Frederick Augustus Packer

Packer was born in Reading, Berkshire, of a musical family. His parents, Frederick Alexander Packer (died 2 July 1862), occasionally referred to as F. Alexander Packer,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article264668518 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Advertiser (Hobart) |volume=XXVI |issue=4707 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=23 July 1862 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} and Augusta Packer (née Gow) (c. 1819 – 23 February 1893), daughter of Nathaniel Gow, composer of "Caller Herrin", and granddaughter of Niel Gow,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201153288 |title=Obituary |newspaper=The Tasmanian |volume=XXII |issue=9 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=4 March 1893 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=9 |via=National Library of Australia}} were members of the Royal Academy of Music in London.

The young Frederick Augustus was taught music and learned to sing and play organ from his parents.

:In 1852 the family{{efn|They had four sons and four daughters, all aged under 14, and subsequently at least two more.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8771793 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Colonial Times |volume=XL |issue=2452 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=20 July 1852 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2239007 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Courier (Hobart) |volume=XXVIII |issue=2306 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=13 July 1854 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8800600 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VI |issue=1197 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=22 August 1861 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} }} left for Australia by the barque Sylph, in steerage; in July arriving in Hobart,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226524107 |title=Shipping Intelligence |newspaper=The Tasmanian Colonist |volume=II |issue=98 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=12 July 1852 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} where he took up the position of organist at St David's Cathedral in Davey Street. It is not clear whether Packer senior left England with the position of organist at St David's in mind. When William Wilkins Russell resigned the post in 1841{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232479777 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Austral-asiatic Review |volume=XIII |issue=806 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=3 December 1841 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} his place was taken by Mrs Elliott, followed in 1852 by the 17-year-old Miss Bonney,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article173061631 |title=Local Intelligence |newspaper=Hobarton Guardian |volume=VI |issue=499 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=7 April 1852 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}} but amid controversy,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2958423 |title=Classified Advertising |newspaper=The Courier (Hobart) |volume=XXVI |issue=1820 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=25 September 1852 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}} she resigned and Frederick Alexander Packer, "recently arrived from England", took her place.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226526539 |title=Local |newspaper=The Tasmanian Colonist |volume=II |issue=123 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=27 September 1852 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

:He opened St David's new organ, built by Bishop and Starr of London, on 26 July 1857.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article201342054 |title=The New Organ at St David's |newspaper=The Tasmanian Daily News |volume=VI |issue=768 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=28 July 1857 |access-date=12 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} Despite initial enthusiasm, it had significant faults, eventually attributed to subsidence of the floor on which it was built and lack of periodic maintenance.

:Frederick Alexander Packer was still employed as organist of St David's, and had achieved some fame as a composer, when he died. His eldest son Frederick Augustus had been away in Launceston, but returned the previous day.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8808327 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VII |issue=1443 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=3 July 1862 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Packer found employment in the Telegraph Office in Hobart: as a telegraphist;{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3249271 |title=General Intelligence |newspaper=The Hobart Town Daily Mercury |volume=I |issue=164 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=10 July 1858 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite web|url=http://www.auspostalhistory.com/articles/106.php|title=F. A. Packer, House of Assembly, Hobart (1839–1902)|website=www.auspostalhistory.com|date=4 April 2023 }} appointed telegraph operator in 1859, then briefly with the Customs Office in Launceston and later promoted to superintendent.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3254765 |title=Original Correspondence |newspaper=The Hobart Town Daily Mercury |volume=III |issue=419 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=4 May 1859 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In July 1862 he succeeded Henslowe as sessional clerk of the Tasmanian House of Assembly,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41454486 |title=Our Monthly Summary |newspaper=The Launceston Examiner |volume=XXII |issue=85 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=17 July 1862 |access-date=15 December 2024 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He was appointed Clerk of the House of Assembly and Librarian of Parliament in 1882{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9010131 |title=The Gazette |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XL |issue=3840 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=30 May 1882 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He retired as Parliamentary Clerk in December 1894, to be replaced by H. T. Maning (died 7 April 1896).

