Wall family moved as earliest known recordings of Christmas Day by Enfield family are restored by the Museum of London

Twenty four recordings were made by the middle-class Wall family in Parkhurst Road in New Southgate on wax cylinders between 1902 and 1917.

David Brown, son of Muriel Brown, the second youngest of the Wall children, inherited the cylinders and a broken phonograph machine from his mother after she died.

It was only when he donated them to the Museum of London that he discovered what was on them as the museum was able to use the equipment needed to decipher the unique sounds.

The 71-year-old, who grew up in Enfield before moving to St Neots, said: "I had this old box which contained these machines that didn’t work and I said ‘what on earth am I going to do with these?’

"I hadn’t a clue about the significant of them so I thought the best place to put them was in a museum rather than up in the loft gathering dust.

"We just thought it’s probably all fuzzy but when the curator heard the recording she was very excited – she said they were fantastic."

He said it was "really moving" to hear the voices of his grandfather and great grandfather for the first time as they both died before he was born.

Cromwell Wall was responsible for the recordings of his wife and nine children, plus his father William Wall who came to London from Somerset to make his fortune during World War One.

Julia Hoffbrand, curator of social and working history at the museum, said the "very exciting discovery" could well be the earliest surviving recording of a family Christmas found anywhere in the world.

She said: "It is extremely unusual for wax phonograph cylinders containing retrievable recordings of this age to survive, which is what makes this discovery so exciting.

"On hearing some of the musical recordings, classical music experts have commented that the sound quality is outstanding – superior to many musical recordings made for sale at the time."

The rare insight into a true family Christmas include the family singing Angels from the Realms of Glory and Wish You a Merry Christmas on Christmas Day in 1902.

In another enchanting recording, Cromwell Wall can be heard to say: "Here we go again another Christmas, 1904, and we must say one of the jolliest we have spent and trust we may have many more together."

He wheeled the phonograph along the street in his children’s pram to record the sound of Old Southgate Church bells bringing in the New Year of 1904.

Mr Brown said the recordings have brought the family together over Christmas, each fascinated by the insight into their family’s past.