Neyland and Llanstadwell Heritage Group

By Carol Elliott

 

James Gaddarn (1924–2012) - From Neyland to the Royal Albert Hall 

He conducted performances at the Royal Albert Hall for nearly four decades. He is remembered as one of the finest British choral conductors of his generation (The Guardian)

 

 

James Gaddarn was born in Neyland, Pembrokeshire, in 1924, the third child and only son of a farming family whose ancestors had worked in the shipbuilding industry. He attended Pembroke Dock Grammar School before being called up for national service during the Second World War, serving in the Royal Army Pay Corps in Leeds.

It was while stationed in Leeds that Gaddarn became involved in organised music-making. He joined a male-voice choir and began accompanying rehearsals, which led to an invitation to play continuo in a performance of Bach’s St Matthew Passion. This experience was formative, sparking a serious interest in choral music that would guide his career.

After the war, Gaddarn’s family hoped he would train in law, but he instead pursued a musical education. He was accepted at Trinity College of Music in London, where he studied under Charles Kennedy Scott, a respected figure in British choral music. At Trinity he gained a series of qualifications in pianoforte, accompaniment and singing, earning the G.T.C.L., L.R.A.M., A.R.C.M., and L.T.C.L. diplomas.

Gaddarn first gained conducting experience in his hometown as leader of the Neyland Choral Society. Following the completion of his studies in 1951, he moved to London to develop his professional career. The following year he became conductor of the London Orpheus Choir, a role he would retain until 2010. In the same year he married fellow musician Valerie Hinchliffe.

Career History:

·       Appointed conductor of the London Orpheus Choir in 1952, serving for nearly 60 years.

·       Became professor of vocal studies at Trinity College of Music for around 35 years.

·       Appointed chorus-master of the Royal Choral Society in 1964 at the invitation of Sir Malcolm Sargent.

·       Worked concurrently with four amateur choral societies whose standard he raised to near-professional level.

·       Regularly directed: Croydon Philharmonic Choir, Ealing Choral Society, Muswell Hill Choral Society, Southall Operatic Society, and others.

·       Croydon Philharmonic records show he conducted major works such as Verdi Requiem, Bach Mass in B minor, Delius A Mass of Life, etc.

 

Throughout his career, Gaddarn combined teaching with conducting. He was professor of vocal studies at Trinity College of Music for thirty-five years, training many students who went on to professional singing careers. In 1964, at the invitation of Sir Malcolm Sargent, he was appointed chorus master of the Royal Choral Society. He also directed several other choral groups over the years, including the Ealing Choral Society, Croydon Philharmonic Society, Muswell Hill Choral Society, the Southall Operatic Society, and the Trinity College Choir. He was known for his ability to raise the performance standards of amateur choirs, often preparing them to sing alongside major orchestras and soloists.

Gaddarn maintained a broad repertoire. In addition to established choral works, he conducted performances of Elizabeth Maconchy’s Heloise and Abelard, Sir Arthur Bliss’s Mary of Magdala, Antonín Tučapský’s Stabat Mater, and gave the first English performances of Donizetti’s Requiem Mass and Messa di Gloria e Credo. He also occasionally brought his choirs together for large-scale concerts at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall and Fairfield Halls in Croydon.

His final concert with the London Orpheus Choir was a performance of Bach’s Mass in B Minor in 2010. James Gaddarn died in 2012 at the age of 87. He was survived by Colin Evans, his partner of fifty years.

Though his professional life was centred in London, Gaddarn’s connection to Neyland remained part of his story. His early experiences with the Neyland Choral Society gave him the first opportunity to lead a choir, and many in the town followed his later career with interest and pride.

 

The Gaddarns of Neyland: From Shipbuilding to Song

In the early 1990s, Professor James Gaddarn returned to his hometown of Neyland to honour his grandfather, James Gaddarn (1822–1890) — a leading local shipbuilder and public-spirited citizen of the nineteenth century.

A slate memorial plaque was unveiled on the wall of Oak Villa, The Promenade, the home the shipbuilder had built in the 1860s when Neyland’s waterfront was alive with industry. The ceremony was attended by members of the Gaddarn family, including the Professor’s sister Betty Mackeen, organist at Wesley Chapel, and local historian Simon Hancock, who chaired the memorial fund.

The elder Gaddarn was credited with building more than two dozen vessels from the Neyland yards during the town’s great shipbuilding era. His name was once well known on the Haven, appearing on the bows of ships that sailed to Glamorgan, Denbighshire and beyond.

At the unveiling, Simon Hancock spoke of how the shipbuilder’s contribution had “only recently been appreciated,” and how his descendants had continued to serve the town in other ways. It was a perceptive tribute. The same qualities of discipline, skill and quiet ambition that shaped Neyland’s wooden vessels could be traced in the Professor’s own craft — raising choirs to concert-hall standard and bringing Pembrokeshire’s name to national audiences.

Through both grandfather and grandson, the Gaddarns left an enduring mark on Neyland — one in oak and iron, the other in harmony and song.

 

 

Transcription

Memorial tribute unveiled to local shipbuilder

Saturday was an historic day at Neyland with the unveiling of the memorial plaque to James Gaddarn (1822–1890), a distinguished shipbuilder and public-spirited citizen who lived in Neyland.

The monument was unveiled by his grandson, Professor James Gaddarn of London, on the wall of Oak Villa, The Promenade, Neyland, which James Gaddarn built in around 1867.

