Logier was born in Kassel, Hessen, Germany, son of a violinist and teacher of Huguenot descent. When the elder Logier died in 1791, the son moved to England and joined the band of the Marquess of Abercorn’s regiment (John James Hamilton, ninth Earl and first Marquess had extensive land and property in west Ulster, Counties Tyrone and Donegal). In 1796 the regimental band relocated to Ireland and Logier had several positions throughout the island; his son Frederick was born in Ulster, in County Cavan, while Logier was based there.

Logier invented a machine for pianists called a “Chiroplast”, designed to keep the fingers in a fixed position while practising. This was widely used at the time in the United Kingdom, Europe and even the United States; while some prominent musicians (such as Sir George Smart, Friedrich Kalkbrenner and Louis Spohr) praised Logier for this as well as his widely disseminated pedagogical books, he had nevertheless some detractors. He settled permanently in Dublin, where he had a music shop and was an energetic concert promoter; he did have one five-year spell in Germany where he was assisted by his sons Frederick and William. His books and inventions were still being circulated as late as the 1870s; one of them, entitled System der Musik-Wissenschaft und der Praktischen Komposition (1827) is generally held to be the first use of the German word for “Musicology”.

Born:	9 February 1777
Died:	27 July 1846