Home Town Entertainers In Early Ladysmith

In addition to the frequent performances by international stars in the Ladysmith Opera House, the early town was rich in local musicians.

Before the days of radio and television and the advent of gramophone records, live music was an important part of home and social activities. While most families could not afford a piano, many had members who played more ‘accessible’ instruments such as the violin and concertina.

Black and white photograph of a light coloured two-storey wooden rectangular building with pitched roof and large rectangular windows staggered between levels surrounded by open space occupied by scrub bushes and tree stumps. Other wooden buildings of similar construction are in the background.

Gould’s Hall on the Esplanade, Ladysmith, circa 1900.

Black and white photograph of a single-storey gable-roofed simple rectangular wooden building with front porch about which a group of well dressed men, women and children are standing facing the photographer.

First Finn Hall on Gatacre Street, circa 1910.

The popularity of the music is evidenced by the several music stores in town and also numerous newspaper advertisements by music teachers.

Local bands

Many small bands of three to five musicians, sometimes with the grand title ‘Orchestra’, played at the frequent dances. Examples include the Louden Orchestra, Arnold’s Orchestra, Robinson’s Orchestra, Earls Orchestra, Star Orchestra, etc.

Black and white photograph of a group of men dressed in three piece suits, seated arranged in three rows.

Members of the Ladysmith Welsh Choir, early 1900s.

Black and white photograph of five young men smartly dressed in two piece suits, white shirt and tie with period hats, standing en echelon at an angle to the camera, right hands in their pants pockets.

The Ord Singers, Edward, Harry, James and two unknown, 1915.

Some concerts given by local musicians were unusual:

In 1902, W.A. Aubin, a local and very talented pianist, organist and violinist, simply sat in front of a piano in the new W.H. Lively music store and gave an impromptu concert of a nocturne and its variations. He also “inscribed on a record of a gramophone in Waitt and Co.’s store, a violin solo of his own composition, and improvisation, which effectively demonstrates his musical talent…”

J. Cartwright played “The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls” on an English concertina at a 1908 Football Club concert.

William Allester (violinist) and Lizzie Louden (pianist) in 1911 played the accompaniment to Verdi’s opera “Il Trovatore’ at the Opera House in what was reported to be ‘one of the best ever shows in front of a moving picture audience.”

In this video, William Allester’s granddaughter shares his story.

Ladysmith Early Entertainers| Musical Allesters (captions available in FR and EN). Enjoy this video with a transcript (EN)

Singing solo and in duets commonly featured at the various Christmas, Easter, St Patrick’s Day, Robbie Burns Day etc. concerts. Many of the singers were members of the four church choirs (Anglican, Methodist, Catholic and Presbyterian). There was a very successful Welsh choir; it always attended the funerals of its members, singing specific hymns.

Choirs and Clubs

Non-Church choirs were, however, generally unsuccessful and short-lived – they had a hard time keeping members. An example of this was the ‘Ladysmith Male Voice Party’ which started up in 1908; after a few concerts, interest waned and despite a newspaper advertisement beseeching members to come to practice, it shut down in January 1909. Not long after, in May 1909, a mixed choir known as the Ladysmith Choral Society was created: it too folded by August 1909 after experiencing difficulties retaining singers.

An exception was the Ladysmith Glee Club, which by 1909 was called the Orpheum Glee Club. In 1905, a Glee Club concert in the Opera House given in support of an injured miner was reported to have been exceptional, with many choir presentations mixed with some vocal solos as well as instrumental solos and duets.

The bass parts were exceptionally well taken, the tenor singers in the club do well, but if the number of tenor voices was increased with two or three singers, equal to those already there, the club could be called most excellent…

The lament of the lack of tenors is a refrain from choirmasters still heard today!

Black and white photograph of a large group of child actors in costume arranged on a stage in three rows, kneeling at the front, sitting in the middle and standing at back. The back row features in its centre three actresses elevated from the rest, each holding flags vertically with a central Union Jack above all.

Ladysmith School operetta starring Aida Broadbent, 1913.

Stars of the Stage in Early Ladysmith Boomtown Bands 1900 – 1915