Following the death on 10 May 1862 of Thomas Hawley Sharpe, Packer was appointed organist of St Andrew's Kirk, Launceston,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article264721044 |title=General Intelligence |newspaper=Hobart Town Advertiser |issue=161 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=31 May 1862 |access-date=15 December 2024 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}} but with the impending death of his father, Packer returned to Hobart and Robert Sharpe (possibly unrelated) was appointed in his place.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article41454612 |title=Religious Intelligence |newspaper=Launceston Examiner |volume=XXII |issue=88 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=23 July 1862 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In July 1862 he inherited his father's position as organist at St David's, coming into conflict with Rev. John Watson, the curate, and Nigel Gresley, the churchwarden, who both resigned.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8811529 |title=St David's Cathedral |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VII |issue=1524 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=11 October 1862 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} In defending his position, Packer produced encomiums from Samuel Parsons D.D., incumbent of All Saints' Church, Hobart, and R. K. Ewing of St Andrew's Kirk, Launceston.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8811835 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VII |issue=1532 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=21 October 1862 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He had some success as a music teacher,{{Cite web|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.party-513028|title = Trove}} notably of Amy Sherwin.{{cite book|title=Singers of Australia |author1=Barbara Mackenzie |author2=Findlay Mackenzie |page=69 |year=1967 |publisher=Lansdowne}}

In late 1863 or early 1864 he was elected to the Royal College of Organists.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8826809 |title=Musical |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VIII |issue=2021 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=16 June 1864 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Packer composed and directed an "Ode of Welcome", sung by five thousand schoolchildren at the Queen's Domain, to Prince Alfred, the Duke of Edinburgh, on his visit to Tasmania as part of his 1967/8 tour of Australia.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8849902 |title=The Duke of Edinburgh |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XIII |issue=2186 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=8 January 1868 |access-date=15 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} The effect was better than feared, as the rehearsals were notable for the children's lack of enthusiasm.

He was instrumental in securing for the City of Hobart an organ, built by J. W. Walker of London, and reckoned to be (apart from that of the Sydney Town Hall) the finest in Australia,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8867894 |title=The Town Hall Organ |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XVI |issue=2882 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=18 March 1870 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} which he opened on 17 March 1870. in a grand concert, playing Haydn's Creation and Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. Other organists to perform were his brother John Packer and Albert Alexander RAM.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article232870516 |title=Opening of the Town Hall Organ |newspaper=The Tasmanian Times |volume=VI |issue=799 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=18 March 1870 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

By 1872 he was being referred to as the "city organist" of Hobart Town, but it was at most a complimentary term or honorary title rather than an appointment.

He led the Tasmanian troupe which participated in the Intercolonial Music Festival in Melbourne 26–31 December 1872. Monday was "Tasmania night", and their contribution was a cantata composed by Packer, with Longfellow's Wreck of the Hesperus as the text, each dramatic episode being sung by Tasmanian performers with a variety of instrumental accompaniment, Packer on organ and his uncle Charles S. Packer on pianoforte. Soloists Amy Sherwin and her sister (Lucy? Sarah?) received good notices, as did Walter Sherwin,{{efn|The tenor Walter Sherwin (né John Shickle) (died 22 September 1881){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article136048280 |title=The Late Walter Sherwin |newspaper=Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate |volume=IX |issue=3141 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 September 1881 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} was father of Rosina Carandini (later Palmer) and Fanny Carandini. Sherwin lost a hand in a shooting accident c. 1870: he always wore gloves and no-one guessed one hand was artificial. No relationship to Amy Sherwin has been found.}} Rosina Carandini and Fannie Carandini, Henry Gordon, and Mr W. J. Reynolds.

In their absence, the Hobart Philharmonic Society, of which Packer was conductor, organised a benefit concert at the Town Hall for his return.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8925748 |title=Complimentary Concert for Mr F. A. Packer |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XXII |issue=3765 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=21 January 1873 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He organised in 1879 a "first annual concert", at which practically every well-known vocalist and instrumentalist in the colony took part.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8981975 |title=Mr Packer's Concert |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XXXV |issue=5718 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=4 October 1879 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In 1884 Hobart citizens were treated to a free concert at which Packer demonstrated the versatility and power of the Town Hall organ. This was claimed as their first opportunity to hear the instrument that was costing them so dearly. A highlight was a vocal duet from Benedict's opera The Lily of Killarney by H. and A. Packer.{{efn|His brothers Harry Effingham Packer (21 August 1861 – ) and Arthur Howard Packer (11 November 1850 – 20 August 1912), father of Robert Clyde Packer}}

