Clifford Essex (1869 – 2 February 1946) was an English banjoist, teacher, and instrument manufacturer during the Victorian and

Edwardian era The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Vic ...

Biography

Essex formed a partnership with Alfred D. Cammeyer in 1883 and sold banjos under the brand "Essex and Cammeyer", in

Piccadilly, London Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

, before establishing his own firm in 1900, as Clifford Essex And Co, in

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was deve ...

, the company that would eventuate into a private entity under varying titles, existing until 1977. The Company was revived after a long hiatus in 2007, by former employee and prominent banjoist Clem Vickery. Essex manufactured

banjos The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and usually made of plastic, or occasionally animal skin. Early forms of the instrument were fashi ...

and

mandolins A mandolin ( it, mandolino ; literally "small mandola") is a stringed musical instrument in the lute family and is generally plucked with a pick. It most commonly has four courses of doubled strings tuned in unison, thus giving a total of 8 ...

, wrote books on playing the banjos, performed in various bands, in particular "The Clifford Essex Banjo Band", described as a banjo orchestra and gave music lessons in London from 1883 until his death around 1946. In 1903 he founded BMG magazine, an initialism for Banjo, Mandolin and Guitar which is still being published in England. He died at his home in Wimbledon on 2 February 1946; he was 87.

References

External links

Clifford Essex Co.

Banjo makers Banjo manufacturing companies English banjoists 1869 births Musicians from London Place of birth missing Musical instrument manufacturing companies of the United Kingdom 1946 deaths {{UK-musician-stub