September 2023

Contents

• President’s column and meeting notices - page 1Updates on the Mittagong Memorial Hall, Society activities and the George Vincent musical history.
• George Vincent’s published music - page 2Sheet-music covers accompany Bruce Moore’s musical wordplay and Society notices.
• Patrick O’Connor and local heritage - page 3Linda Emery profiles the tall Irish-born soldier who worked on the railway at Mittagong before World War I; David Collingridge’s National Trust talk is introduced.
• George Vincent: early life and musical education - page 4Philip Morton traces the Mittagong musician’s family, Bowral Brass Band connections and early achievements.
• Bandmaster at Mittagong and Bowral - page 5Vincent’s compositions and work with the Mittagong Brass Band and Bowral Association Band.
• St Jude’s and the life of George Vincent - page 6His long service as organist and choirmaster, compositions and 1932 funeral.
• The district’s brass bands - page 7Tributes to Vincent and later histories of the Mittagong and Bowral bands, including their wartime roles.
• Society information and office bearers - page 8Contact, opening and committee details as printed in September 2023; they may have changed.

Issue highlights

• Linda Emery profiles Patrick O’Connor, an Irish-born railway worker at Mittagong who enlisted in the First World War (p.3).
• Philip Morton traces musician George Vincent’s family, compositions and work with the Mittagong and Bowral bands and St Jude’s church (pp.4-7).
• The issue also introduces a talk by David Collingridge on the National Trust in the Southern Highlands (p.3).

Original Society source