In 1885 disagreement arose between Packer and the church administration over divided control of the choir (between organist and choirmaster).{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9102579 |title=St David's Cathedral Choir |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XLVI |issue=4,713 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=28 March 1885 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 (supplement) |via=National Library of Australia}} Article includes letters of support from distinguished organists There was also talk of a pay cut, so in 1886 he resigned, to be replaced by Raymond Maynard.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9124640 |title=St David's Cathedral |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XLIX |issue=5,112 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=16 July 1886 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He took up the organist's stool at the church of St John the Baptist, Goulburn Street, where he presided for the last five years' residence in Hobart.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article176635098 |title=The Late F. A. Packer |newspaper=Tasmanian News |issue=6645 |date=4 August 1902 |access-date=15 December 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Packer resigned the post of City Organist in 1895, with A. J. Mills appointed as his replacement.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9303107 |title=City Council |newspaper=The Mercury |volume=LXVI |issue=7985 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=1 October 1895 |access-date=15 December 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}} Mills left in 1897 for St Andrew's Presbyterian Church, Newcastle.

It is not clear whether Packer formally moved to Sydney. No reports of farewells or editorials on the subject have been found, but from 1895 he had many engagements in Sydney, several in conjunction with the City Organist Auguste Wiegand and the Catholic Church: playing the organ at St Patrick's{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14018773 |title=St Patrick's Church |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=17,951 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 September 1895 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}} and contributed to a benefit concert for Wiegand at the Town Hall.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108779410 |title=M. Wiegand's Benefit |newspaper=Evening News (Sydney) |issue=9069 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 June 1896 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}

He gave a recital at the Sydney Town Hall in 1896{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108211072 |title=Organ Recital |newspaper=The Evening News (Sydney) |issue=9195 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=23 November 1896 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

His last years were spent in Sydney,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153821436 |title=Death of Mr F. A. Packer |newspaper=Daily Telegraph |volume=XXII |issue=183 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=4 August 1902 |access-date=13 November 2020 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article64030226 |title=Frederic A. Packer, an Australian Composer |newspaper=Illustrated Sydney News |volume=XXIX |issue=3 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 January 1892 |access-date=13 November 2020 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}} for much of the time in the Parramatta Asylum, where he died.

As compositions by both father and son were credited to "F. A. Packer", some credits are indeterminate. Identities of the two men were confused, even as early as 1936 Hobart.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article30115953 |title=Fellowship Singing |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=CXLV |issue=20,576 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=9 October 1936 |access-date=13 December 2024 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}} For instance, "Nearer to Thee" (hymn 109) to the familiar poem by Sarah Flower Adams,{{cite book|url=https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/100795?v=uv#?xywh=-580%2C-85%2C2304%2C1666&cv=1 |title=Nearer to Thee, hymn cix by F. A. Packer |date=1875 |publisher=Berkeley Library |access-date=13 December 2024}} and dedicated to Archdeacon Davies{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8798019 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VII |issue=1104 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=2 May 1861 |access-date=13 December 2024 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} is credited to F. A. Packer R.A.M. so must be Frederick Alexander, the father.

• "Mazurka" was advertised in 1861 together with "Nearer to Thee", so presumably composed by Frederick Alexander.

• "The Garrison Polka" (1854), credited to F. A. Packer, jun.,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2240468 |title=General Intelligence |newspaper=The Courier (Hobart) |volume=XXVIII |issue=2387 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=20 October 1854 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "There Is Love" (to a poem by Thomas Hood) (1854), credited;{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article2243926 |title=Classified Advertising |newspaper=The Courier (Hobart) |volume=XXVIII |issue=2408 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=14 November 1854 |access-date=13 December 2024 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} included in "De La Court Bouquet"{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36290843 |title=De La Court Bouquet |newspaper=Launceston Examiner |volume=XIV |issue=1398 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=2 December 1854 |access-date=12 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} Also reported as "There Is Love for You and Me"
• "Deus Misereatur" (1859), credited{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article3260078 |title=The Organ at St David's Cathedral |newspaper=The Hobart Town Daily Mercury |volume=IV |issue=702 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=28 December 1859 |access-date=12 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "Forget Me Not" (1860), credited;{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8795007 |title=The Southern Minstrels |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VI |issue=1001 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=15 December 1860 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} to the poem "Forget Me Not in Absence"
• "The Fairy Sisters" (1862){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article8812158 |title=Grand Amateur Concert |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=VII |issue=1541 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=1 November 1862 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "Violette" (1862). Perhaps the same work as "Violette! I dream of thee"{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13055712 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |volume=XLIII |issue=7182 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=15 June 1861 |accessdate=13 December 2024 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}}

