Music shops and the music trade in Georgian Bath

Bath maintained a number of musical businesses at any one time. Though there were many toyshops, repositories and later department stores in Bath that dealt in instruments, accessories and music, there was at least one principle music-business specialist in the town from the establishment of Thomas Underwood’s shop in 1746. This tradition sadly ended when Duck, Son and Pinker, closed its doors on 1st April 2011. After Underwood and then Benjamin Milgrove in the 1760s and 70s this role was take on by James Lintern. They were succeeded in the early nineteenth-century by Andrew Loder, then John David Loder, and finally by William Duck from 1848. Happily these shops regularly advertised in newspapers and are listed in trade directories, and a good record of their activities can be assembled. This article reviews the history of the music trade in Bath and and touches on the instrument makers active in the town. Most music-shop owners were also active as musicians and the shops were vital as places for the introduction and circulation of music and instruments, the finding of teachers, and the purchase of tickets for forthcoming musical events. Music shops even served as ad hoc venues for performance. The paper considers the important contribution these businesses made to the musical life of Bath and their close connection to many of the other areas of musical activity in the town.