George James Webb was born in
Salisbury, Wiltshire,
England on June 24, 1803. He trained as a musician in his native city under Alexander Lucas, and began his career as an organist in
Falmouth, Cornwall. In 1830 he resigned his post and immigrated to the United States where he initially settled in
Boston,
Massachusetts as the organist at
Old South Church. In Boston, Webb taught on the faculty of the
Boston Academy of Music where he was conductor of the school's orchestra. He also worked as conductor of both the
Handel and Haydn Society and
The Musical Fund Society. He became a protege of
Lowell Mason, and collaborated with him on a variety of music, education, and publication projects; including co-editing music periodicals together and building choral collections together. Webb's daughter married Mason's son, the composer
William Mason. ==References==