 Over time the Fry ensemble was augmented with other instruments, not exclusively brass, and became famous under names such as "The Hallelujah Minstrels" and "The Happy Band".The Fry family themselves very soon gave up their family business and joined the Salvation Army full-time.The first ever Salvation Army Corps Band was formed in December 1879 in Consett, County Durham, a former steelworking town, another followed later in Northwich, Cheshire in 1880.