William Barry Owen

William Barry Owen (born April 15, 1860 in Tisbury on Martha's Vineyard , Massachusetts , † April 19, 1914 there ) was a pioneer in the development of the entertainment industry.

The son of a whaler from New Bedford trained in law in Boston . He was the director of Frank Seaman's National Gramophone Company in New York .

When the news of the Parlophone reached America, the Gramophone people feared that the European market could become independent. In 1897 Emil Berliner sent Owen to London to start the Gramophone Company . In 1898 he and his partner Trevor Williams first registered the company in the Hotel Cecil , then moved it to 31 Maiden Lane on May 16.

He was probably also involved in the failed takeover of Frank Lambert's typewriter factory .

After returning to the United States in 1907, he ran real estate businesses on Martha's Vineyard, arranged ferry services to the island, and built the Luxemoor commercial building. His wife donated what is now Owen Park to the town of Tisbury in the north-east of the island .

literature

• Louis Barfe: Where have all the good times gone? : the rise and fall of the record industry, Atlantic, London 2013, ISBN 978-1-78239-219-4 , p. 1896.

Web links

• William Barry Owen in the database of Find a Grave (English)
• http://phonojack.com/WilliamBarryOwen.htm
• http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/OWEN/2001-07/0994168807
• http://soundofthehound.com/2011/05/10/a-welshman-and-an-american-went-into-a-hotel-they-came-out-as-employees-1-and-2-of- the-uk-recording-industry /
• http://listsearches.rootsweb.com/th/read/OWEN/2001-07/0994168807

supporting documents

1. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original from May 29, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
2. ↑ http://www.morebeach.com/beach-pictures/cape-cod-beaches/owen-park-beach-martha's-vineyard.html