I wondered if your readers and residents of Clapham would be interested in the following piece of local history?

For some years, I have been researching my great uncle Alfred Hunter. He was a well-known and prolific organ builder residing at no 65a High Street, Clapham, in 1881 but renumbered as 87 about 1900.

The house and workshop was custom-built for him and the architect was Sidney RH Smith who later designed the Tate Gallery. Sadly, the house was demolished in the early 1960s (I would have loved to have seen it).

Not only did he build organs for churches in England and Ireland, he also exported them to New Zealand and Australia, from where I recently gained more information on him.

Alfred took his son Robert into partnership in 1885 as Alfred Hunter & Son.

Alfred died in March 1911, but Robert carried on until 1921 when his sons Alfred Robert and George Frederick joined him.

In 1929, the business moved to 235 Queens Road, Battersea. Robert died July 1932 at his home at St Clears, Cheam Road, Sutton.

The business was taken over in 1937 by Henry Willis & Sons. The sons, Alfred and Geroge, never married and there are no direct descendants.

Many Alfred Hunter-made organs still exist in working order, two of the finest at St James Church, Spanish Place, George Street, Near Bond Street and Holy Trinity Church, Clapham.

My great grandmother was Ann Hunter, sister to Alfred who started the business in 1856 at 14a Griffin Street, Lambeth.

I would like to add I knew nothing of this family history until I started researching my grandmother Alice Hunter Jenkins, who was married to an organ- building George Allen Payne, who must have obviously worked for the Hunters - how else would he have met Alice?

IRENE FRANKLIN Parkview Road New Eltham