ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Elizabeth Poole. The lady known, for half a century, in the British musical and theatrical world as 'Miss Poole' (all other Miss Pooles had to bow to her seniority and superiority and add their first name) holds a very particular place in the story of music in the Victorian age. She was frequently described, in her lifetime, both during her active years and in retirement, as 'the most effective ballad singer of the present century' and 'one of the finest ballad singers ever heard in England', a title which none came forward to dispute, but her career was made up of very much more than appearances simply as a singer of English songs. Miss Poole's pantomime seemingly did 'run for sixty nights', after which she moved on to the usual sort of displays given by 'prodigies' and infant artists.
