Milhouse

The Milhouse family (also spelt Millhouse) was a dynasty of woodwind instrument makers in England, active between the late eighteenth and the mid-nineteenth century. Its members worked mainly in Newark, in Nottinghamshire, and in London, where the most prominent figure of the group was based.

The earliest member on record is Richard Milhouse senior (Newark, 1724 - Newark, 1775), who appears in 1753, when he married in Fledborough, described as a turner. Few of his instruments survive, marked "Millhouse Newark", among them a notable bassoon dated 1763 that is now in the Sheffield Museum. Some instruments also signed "Milhouse London" are probably attributed to his eldest son, Richard Milhouse junior (Newark, 1759 - West Retford, 1845), about whom little is known. His career was intermittent, moving between Newark and London, and in 1805 he appears in a directory listed in Soho. He returned to Newark, where he is recorded as a maker between 1822 and 1836, before moving to an asylum in West Retford.

The most important member of the family was William Milhouse (Newark, 1761 - after 1834), younger brother of Richard. He married in Newark in 1786 and, by the middle of 1787, already had a workshop in Wardour Street, London; at the end of 1797 he moved to Oxford Street. For almost fifty years he enjoyed great prestige as a maker of woodwind instruments. His trade cards present him as purveyor to the Dukes of Kent and of Cumberland, and his instruments bear the mark "W. Milhouse London". A publication of 1830 highlights the improvements he introduced to the oboe and describes him as the only maker of any real renown in England. His bassoons are especially well known, as a relatively large number have survived. He also published some music.

In 1822 his son Richard Milhouse (London, 1796) joined the business, and he ran the workshop alone between 1835 and 1840. Today the family stands as a testimony to handcraft woodwind manufacture in England of the period, and William Milhouse in particular as one of its most distinguished makers.