In the 1880s William Charlton Blackett, the son of a coal agent, joined forces with Charles W. Howden and set up the firm of Blackett and Howden Ltd., organ builders of Newcastle Upon Tyne. They introduced some highly innovative features to pipe organs, and their business rapidly expanded from its initial focus on the Tyneside area, to supplying organs across the whole of the United Kingdom and beyond, at one time having a second workshop in Glasgow. They built and restored church and theatre/cinema organs, many of which are still in use to this day in countries such as Australia and Germany as well as the UK.

Blackett and Howden built the organ for the Royal Memorial Chapel at Sandhurst in 1924 but by then the original partnership had recently been dissolved and William replaced by his son Ralph Walton Blackett.

William settled in Hong Kong in 1917, where he set up a small organ factory in the city, training locals in the technique. He reconstructed the organ in Hong Kong Cathedral some time between 1917 and 1920/21 and is remembered by a then future organist of the Cathedral as "an elderly bearded man". He rebuilt the Cathedral organ again in 1937/38. He had also installed the organ at Kowloon Union Church in 1931. He is believed to have died in Hong Kong in 1941.

The firm was still trading under its original name as recently as 1969.

William Charlton Blackett was the 2nd cousin of Robert Blackett Charlton, who developed the engineering firm of R. Blackett Charlton Ltd. (see A Piping Hot Blackett).

Musical visitors to this site might like to try out the following traditional Northumbrian air, originally called “Blackett O’ Wylam”, and presumably dedicated to Christopher Blackett or his descendants.

https://www.theblacketts.com/node/99