Enderby Jackson

John Enderby Jackson (14 January 1827 – 10 April 1903) was an English musician, composer, and the self-described founder of the British brass band competition and the cheap day railway excursion. After training in the family business of candle-making and soap boiling, Jackson became involved in music and learned a variety of instruments. He proceeded to join a dance band, where he witnessed an early brass band competition. In 1851 he arranged a contest in Kingston upon Hull, but his first success came in 1853 at Manchester’s Belle Vue Zoological Gardens, where he helped organise a successful contest of brass bands. He began writing test pieces and in 1860 was approached to run a competition at The Crystal Palace in London. This event proved highly successful, and ran annually until 1863. Following the Crystal Palace contests, he toured the world with a variety of groups and acts, acting both as a manager and musical director. He then retired to Scarborough to paint and write articles on music, and eventually died on Good Friday, 1903. In his articles, he stated that his mission throughout his life was “the propagation of music amongst the working classes”. His mother died during hi