The University of Queensland

was born on 24 July 1861 at Clifton, Bristol, England. He arrived in Brisbane in January 1898, and later wrote :

"My arrival coincided with the peak of a flood and the flood water of the river was so full of debris, large logs, dead cattle etc. that our boat tied up at Hamilton wharf instead of berthing at its place in the city … the cab … was a funny box of a thing and the combination of rain, heat, dirt && discomfort was most depressing. At that time, Brisbane had not got a decent road. Queen Street through which we ploughed was nothing but a dirt track, and I can remember the muddy water thrown off our wheels."  ¹

He took up the post as organist and choirmaster of St John’s Cathedral, Brisbane and began a long and significant musical career in Brisbane.

George Sampson was ’instrumental’ in raising funds to purchase the magnificent organ that until recently resided in the Brisbane City Hall. It was commissioned for the Concert Room of the Brisbane Exhibition Buildings, Bowen Hills.

Built in 1891-92 by Henry Willis & Co of London, the organ was finally purchased in January 1900 by the Brisbane City Council. It remained in the Exhibition Hall until it was reinstalled in the new Brisbane City Hall in 1930. Dubbed ’Old Father Willis’ the 4747 pipe-organ has recently been dismantled and placed in storage as part of the City Hall’s three-year restoration project.

George Sampson was also conductor for the Brisbane Musical Union and founder of the Sampson Orchestra, which became in 1924 the Queensland State and Municipal Orchestra. He taught organ, pianoforte and singing, composed predominantly sacred music, and published several works. In 1899 he set to music George Essex Evans’s poem, ’A federal song’.

He dominated Brisbane’s classical music scene for over 30 years.

The Fryer Library holds the papers of George Sampson; they include correspondence, programmes, clippings, manuscripts, his conductor’s baton and his metronome.

A portrait by his son-in-law Charles Bassett is also held by the Fryer Library.

George Sampson married Amy Winifred Taylor in 1903, herself an accomplished musician, they resided at ’Clifton’, Mayfield Street, Ascot and had two sons and a daughter. He died in Brisbane General Hospital 23 December 1949 after being knocked down by a tram at the age of 88.