Whitaker & Co.

Place of business: London/England

Dates of business: 1819-1837*

*Note: Per Langwill: There are 2 Whitaker’s, one with the Mark “(crown) Whitaker/London”, and one with the mark, “Whitaker & Co/London”. The connection of both is not known. If there is a connection, the firm could date as early as circa 1760.

Address of business:

1819-1825-75 St Paul’s Churchyard.

This fife is marked: Whitaker & Co/London 1820 B

Date:1820

This is a good, dateable British fife from the War of 1812 period.

Features:

Date: the maker dated all of his instruments, this is dated 1820.

Length of Instrument-the fife is 16 7/8 inches.

Wood-the instrument is made of, what seems to be, boxwood.

Key of instrument-B (Bb?) stamped below name.

Finger holes-The finder holes are similar to what a woodwind maker of the era would use in a flute/piccolo. They are not all the same size, but vary from hole to hole, with the smallest being the last hole.

The spacing on the holes is as follows:

1-2=.721
2-3=.851
3-4=.722
4-5=.624
5-6=.798

This shows that the hole pattern is not even, and there is a very large space between the 2nd and 3rd holes, and a smaller space between the 4th and 5th.

Swell-the swell on this instrument comes at the embouchure hole.

Ferrules- Ferrules are made of brass, scored with a 2+2+2 pattern on both top and bottom.Both are made out of brass seam stock, and both ferrules have the punch marks to secure them to the instrument. Top ferrule is just less than 2 inches, with a
diameter of .811. Bottom ferrule is 1.289, with a diameter of .694.