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Charles Frederick Hall

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This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Zoozaz1 (talk | contribs) at 03:48, 29 December 2020 (fixed some refs, links). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

  • Comment: Draft does not contain a clear statement of notability. Why is this subject important? ~Kvng (talk) 14:44, 13 December 2020 (UTC)
  • Comment: Way too much promotional or flowery language ("biggest coup of his life," "enlisted the talented young performer." I think the prose itself could be easily cut in half without losing any of the actual and/or relevant information; it's too much of an essay otherwise. Primefac (talk) 18:32, 29 August 2020 (UTC)

Charles Frederick Hall was born 18 December 1815 in Norwich, Norfolk, England, the son of actor William Frederick Hall and Jane Greenfield.[1] He was baptized at St Michael at Thorn, Norwich, Christmas Day, 1815.[2] He was baptized again in the Swedenborgian church in Norwich as a teenager[3]

As a boy, Hall joined the juvenile opera company of London impresario Robert William Elliston at the Surrey Theatre, London.[4] He returned home to Norwich after Elliston's death in 1831.[5] He then studied the violin with Friedrich Mueller, musical director of the Theatre Royal Norwich.[4] In 1835, at the age of 15, Hall played a violin solo, an air by Joseph Mayseder, in a benefit concert.[6] That same year, the Norwich business directory listed Hall as a professor of the violin, piano, guitar, and singing.[7] He also performed at local dances and parties with a quadrille band.[8][full citation needed]

At the age of 25, Hall moved to London. There he studied at the Royal Academy of Music, joined the Drury Lane Theatre orchestra, gave the occasional lecture at the Holborn Literary Institution, and toured with the Drury Lane Theatre's production of Michael Balfe's new opera The Bohemian Girl.[4] Hall began composing vocal pieces while in London. His ballad "The Soft Evening Hour," was sung by Miss Forde, Drury Lane Theatre in 1841.[9][full citation needed] In 1842, The Musical World reviewed Hall's ballad "There is a Hope."[10]

On 6 November 1844, Hall married Eleanor Eliza Jane "Ellen" Vining at St James Church, Clerkenwell. They lived for a time at 33 North Street, near Kings Cross station, where their only child, Charles King Hall, was born in August 1845.[11][better source needed]

In 1847, Hall, along with George Smith, former manager of the Theatre Royal Norwich, invited celebrated Swedish soprano Jenny Lind to give two concerts in Norwich.[12] Hall's stepfather, George Gedge, put up 1,000 pounds for the concerts.[13] Jenny Lind performed in St Andrew's Hall, Norwich, on the 22 and 23 September 1847.[14] She gave an impromptu concert the morning of the 24th before leaving the city.[15] The professional musicians who accompanied Lind had been specially selected by Hall from the Covent Garden Opera House, Drury Lane Theatre, and the Royal Philharmonic Society.[16] Michael Balfe conducted this orchestra while Hall acted as leader.[17] Additionally, Hall performed a solo himself each evening.[18]

Two years later Hall and his business partner, William Howlett, a Norwich merchant, staged six consecutive nights of "grand concerts and balls" during the city of Norwich's annual agricultural week. Hall and Howlett booked two international singers for the concerts: mezzo-soprano Jetty Treffz and baritone Johann Baptiste Pischek.[19] Hall's wife made her stage debut at the first concert, in which she sang soprano in a trio and accompanied Jetty Treffz on the piano.[20] The six concerts were a financial failure. As the Norfolk Chronicle put it, "the spirited entrepreneurs [Hall and Howlett] have sustained a heavy loss."[21] Later that same year, the Choral Society of Norwich staged a benefit concert of Handel's Messiah expressly in aid of Hall and his partner.[22]

From 1859 to 1860, Hall held the position of musical director at the newly rebuilt Adelphi Theatre, London.[23] In 1866 Hall, now a widower, married actress Caroline Eliza Latham Haselton, with whom he lived at 179 Hampstead Road, near Euston Station.[24][full citation needed]

Charles Frederick Hall died on 9 February 1874 at 8 Deane Street, Liverpool, England, at the age of 58.[25][full citation needed] He was buried two days later in Anfield Cemetery, Liverpool. The burial register records his profession as professor of music.[26][full citation needed] A flat tombstone says, "In Affectionate Remembrance of Charles Frederick Hall, who died Feb 9th 1874, aged 58.[27][full citation needed]

References

  1. ^ Baptism record, Surrey, England, Church of England Baptisms, 1813-1912,
  2. ^ Norfolk, England, Transcripts of Church of England Baptism, Marriage and Burial Registers, 1600-1935
  3. ^ England & Wales, Non-Conformist and Non-Parochial Registers, 1567-1970.
  4. ^ a b c The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Violin, by George Dubourg, 4th edition published in 1852, Robert Cocks & Co, London, page 304-5
  5. ^ Christopher Murray, ‘Elliston, Robert William (1774–1831)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004
  6. ^ Norwich Mercury, 30 May 1835, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive,
  7. ^ Advertisement, Norfolk Chronicle, 18 July, 1835, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive,
  8. ^ Norwich Mercury, 20 Oct. 1838, Norwich, England. The British Newspaper Archives, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  9. ^ Hull Packet, 21 Aug. 1840, Yorkshire, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  10. ^ Volume 17, pg. 132. J. Alfredo Novello, London. books.google.com
  11. ^ Birth Certificate for Charles King Hall, born at 33 North Street, Islington, to Charles Frederick Hall, professor of music, and Eleanor Eliza Jane Hall, formerly Vining, certified as a true copy by General Register Office in the Registration District of Clerkenwell, County of Middlesex, 5 March 2004
  12. ^ Norwich News, 2 Oct 1847, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  13. ^ Norfolk Chronicle, 28 August, 1847, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  14. ^ The Essex Standard, 1 October 1847, Essex, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  15. ^ The Essex Standard, 1 Oct. 1847, Essex, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  16. ^ Bury and Norwich Post, 18 Aug. 1847, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  17. ^ Advertisement, Norfolk Women in History, www.norfolkwomeninhistory.com/1800-1850/jenny-lind
  18. ^ Essex Standard 1 Oct. 1847, Essex, England. The British Newspaper Archives, www.britishnewspaperarchives.co.uk
  19. ^ Norwich Mercury, 19 May 1849, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  20. ^ Norfolk Chronicle, 21 July, 1849, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  21. ^ 28 Jul. 1849, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  22. ^ Norwich Mercury, 22 December 1849, Norfolk, England. The British Newspaper Archive, www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
  23. ^ Nelson, Alfred L, Gilbert B Cross, and Joseph Donohue. "Calendar for 1859-1860," The Adelphi Theatre Calendar, U. of Massachusetts
  24. ^ 1871 English census,Ancestry.com
  25. ^ Death notice. England & Wales, FreeBMD Death Index: 1837-1915
  26. ^ England & Scotland, Select Cemetery Registers, 1800-2016
  27. ^ Charles Frederick Hall, Memorial ID 174921602,Find a Grave.com
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