Robert Sparrow Smythe

Robert Sparrow Smythe (1833-1917)[1] was an Australian journalist, newspaper editor/owner and a theatrical manager.

Also known as Robert Smythe

Biography

Born Robert Smith on 13 March 1833 in London, son of the unmarried Elizabeth Bridge, he trained as a journalist and in 1855 he emigrated to Melbourne to begin a career as reporter and for the first five years was a successful editor of various journals and newspapers.

In 1861 he started a new career in theatrical management, working with numerous visiting artists, including the French violinist Horace Poussard and the cellist Rèné Douay in 1862. Through them he met the local soprano, Amelia Elizabeth Bailey (usually billed Amelia Bailey), who was to become his "wife" and had three children with him.

In 1864 he and Bailey, who had been on a disastrous tour of the East, India from 1864 until late 1866 taking a route that included Ceylon, Bombay, Delhi, Simla, Agra, Udaipur, Umballa, Pondicherry, Madras and all major towns that held British populations or garrisons, even going as far as Peshawur. In 1867 they arrived at the Cape from Mauritius with the intent of merely stopping over on their way to England. They stayed in South Africa for two years against all advice, crossing the Vaal river and giving concerts in the Transvaal – the first concert company to do so. In October 1868 Smythe and Poussard left for England just after their 150th concert and 'the Ladies' stayed at the Cape until June 1869 when they engaged to sail directly back to Melbourne. During this "Great Tour" Amelia Bailey gave birth to three children: Bryan Bailey Smythe (ca. 1864 – ca.1867), Carlyle Greenwood Smythe (1865 Umballa, India – 1926 Nice, France) and Florence Nightingale Smythe (1867 Nuwara Eliya, Ceylon – 1948, Kew, Melbourne).

He died in Deepdene, Victoria, on 23 May 1917

Contribution to SA theatre, film, media and/or performance

In 1864 he and his wife wife, the soprano Amelia Bailey, joined forces with violinist Horace Poussard and the "serio-comic vocalist" Florence Calzado‎‎, to found the Poussard-Bailey Opera Company, with which they undertook a 4-year tour of India and South Africa, giving more than 300 performances.

Sources

D.C. Boonzaier, 1923. "My playgoing days – 30 years in the history of the Cape Town stage", in SA Review, 9 March and 24 August 1923. (Reprinted in Bosman 1980: pp. 374-439.)

F.C.L. Bosman. 1980. Drama en Toneel in Suid-Afrika, Deel II, 1856-1916. Pretoria: J.L. van Schaik: pp.

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