Organ

This organ could play the melody of the lives of Western Australia’s European pioneers, having once been owned by the first European girl born in the Swan River Colony. Built around 1820, the pedal-operated organ with ivory keys set sail from England to Australia in possession of the Dent family who travelled to the colony in 1829 aboard the Marquis of Anglesea. Upon their arrival, a storm drove the ship ashore while, onboard, Elizabeth Dent went into labour. As the ship floundered on the rocks, Elizabeth’s husband Thomas carried his labouring wife ashore where she soon gave birth on the beach. Their daughter, Sophia, was the first European girl born in the Swan River Colony. Sophia later inherited the piano and kept it with her throughout her life. She also played a concertina which you can see at the Mingenew Museum. Did her fingers dance across the keyboard at times of joy? Or was she more inclined to pound out mournful tunes as she grieved the death of her first husband? Perhaps the organ also offered her some respite - a melodious escape from the rigours of raising eight children.