Pipe Organ Database

For further information on the Austin Company, see: Austin Organ Company 1899-1937 and Austin Organs, Inc. from 1937 onward.

For an overview of the Austin family and their company history, see: Austin Family Overview.

From the OHS PC Database Builders Listing editor, updated August 18, 2016. -

Basil George Austin was born in 1874 in Bedfordshire, England. He was the brother of John T. and Harry W. Austin, and father of Basil F. Austin. He followed his brother John T. and emigrated to the United States in 1893.¹

Coming to the United States, Basil G. joined his brother John T. Austin with the pipe organ division of Clough & Warren of Detroit, Michigan in 1890. He later left to pursue mining interests, but returned in 1899 to aid his brother John T. Austin in establishing Austin Organ Co. of Hartford, Connecticut. He served as vice-president of the firm from 1911-1936 when the firm was liquidated; his son Basil F. Austin and nephew Frederic B. Austin formed the successor firm of Austin Organs, Inc.² Basil G. Austin died in 1958 at age 84.³

Sources:

1. David Fox, A Guide to North American Organbuilders(Organ Historical Society, 1997), 58.
2. Austin Organs, Inc. website (http://www.austinorgans.com/aoihistory.html), Accessed March 8, 2016.
3. Fox, Guide, 58.

From the OHS PC Database, derived from A Guide to North American Organbuilders by David H. Fox (Organ Historical Society, 1991). -

Born 1874 in Bedfordshire, England; brother of John T. and Harry W. Austin, father of Basil F. Austin; emigrated to the United States in 1893; vice-president Austin Organ Co. 1911-1936; died 1958.

Patents held by Basil G. Austin:
Patent #1,097,506; 19 May 1914; wind control in pipe
Patent #1,162,279; 30 Nov. 1915; stop action
Patent #1,197,251; 5 Sep. 1916; pipe organ
Patent #1,167,144; 4 Jan. 1916; harp device for organ
Patent #1,277,529; 3 Sep. 1918; organ action
Patent #1,323,436; 2 Dec. 1919; reed pipe
Patent #1,335,417; 30 Mar. 1920; organ action
Patent #1,427,997; 5 Sep. 1922; organ action
Patent #1,678,547; 24 Jul. 1928; organ action
Patent #1,770,260; 8 Jul. 1930; swell shutter
Patent #1,899,381; 28 Feb. 1933; stop operating mechanism
Patent #1,916,820; 4 Jul. 1933; action

Sources:

• David Junchen, Encyclopedia of the American Theatre Organ, Vol. 1 (Pasadena: Showcase Publications, 1985), 33.
• [Information taken from the text of a United States patent.]*

*Text in brackets is an editorial insertion. This is the usual phrase found in "A Guide to North American Organbuilders" whenever there are patents listed, but it is not there in this instance. -Ed.