• "Oh Sing Once More That Parting Strain" (1862) to words by George Hodder{{cite web|url=https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/156931640 |title=Oh Sing Once More That Parting Strain |author1=F. A. Packer |author2=G. Hodder}} and dedicated to Mrs Gore Browne{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article264722336 |title=General Intelligence |newspaper=Hobart Town Advertiser |issue=209 |date=2 May 1863 |access-date=13 December 2024 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "The Brooklet" (c. 1869) duet for piano
• "Wouldn't You Like to Know" (1869)
• "Tasmanian National Anthem" (1879){{cite web|url=https://www.australianculture.org/the-tasmanian-national-anthem-f-a-packer/ |publisher=The Institute of Australian Culture |title=The Tasmanian National Anthem, by F. A. Packer |date=20 February 2013 |access-date=13 December 2024}}
• "Under The Snow" (1879), dedicated to Amy Sherwin

:Several songs received a second, revised, edition in 1880:{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article226504598 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XXXVI |issue=5846 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=4 March 1880 |access-date=13 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

:* "Listening"

:* "Is My Lover on the Sea"

:* "Legend of the Crossbill"

:As well as a large collection of new releases:

:* "Little Blue Shoes"

:* "My Star in Heaven"

:* "Two Little Hands"

:* "Loved and Lost"

:* "Come Back Sweetheart"

:* "Long, Long Years Ago"

:* "When the Wattle Was in Bloom"

:* "Death of Cock Robin and Jenny Wren"

:A brace of songs published by Chappell & Co in London and J. Walch and Sons in Australia in 1882, but already familiar through frequent performance, include:{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9015080 |title=Review |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XLI |issue=3916 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=30 August 1882 |access-date=13 December 2024 |page=1 (Supplement) |via=National Library of Australia}}

:* "For the Old Love's Sake", dedicated to Miss Frederica Mitchell

:* "'Tis sad to Love in Vain", dedicated to Miss Christian

:* "Withered", predicted by Christian to match the popularity of "Listening"

:* "The Boat with the Snowy white Sail" sung by Miss Gresley

:* "Break", to a poem by Tennyson, dedicated to Miss Theodora Mayer

:* "The Omen Stone", a demanding piece for piano

:* "True Love Never Dies", for tenor, sung by Mr Benson

:* "The Standard of England", dedicated to Armes Beaumont

:* "Susie Bell", described as 'a man-o'-war's song in answer to "Nancy Lee"{{efn|An 1840 shanty by Stephen Adams with lyrics by Fred E. Weatherly, of which 100,000 sheets of sheet music were sold.}}'.

• "Come unto Me" (1883 or earlier){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9020404 |title=Sacred Concert |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=XLII |issue=4094 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=26 March 1883 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "The Land of Beauty" cantata was successfully staged in November 1894{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article174591060 |title=The Cantata |newspaper=Tasmanian News |issue=4292 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=16 November 1894 |accessdate=13 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} but not reprised at the Exhibition of January 1905, owing, according to some, to a clique jealous of Packer's successes.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article9324991 |title=Mr Packer's Cantata |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=LXV |issue=7,786 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=9 February 1895 |accessdate=13 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} When Sydney's City Organ was refurbished in 1895, Auguste Wiegand chose "All Things Show Thy Gracious Beauty" from this cantata as a demonstration piece among favorites by Beethoven and Mozart.
• "Madre Divina" (1893 or earlier){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13288469 |title=The Mercury |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=LXII |issue=7381 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=21 October 1893 |accessdate=14 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "For Evermore" (1896) an "answer" to "Listening"{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article39632664 |title=Music & the Drama |newspaper=Launceston Examiner |volume=LVI |issue=105 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=2 May 1896 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "Drifting Away" (1896){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153507877 |title=No title |newspaper=Daily Telegraph (Launceston) |volume=XVI |issue=78 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=31 March 1896 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "Salve! Salve!", a.k.a. "Solve the Secret", was first used as an offertory at St Patrick's Church, Sydney in 1895. His Ave Maria was used by the same (Catholic) church/{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109884325 |title=St Patrick's Church |newspaper=The Evening News (Sydney) |issue=8837 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 September 1895 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} e also composed a Maria Divina, used by St Mary's Cathedral, Sydney (also Catholic) in 1896.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article109915676 |title=St Mary's Cathedral |newspaper=The Evening News (Sydney) |issue=8920 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=6 January 1896 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• "Take Up Thy Cross", "Oh Let Him whose Sorrow", and "Dolores Elegia" played at a memorial service{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153821436 |title=Death of Mr F. A. Packer |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Launceston) |volume=XXII |issue=183 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=4 August 1902 |accessdate=15 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Packer was as much a lyricist as a composer, putting words to most of his songs, but also to tunes by other composers, such as Auguste Wiegand's "Orange Flower Serenade".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227212166 |title=New Music |newspaper=The Australian Star |issue=2783 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=6 January 1897 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

