O-6186.1

•

bell

Gillett and Johnston, Croydon

William Gillett started his small clock-making business in Hadlow, Kent. In 1844 he relocated to Croydon, Surrey, now an outer borough of London. Charles Bland became a partner in 1854 and their company, Gillett and Bland, began manufacturing larger-scale public clocks and carillon machinery. In 1877, Arthur Johnston joined the company and established its bell foundry. Bland died around 1884 and the company was renamed Gillett and Johnston. Johnston’s son Cyril became a partner in 1907. Driven by a special interest in making carillons, Cyril expanded the bell-founding side of the business and developed his own highly regarded system of bell tuning. During the 1920s and 1930s, Gillett and Johnston manufactured bells and supplied carillons to countries around the world, including Canada.

Gillett and Johnston, Croydon

William Gillett started his small clock-making business in Hadlow, Kent. In 1844 he relocated to Croydon, Surrey, now an outer borough of London. Charles Bland became a partner in 1854 and their company, Gillett and Bland, began manufacturing larger-scale public clocks and carillon machinery. In 1877, Arthur Johnston joined the company and established its bell foundry. Bland died around 1884 and the company was renamed Gillett and Johnston. Johnston’s son Cyril became a partner in 1907. Driven by a special interest in making carillons, Cyril expanded the bell-founding side of the business and developed his own highly regarded system of bell tuning. During the 1920s and 1930s, Gillett and Johnston manufactured bells and supplied carillons to countries around the world, including Canada.

Robert Donnell

Robert Donnell received his musical training in Canada, the United States and Europe. He was appointed carillonneur of the Cutten Memorial Carillon at St. George’s Church in Guelph, Ontario, following its inauguration in 1926. In 1936 he was appointed assistant to Percival Price in Ottawa. After graduating from the Royal Carillon School in Mechelen, Belgium, in 1938, Donnell succeeded Price as Dominion Carillonneur in 1940. From 1939 to 1942, Donnell also studied orchestration and composition in New York City under Bernard Wagenaar, at the Juilliard School, and under William Flanagan, at the New York College of Music, then served with the Royal Canadian Air Force from 1942 to 1945. He was a charter member of The Guild of Carillonneurs in North America and sat on its board of directors, serving as music advisor, as president, and as host of the Guild’s congresses in Ottawa in 1955 and 1967. After retiring as Dominion Carillonneur in 1975, he continued to play at the Rainbow Tower Carillon in Niagara Falls, Ontario, where he performed guest recitals until his death in 1986.