BOOSEY & CO./BOOSEY & HAWKES WOODWIND SERIAL NUMBERS BELOW 68956

 

The information presented here relating to the Boosey & Co. serial numbers up to 1932 is taken from Kelly J. White and Arnold Myers: ‘Woodwind Instruments of Boosey & Company’, The Galpin Society Journal No. LVXX, May 2004, pp.62-80. The later serial numbers were researched by Gavin Dixon and Neil Raj.

 

According to the New Langwill Index (compiled by William Waterhouse, London 1993), woodwind production began at Boosey & Co. in 1851. However, the earliest surviving records detailing flute production date from 1857, where the lowest serial number given is 4513. The surviving records for reed instruments begin in 1879 with the serial number 5968. It is therefore safe to assume that instruments bearing lower serial numbers than these were produced between 1851 and the respective sequence start dates. The only known exception is a short run of clarinets that were made at a much later date. These bear serial numbers in the range 2782-3025 and were completed between 1940 and 1942. They should be distinguishable by the fact that they carry the Boosey & Hawkes stamp rather than that of Boosey & Co.

            The Boosey Company maintained separate serial number sequences for flutes and reed instruments throughout their history as an independent company. The merger with Hawkes & Son occurred in 1930, but the new company continued to manufacture instruments under the Boosey & Co. name until around 1932. At the end of the 1940s, the two serial number sequences were merged, with the flute sequence coming to an end and all subsequent flutes given numbers from the continuing reed sequence. The last number in the flute sequence is 31199 for an instrument completed 9/5/1950, while the first flute to appear in the reed sequence has the serial number 42799 and was completed 3/11/1949. Despite the overlap in production dates, these numbers appear to have been issued sequentially in the last months of 1949.

            The following table is based on the dates serial numbers were given out and states the lowest number for each year. Assuming the numbers were given out sequentially (and there is some evidence that minor exceptions occurred), this allows individual serial numbers to be linked to specific years. The year given will indicate when the instrument was ordered from the factory rather than the actual production date, but the likelihood is that the instrument was completed either in the year stated or in the following year.

 

 

LOWEST FLUTE SERIAL No.

YEAR

LOWEST REED SERIAL No./ LOWEST WOODWIND No. (AFTER 1949)

4513

1857

 

4817

1858

5139

1859

6086

1860

6432

1861

not recorded

1862

6979

1863

7307

1864

7568

1865

7802

1866

8018

1867

8224

1868

8475

1869

8735

1870

8911

1871

9307

1872

9527

1873

9770

1874

9913

1875

10159

1876

10393

1877

10638

1878

10888

1879

5968

11145

1880

6061

11275

1881

6380

11474

1882

6763

11665

1883

7211

12020

1884

7551

12352

1885

7930

12614

1886

8252

12781

1887

8732

12937

1888

9093

13126

1889

9537

13381

1890

10052

13703

1891

10498

14020

1892

10994

14338

1893

11436

14567

1894

11845

14810

1895

12162

15015

1896

12472

15239

1897

12797

15571

1898

13184

15724

1899

13552

16062

1900

13865

16307

1901

14328

16506

1902

14793

16715

1903

15261

16977

1904

15682

VOLUME MISSING

1905

16228

1906

VOLUME MISSING

1907

1908

1909

1910

1911

1912

19437

19344

1913

20062

19602

1914

20525

20132

1915

21182

20431

1916

21605

20588

1917

21963

20794

1918

22192

20936

1919

22406

21090

1920

22918

21415

1921

23488

21672

1922

24064

21907

1923

24730

22146

1924

25144

22329

1925

25661

22541

1926

26172

22698

1927

26824

22786

1928

27339

22830

1929

27874

22936

1930

28696

23056

1931

29447

23264

1932

29809

23520

1933

30403

23659

1934

31000

23870

1935

31540

24075

1936

32099

24289

1937

32757

25404

1938

33383

24697

1939

34028

24931

1940

34721

25085

1941

35514

25099

1942

36256

25102

1943

36318

25109

1944

36437

25122

1945

36602

NONE ISSUED

1946

36967

1947

37564

25142

1948

39589

30257

1949

42900

 

1950

49091

 

1951

LOWEST NUMBER ISSUED IS IN THE RANGE 56803-56842

NOTE: A volume of miscellaneous serial numbers lists two sequences of clarinets as ex-frozen stock. Numbers 60000-61539 were given to clarinets completed in the period 1946-1948, and numbers 68275-68320 were given to clarinets completed in 1950. However, the numbers were issued twice and were also given out in 1951.