Also in attendance were Mrs Betty Mackeen, of 41 High Street, Neyland, who has served as organist at Wesley Chapel, Neyland for many years. She is a sister of the Professor and granddaughter of the shipbuilder. Mr Simon Hancock, chairman of the James Gaddarn Memorial Fund, said:

“James Gaddarn’s life as a shipbuilder, family man and church worker, together with his many friends and civic dignitaries, including the former Mayor of London, Councillor Mrs Pat Barry, and Lord and Lady Ramsay, reflect the contribution he made to the life of Neyland in the last century. During a very exciting period in its history, his contribution has only recently been appreciated. I’m sure he would be particularly proud of his grandchildren and what they have achieved.”

Mr Hancock commented:

“The contribution made by James Gaddarn to the life of Neyland in the 19th century, during a very exciting period in its history, has only recently been appreciated. I’m sure he would be particularly proud of his grandchildren and what they have achieved.”

Professor Gaddarn was the distinguished shipbuilder’s grandson, turning out at least 26 vessels. Since my article on the Neyland Shipbuilders was published in The Western Telegraph in June 1990, I have traced other vessels which he built, including the Jones Brothers, Glamorganshire; William Jones, Mr Jones, Denbighshire; and the James Gaddarn.

The monument, made by Messrs Haysom of Haverfordwest, is made of slate and has gold lettering. After the ceremony, a luncheon was given by the Ferry Inn, Hazelbeach.

Photo: The James Gaddarn Memorial was unveiled at Neyland on Saturday. Pictured left to right are: Mr D. Lawler; Professor J. Gaddarn; Mrs B. Mackeen; Mr J. Allen; Mr Simon Hancock; and Mrs L. Lawler.
(Picture: Alf Williams)

 

Date line:
Article compiled from local press archives and family records (Western Telegraph, c. 1991).

 

OBITUARY

Lives Remembered: James Gaddarn (1924–2012)

Admired conductor and teacher

Published: 29 March 2012
By Geoffrey Budd, Chairman, London Orpheus Choir

James Gaddarn, who conducted the London Orpheus Choir for more than fifty years, died on 14 February 2012, aged 87, after a period of failing health.

Born in Pembrokeshire in March 1924, he studied at Trinity College of Music, London, under the great musician and philosopher Charles Kennedy Scott, whose influence on him was both profound and lasting. Gaddarn later joined the College’s professorial staff, specialising in singing, a discipline that shaped the rest of his long musical career. In his early years, he had already shown exceptional talent as a pianist and accompanist.

Early in his professional life, he was invited by the BBC to assist Leslie Woodgate, Director of the BBC Singers and Chorus. He later worked with Sir Malcolm Sargent, who in turn invited him to become Chorus Master of the Royal Choral Society.

In 1952, Gaddarn succeeded his former teacher, Kennedy Scott, as conductor of the London Orpheus Choir, a post he held until 2010, remaining Conductor Emeritus until his death. Over the same decades, he was also conductor of the Trinity College Choir, the Croydon Philharmonic Choir, and the Ealing Choral Society, often holding several of these positions concurrently. He also founded the London Orpheus Orchestra, extending his influence beyond the choral world into orchestral performance.

James Gaddarn’s long career embraced an unusually broad range of repertoire — from pre-Baroque works to modern compositions — and included numerous premieres. Among these were Elizabeth Maconchy’s Heloise and Abelard, the first London performance of Arthur Bliss’s Mary of Magdala (given at the composer’s own request), and the premiere of Antonín Tučapský’s Stabat Mater. In later years, he conducted the first English performances of Donizetti’s Requiem Mass and the first public performance in England of Messa di Gloria e Credo.

Throughout his career, Gaddarn appeared with many of Britain’s leading orchestras, including the Philharmonia, London Philharmonic, Royal Philharmonic, English Chamber Orchestra, and English Symphony Orchestra.

Yet it was as a choral conductor and mentor that he was most deeply admired, remembered with gratitude by hundreds of amateur singers who worked under his baton. His rehearsals were known for their painstaking preparation, attention to words and phrasing, and his constant reminder that the musician’s first duty was always to “serve the composer.”

 

Source: Lives Remembered: James Gaddarn, The Independent, 29 March 2012.
Originally written by Geoffrey Budd, Chairman of the London Orpheus Choir.

Editor’s Note:
Though his career flourished in London’s concert halls, James Gaddarn never lost touch with his beginnings in Neyland, Pembrokeshire. It was here that his musical life first took shape, and where his family’s name had long been known, not for music, but for shipbuilding on the Haven. His journey from a small Welsh town to the Royal Albert Hall remains one of Neyland’s proudest stories.

 

Editor’s Note: A Neyland Treasure Comes Home

Every so often, a small miracle of heritage turns up where you least expect it.
While browsing eBay for Neyland or Llanstadwell artefacts, we came across a beautiful silver-plated ice bucket, engraved and presented to Professor James Gaddarn to mark his 75th Birthday Concert at the Queen Elizabeth Hall, London, on 20 March 1999.

The inscription reads:

“To James Gaddarn, in celebration of his 75th Birthday Concert, with much appreciation from his London Orpheus Orchestra.”

A modest piece of silverware perhaps, but one that holds a lifetime of music, discipline, and devotion. It speaks of the Pembrokeshire boy who rose to conduct in some of Britain’s grandest halls, and of the affection his colleagues felt for him at the height of his career.

Bibliography

1. Caddy, Ian. James Gaddarn Obituary, The Guardian, 26 March 2012.
2. Archives of the Neyland Choral Society (unpublished, 1948–1952).
3. Lives Remembered: James Gaddarn, The Independent, 28 March 2012.
4. Croydon Philharmonic Choir History Archive, “The Choir: History in Full,” accessed 2025.