Church, Walton Breck; and, finally, he was organist at West Derby parish church. In 1859, he occasionally played organ solos at the Monday Popular Concerts in St James's Hall, London. Although complete pedal-keyboards had now become general, no performer in England equalled Best, and he was very frequently invited to inaugurate newly built organs all over the country. At the Handel festival in June 1871, Best played an organ concerto with orchestral accompaniment, probably the first occasion within living memory when any of these works was played as was intended by the composer; and the experiment was so successful that Best was engaged at subsequent festivals for the same purpose. He also inaugurated the huge organ in the Royal Albert Hall on 18 July 1871. In 1880, he was offered a knighthood; but he preferred to take a civil list pension of £100. He also refused to be made doctor of music. Continual work as a performer, composer, editor, and teacher, brought on an illness which necessitated a lengthened rest in 1881–2; he visited Italy, and during his convalescence gave a grand recital in Rome, at the request of Liszt. On his return to England he discontinued teaching, and resigned his appointment at West Derby church. As the greatest living British organist he was invited to Australia to inaugurate the organ in the town hall at Sydney, which contains a pipe sixty-four feet in length. He accepted the invitation, and before leaving England exhibited the powers of this unrivalled instrument at the builder's factory in London, in the presence of a number of Australians. He gave a farewell recital in St. George's Hall on 8 February 1890, and gave the inaugural performance at Sydney on 9 August. He had suffered from gout, and expected the journey would improve his health; but it had a contrary effect, and after his return his public appearances were less frequent. He retired in February 1894 with a pension of £240. After much suffering from dropsy, he died at his residence, Seymour Road, Broad Green, Liverpool, on 10 May 1897, and was buried on 13 May in Childwall parish graveyard. Works He published some pianoforte and vocal pieces, which had little success ; his organ compositions are much more important, and are constantly played at recitals in churches and concert-rooms. His ecclesiastical music, especially his Benedicite (1864) with a free organ part, and his Service