Harps were imported to the Australian colonies from England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales from the earliest days of European settlement.
Researching this history requires perseverance and a lot of trawling through archival records to find even the barest mention of a harp or harp player. Old newspapers are an excellent source for finding evidence of harps in the past as musicians and music sellers advertised their harps when they wanted to sell them. Other types of information included in newspapers are performance advertisements and reviews.
Locating extant historical harps in Australia is also a very important aspect of harp research as these instruments are a tangible and direct link to the past. However, not all harps have a provenance that connects them to Australian colonial history. Please contact us if you have an historic harp you think might be linked to Australian harp history – we would love to hear from you!
To read more about the history of harps in Australia click here to go to Dr Frances M Thiele’s website.
HISTORICAL HARPS - AUSTRALIA 