18 George Street
Introduction
The photograph on this page of 18 George Street by Anne Burgess as part of the Geograph project.
The Geograph project started in 2005 with the aim of publishing, organising and preserving representative images for every square kilometre of Great Britain, Ireland and the Isle of Man.
There are currently over 7.5m images from over 14,400 individuals and you can help contribute to the project by visiting https://www.geograph.org.uk
Image: © Anne Burgess Taken: 27 Aug 2013
Judging by the windows in this first- and second-floor, No 18 consists of two two-storey dwellings, both accessed by the black door below the panel with the circular feature. For a short time around 1881, one of the two was the home of John William Fenton (1828-1890), who became an Army bandmaster, was posted with his regiment to Japan in 1868. He was asked by Japanese naval bandsmen to teach them, and a year or so later composed the first version of the tune for the Japanese national anthem, 'Kimi ga Yo', based on a Japanese poem selected for the purpose by Captain Ōyama Iwao. When his regiment left Japan in 1871, Fenton stayed on for a further six years as instructor to the bands of the Japanese Navy and later the Imperial Court.