Josiah Eustace Dodd (16 August 1856 – 30 January 1952)[1] was an Australian pipe organ builder, based in Adelaide.
Dodd was born in Richmond, a suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, to Ebenezer Daniel Dodd (c. 1827–1889)[2] and his wife Johanna Dodd, née Moloney, later of Castlemaine, Victoria. He was educated at St Stephen's Church School in Richmond, and apprenticed to the organ builder George Fincham[3] of Bridge Road, Mitcham. In 1881 Fincham sent Hobday and Dodd to South Australia to open a branch of the business in Adelaide, setting up in Twin Street.[4]
Hobday and Dodd complemented each other, with Dodd taking responsibility for construction and finish, for which Hobday had no talent.[5] Their first commission was a new organ for the Norwood Baptist Church,[6] taking their old one (ex-Christ Church, North Adelaide) as part-payment; its component parts were later used to upgrade or refurbish other instruments.
They won a gold medal at the Adelaide Jubilee Exhibition in 1887.
In the early 1890s Australia was hit by a financial recession, and organ-building became unprofitable. Fincham & Hobday began laying off workers and taking any kind of work, even unprofitably, in order to retain their skilled staff. In this climate Dodd was able in 1894 to purchase the Adelaide business for £1000.[5]
Dodd was able to convince South Australian churches of the benefits to be gained from dealing with a local manufacturer, and within a few years he had secured some substantial orders, notably Clayton Congregational Church in Norwood (1897), the Methodist Church in Kent Town (1898), and the Elder Hall on North Terrace (1901). His instruments were praised for their "high order of workmanship, light touch, and the ease with which they may be played" though they may have been less powerful than others.[10]
In 1903 he opened a branch in Perth, managed by his eldest son Ebenezer, who won the contract for renovation and upgrading of the St George's Cathedral, Perth organ.[11]
In 1905 he had a new showroom and factory built on Acre 271, west side of Gawler Place, between Flinders and Wakefield streets. The upper floor was devoted to refurbishment of pianos, which shortly became a growth industry as a result of Federal import duties being applied to musical instruments. Arthur Bishop (1868–1948) was appointed to manage this section.[12]
In 1918 he opened a branch in Melbourne managed by his younger son Eustace.[11]
Around 1935 the Gunn brothers, Bill Binding and Joseph Starling, frustrated by Dodd's autocratic ways and reluctance to adopt the latest technology, left the company and founded Gunstar Organ Works with premises at Plympton. With the advent of World War II, and many workers joining the 2nd AIF, the two companies amalgamated as J. E. Dodd & Sons Gunstar Organ Works.[5]
Dodd retired around 1948.[1]
In 1966 the company was still operating, as J. E. Dodd & Sons, at 2 Winifred Avenue, Plympton.[13]
In 1979 the company was taken over by George Stephens."The Organ in Wesley Uniting Church". Wesley Music Centre. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
On 10 April 1879 Dodd married Jessie Lovat Fraser of Inverness, Scotland at the Baptist Church, Richmond, Victoria.[50] They had two sons and a daughter.
They had a home on Osmond Terrace, Norwood, later Glenelg, where they celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary.[53]