Dates

• Existence: 1814 - 1856

Biography

Walmisley, Thomas Attwood (1814-1856), composer and organist, was born on 21 January 1814 at 18 Cowley Street, Westminster. He was the son of Thomas Forbes Walmisley (1783-1866), composer and organist, and his wife, who was the eldest daughter of William Capon, draughtsman to the duke of York. Displaying musical ability at an early age, he was initially guided by his father and subsequently placed under his godfather Thomas Attwood, organist of St Paul's Cathedral and composer to the Chapel Royal. In 1830 he was appointed organist of Croydon parish church, where he made the acquaintance of Thomas Miller, a former fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, an amateur musician and well-known tutor. Miller not only encouraged Walmisley's interest in literature and mathematics, but was also probably instrumental in his gaining election on 1 February 1833, as organist of Trinity and St John's colleges, and in his subsequent decision to read for an arts degree. An attempt the previous year by the impresario Monck Mason to persuade him to write an opera for his season at the King's Theatre in London had proved unsuccessful, and Walmisley spent virtually the rest of his life in Cambridge.

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