ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a biography of mid- to late-19th-century Victorian vocalist Lewis Thomas, one of the outstanding bass oratorio singers of the Victorian era. In 1854, he took part as a minor soloist in the Worcester Festival. On 20 December 1854 Thomas made his first appearance in London, as the bass soloist in a performance of Messiah at St Martin's Hall, alongside Sims Reeves and his wife and another nearly newcomer in Bessie Palmer. During 1856 he continued to appear at St Martin's Hall and also made up a well-liked part-singing group, the Vocal Union, with such as Wilbye Cooper, the Winns, Montem Smith and other specialists of the genre, but the third most important and long-lasting area in which he made his mark in this year was as a bass soloist in the Three Choirs Festival.
