R. J. Estall

Mr. R. J. Estall, born 1881, Randolph James “Dick” Estall MBE, died in January 1966 age 86. Dick Estall first joined the Woolston Band in 1897 as a talented euphonium player. He took up the baton in 1914 “at the urgent request of his fellow bandsmen”. The following year Woolston won the South Island Contest under his leadership. This win marked the beginning of a career that confirmed Dick Estall and the Woolston Brass Band as nulli secundus in brass band circles. He retired as conductor in late 1952 following an illness.