are perpendicular to the keyboard...

 maker Burkat Shudi

Burkat Shudi

Burkat Shudi was an English harpsichord maker of Swiss origin.-Biography:...

. Burkat Shudi died in 1773, and John Broadwood took control of the company from his brother-in-law in 1783.

Broadwood and his acquaintances William Stodart

William Stodart

William Swan Stodart is a former New Zealand rower.At the 1938 British Empire Games he won the bronze medal as part of the men's eight.-References:...

 and Americus Backers

Americus Backers

Americus Backers , sometimes described as the father of the English grand pianoforte style, brought the hammer striking action for keyboard instruments from his master Gottfried Silbermann’s workshop in Freiburg to England in the mid-18th century...

 are credited with devising the English Grand Action, an early piano action, and of taking piano design from the box piano to a prototype grand piano. In time his sales of pianos exceeded those of harpsichords, to the point that he ceased to manufacture harpsichords in 1793. He died in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Broadwood's other technical innovations in piano manufacture include: adding a separate bridge for the bass notes, patent

Patent

A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....

ing the piano pedal in 1783 and expanding the then-standard five octave

Octave

In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

 range

Range (music)

In music, the range of a musical instrument is the distance from the lowest to the highest pitch it can play. For a singing voice, the equivalent is vocal range...

 upwards by half an octave

Octave

In music, an octave is the interval between one musical pitch and another with half or double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been referred to as the "basic miracle of music", the use of which is "common in most musical systems"...

, in response to a request of Dussek

Jan Ladislav Dussek

Jan Ladislav Dussek was a Czech composer and pianist. He was an important representative of Czech music abroad in the second half of 18th century and the beginning of 19th century...

, and then by half an octave downwards.
As a company, Broadwood and Sons prospered, and was passed into the hands of his sons, James Shudi Broadwood

James Shudi Broadwood

James Shudi Broadwood was a piano maker in Middlesex and a magistrate in Surrey.-Piano making:He was born in London and died in Lyne Drive, Surrey. He was the second child and eldest son of John Broadwood and his first wife Barbara Shudi. James originally worked as a clerk for his father from 1785...

 and Thomas Broadwood.

Family

John married Shudi's daughter Barbara in 1769. They had four children, then Barbara died. He then married Mary Kitson in 1781 and had a further six children. Many of his descendants were involved in pianoforte manufacturing in England and some were involved in the British Army

British Army

The British Army is the land warfare branch of Her Majesty's Armed Forces in the United Kingdom. It came into being with the unification of the Kingdom of England and Scotland into the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707. The new British Army incorporated Regiments that had already existed in England...

 in India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

 during the reign of Queen Victoria. Others emigrated to Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

, where Broadwood descendants still live. The Broadwood family tree

Family tree

A family tree, or pedigree chart, is a chart representing family relationships in a conventional tree structure. The more detailed family trees used in medicine, genealogy, and social work are known as genograms.-Family tree representations:...

 can be traced back to circa 1580.

The British general Robert George Broadwood

Robert George Broadwood

Lieutenant General Robert George Broadwood, CB was Commander of British Troops in South China.-Military career:Robert was the third son and child of Thomas Broadwood and Mary Athlea Matthews and a grandson of John Broadwood the founder of the Broadwood Piano Company...

 (1862–1917) was a grandson by his son Thomas (son by John's second wife Mary Kitson) and Mary Athlea Matthews.

External links

• John Broadwood and Sons, official website
• John Broadwood and Sons Piano Manufacturers by Sally Jenkinson, Surrey County Council