ROUSBEY, Arthur [HUNTRESS, James] (b South Shields, Northumberland, 1851; d at sea, 29 October 1899)

This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Arthur Rousbey, one of the most substantial purveyors of opera to the provinces in the latter part of the 19th century. In 1879, Rousbey left Carte to feature in the rival London production of HMS Pinafore (Dick Deadeye) and in Marigold alongside Fanny Edwards, but he soon returned and travelled, through the following years, with the Carte companies as Sir Marmaduke, Captain Corcoran and, variously, Bunthorne and Grosvenor in Patience. Mr Rousbey's management was a well-ordered and successful one: his company did not die on the road, like so many others, and his artists tended to stay with him for long periods, providing well-honed productions. And he took a taste for management. On 23 January 1894 Rousbey tried another new opera, at Dublin's Leinster Hall.