Congratulations will today be poured upon Mr & Mrs Joseph Allebone Abbott, a well-known Rushden couple, who at their cottage in Wymington-road are quietly celebrating the diamond anniversary of their wedding—an event which will give special pleasure to those interested in the brass band movement.

Mr & Mrs Abbott

Married at Irchester Parish Church, by the Rev. John Smith, on December 10^th 1866, Mr and Mrs Abbott have been well blessed in health and happiness, and the bridegroom of 60 years ago sums up the position in these words: “We played together when we were children, and we have been together all our days. It has been a lifetime’s love, and it is not lost yet.” Mrs Abbott is less robust, though the years have indeed dealt kindly with her. Both are 78 years of age—they were married early in life—and Mr Abbott is his wife’s senior by four months. They have two sons, four daughters, five grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

From early infancy Mr Abbott spent many years in Irchester, where his friendship with Miss Percival, who was to be his life’s partner, developed into courtship and marriage. He pursued the craft of hand-sewn boot-making, and now recalls that after the Crimean War the price for making hand-sewn Army boots was not more than 1/7 per pair. With boots to make for Raunds and other centres, he was never short of work, but the price allowed at that time was not very satisfactory (it improved later) and it was not surprising that at the age of 27 he should move to Rushden, where there were other methods of boot-making to study.

56 Years Association with Bands

This however, connects the story with Mr Abbott’s career as a bandsman, for one of the inducements to live in Rushden was the opportunity to join the National Band, which had been attracting some notice. “I have been connected with bands since I was 12 years old,” says Mr Abbott: “first with a fife and drum band at Irchester. We got too big for that, so we had to have a brass band. I got on well with my instrument (a bass), and my brother-in-law, Mr Tom Robinson, got me to come over to Rushden so that I could be in the National Band. I was in that five or six years, after which I signed the pledge—as I had long thought of doing—and, through the influence of Mr Frank Bandey and Mr King Skinner, got into the Temperance Band.”

Mr Abbott was with the famous “Temps” during their early struggles and at the height of their success, in the halcyon days when the Crystal Palace and Belle Vue trophies were never far from the reach of the Rushden musicians. In those days the enthusiastic bandsmen spared no effort to discover the whys and wherefores of the placings at contests, Mr Abbott discloses that soon after the memorable occasion on which the “Temps” were placed second at Crystal Palace he gently sounded one of the judges, who told him that the second judge wanted to place Rushden first. Some of the less important contests, had exciting aftermaths, and Mr Abbott can tell a tale or two about judges whose supposed indiscretions brought drastic retaliations.

Touring with the band in many parts or England, Mr Abbott had an excellent reputation as a bass player, and at the same time his son, Mr A E Abbott, was recognised as one of the leading trombonists. The two have often been mistaken for brothers. Twenty-two years have passed since Mr Abbott was an active playing member of the band, but his membership has not been allowed to lapse, and he often accompanies the band on its journeys. “I owe a tremendous lot to the Temperance Band,” he declares. “If I had plenty of money they would not hurt. They are a good lot of chaps, and I wish they had the money to make their work easier.” Mr Abbott is proud of the fact that the band has stuck to its temperance principles, and of his own pledge ge tells us “I can safely say I have been true to the letter.”

For more than twenty years Mr Abbott was in the employ of the late Mr John Claridge and later in life he took up farming. His elder son, Mr Alfred Abbott, continues in the dairying business, and the younger son, Mr Frank Abbott, farms at Wymington. The daughters are Mrs C Myers and Mrs A Betson, both of Rushden, Mrs Hartwell and Mrs Smith, both residing in Lincolnshire.