:Compositions published by Palings in 1897{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article238387192 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph (Sydney) |issue=5574 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=1 May 1897 |accessdate=14 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

:*"Stolen Kisses"

:*"Flirting"

:*"Jealousy"

:*"Pompadour Gavotte"

Packer was accused by The Clipper of being lauded by "The Muckery" (the Hobart Mercury) as an "artist" or musical genius, when he was second-rate and only succeeded through having no competition; unlike his uncle Charles, he never ventured overseas.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article83368337 |title=Fulsome Adulation |newspaper=The Clipper |volume=3 |issue=155 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=22 February 1896 |access-date=14 December 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}

• 2011 Songs of Fred Packer by Kerry Garland {{Cite web|url=https://linctas.ent.sirsidynix.net.au/client/en_AU/library/search/detailnonmodal/ent:$002f$002fSD_ILS$002f0$002fSD_ILS:1086557/one|title = Songs of Frederick Augustus Gow Packer}}
• 2015 When the Yellow Wattle Was in Bloom{{cite web|url=http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/work/packer-frederick-augustus-when-the-yellow-wattle-was-in-bloom|title=When the yellow wattle was in bloom by Frederick Augustus Packer : Work : Australian Music Centre|website=www.australianmusiccentre.com.au}}
• 2016 Three pieces of Frederick A. Packer: Sion Reade concert band{{cite web|url=http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/work/reade-simon-three-pieces-of-frederick-a-packer|title=Three pieces of Frederick A. Packer : concert band by Frederick Alexander Packer, Frederick Augustus Packer and Simon Reade : Work : Australian Music Centre|website=www.australianmusiccentre.com.au}}

Packer married Marion Chamberlain (died 25 February 1885) on 1 March 1869. They had at least one child:

• Mona Marion Packer (December 1869 – 8 April 1945){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27932008 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=33,478 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=11 April 1945 |accessdate=12 December 2024 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}} married oil company executive Robert Lowe Gordon, lived at Neutral Bay.

On 22 November 1890 he married again, to Clarice Octavia Allison, daughter of Francis Allison of Hobart.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article163582981 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=Tasmanian News |issue=3068 |date=27 November 1890 |access-date=9 December 2024 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} They had at least one son{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13301198 |title=House of Assembly |newspaper=The Mercury (Hobart) |volume=LX |issue=7,056 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=5 October 1892 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}} Not explained: Who refused to register the birth? and why?

• Frederick Ryland Packer (28 January 1892 – ). He enlisted with the First AIF in August 1915; POW in Germany. By 1940 was a clerk with Commonwealth Oil Refineries, married Nellie May sometime around 1925.

His siblings include second son John Edward Packer (c. 1840 – 25 August 1900), who joined the Tasmanian public service as a telegraphist, later under-treasurer 1886–1894, when he was paralysed by a stroke, retired 1895 and moved to Sydney early 1898, where he died. He was organist for St George's Church, Battery Point, for over 25 years. He married twice and had at least six children.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article153764063 |title=Death of Mr John Packer |newspaper=Daily Telegraph (Launceston) |volume=XX |issue=204 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=27 August 1900 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article185244759 |title=Obituary |newspaper=Tasmanian News |issue=6059 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=27 August 1900 |access-date=10 December 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} possibly more informative

Others were A. H. Packer, of the Customs Department;

R. K. Packer, of the Queensland Telegraph Service; and

H. E. Packer, Secretary for Public Works

The distinguished organist and composer (of the oratorio Crown of Thorns) Charles Sandys Packer was an uncle.{{cite web|url=https://www.organ-biography.info/index.php?id=Packer_FrederickAugustus_1839|title=Biographical Dictionary of the Organ - Frederick Augustus Packer|first=Warwick Bardon|last=Henshaw|website=www.organ-biography.info}}

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