Amelia Bailey

Amelia Bailey (born November 5, 1842 in London , † July 29, 1932 ) was an Australian singer.

Bailey came to Melbourne with her family as a child and attended St James's Sunday School . At the age of thirteen she was accepted into the Philharmonic Society , and in 1858 she was their first soprano. One of her earliest appearances was a performance of Handel's Thee Messiah under the direction of H. Byron Moore in Geelong. In 1862 she toured with violinist Horace Poussard and cellist René Douay, and later that year with James Marquis Chisholm . In 1863 she traveled to China with Chisholm and the music agent and conductor Robert Sparrow Smythe , whom she married in the same year. In 1864 she performed with Poussard in Ceylon and then toured with him through India.

After performing in Mauritius, she returned to Sydney in 1869, where she performed with Florence Calzoda and Edwin Cobley . In 1876 she made appearances in Adelaide. Under the management of her husband, she went on a concert tour through South and East Africa with the pianist Arabella Goddard . Her son Carlyle Smythe became known as a music critic.

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• The Argus (Melbourne), August 1, 1932: Obituary Amelia Bailey
• The University of Sydney - A biographical register of Australian colonial musical personnel