Noel Mander

{{Short description|British organ builder (1912–2005)}} {{Use British English|date=July 2016}} {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Noel Percy Mander | image = | image_size = | caption = | birth_date = 19 May 1912 | birth_place = | death_date = 18 September 2005 | death_place = | known_for = Organ maker, founder of N.P Mander Organs }} '''Noel Percy Mander''' MBE, FSA (19 May 1912 – 18 September 2005) was a British organ builder and founder of the firm N.P Mander later known as Mander Organs Limited.<ref name="Martin"/><ref name="Mander"/>

A native of Crouch, Kent he grew up in south London. After dropping out of school early, he went to work for a publisher before using family contacts to secure a job with organ builder Ivor of Hill, Norman & Beard in the 1930s.<ref name="Millington" /> Mander started working independently in 1936, and found employment with the diocese of London.<ref name="Shenton"/> With the onset of World War II, Mander, who saw several of his early works destroyed under German bombardments, first became an auxiliary fireman before joining the Royal Artillery in 1940. He was deployed in North Africa and Italy, and wounded in Salerno.<ref name="Shenton" />

In 1946, he returned to civilian life and resumed his partnership with the diocese of London, restoring several organs damaged during the war. He founded his own company, N.P Mander Limited, later known as Mander Organs, that same year, and married Enid Watson.

During the subsequent years, Mander's craftsmanship gained him wide recognition - as ''The Guardian'''s reporter Barry Millington would later write in Mander's obituary, ''"a reputation (for himself) as a restorer of quality and sensitivity"''.<ref name="Millington"/>

His crowning achievement was the rebuilding of the organ in St. Paul's Cathedral, between 1972 and 1977, for which he was appointed in the New Year Honours 1979 as a Member of The Order of the British Empire.<ref>{{London Gazette |issue=47723 |date=30 December 1978 |page=15 |supp=y}}</ref> Mander retired in 1983 and left his company to his son John.<ref name="Shenton"/>

== References == <references>

<ref name="Mander">[http://www.mander-organs.com/2 Manders History] (Accessed 23 December 2010).</ref> <ref name="Martin">Douglas Martin,[https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/24/obituaries/24mander.html "Noel Mander, Organ Maker, Is Dead at 93"], ''The New York Times'', 24 September 2005.</ref> <ref name="Millington">{{cite web|last=Millington|first=Barry|title=Obituary: Noel Mander|url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2005/sep/29/guardianobituaries.mainsection|work=The Guardian|accessdate=12 January 2011|location=London|date=29 September 2005}}</ref> <ref name="Shenton">{{cite web|last=Shenton|first=Kenneth|title=Noel Mander|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/noel-mander-510307.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110323051632/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/noel-mander-510307.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=23 March 2011|work=The Independent|publisher=Independent Print Limited|accessdate=12 January 2011|location=London|date=10 October 2005}}</ref>

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== External links == * {{OL author}} * [http://www.mander-organs.com/ Mander Organs] * [https://www.churchtimes.co.uk/articles/2005/7-october/gazette/noel-mander Obituary] in the Church Times * [https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/noel-mander-318357.html Obituary] in The Independent

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mander, Noel Percy}} Category:1912 births Category:2005 deaths Category:British pipe organ builders Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire Category:Fellows_of_the_Society_of_Antiquaries_of_London