Ada Baker

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Not to be confused with former Dutch female tennis player Ada Bakker.

Ada Baker
Singing teacher
Spouse
Charles Hall
​
​
(m. 1887; separation 1897)​
Children2
Signature

Ada Winifred Weekes Baker (11 December 1866 – 24 July 1949), known professionally as Madame Ada Baker, was an Australian

Surry Hills
. She married Charles Hall, a law clerk, in 1887 and had two children. The couple filed for divorce in 1897, which was not granted, but they had already separated.

As part of the Willard Opera Company, Baker toured China and India in the early 1890s. Back in Sydney she joined Harry Rickards' vaudeville circuit. The company toured Western Australia in 1898, where Baker established herself in Perth as a singing teacher and performer. She moved back to Sydney in 1907 where she reestablished herself as a well-respected and influential singing teacher, and joined Sydney's musical society. Her influence as a teacher was such that she was later made vice-president of the Australian Music Teachers' Alliance. Baker also gave concerts and was a fund-raiser for charities, later becoming a life governor of the Rachel Forster Hospital. She continued teaching until a few months before her death at the age of 82.

Early life and career

Baker was born on 11 December 1866 in Strawberry Hills as the ninth child of English-born parents: George Frederick Baker (c. 1827 – 1900), auctioneer, and Sarah Wilkinson Baker, née Epsley (died 1885).[1] The family moved to Wagga Wagga where her father purchased the Pastoral Hotel and worked as its manager.[2][3]: 17  When she was 12 she sang in Mendelsohn's Elijah with the Sydney Philharmonic Society under Henri Kowalski,[4] and at 15 she started offering music classes to fund her own singing lessons in Sydney.[1][5] In September 1884 she sang in the role of Lily in a cantata, Flower Queen, at the Freemason's Hall, Wagga Wagga alongside Charles Henry Hall, who sang as the Recluse.[6] Later, in 1886, she held a concert, again at the Freemason's Hall, and raised £50 for Wagga hospital[1] and £24/15/6 to the Lord Mayor of Sydney for survivors of the shipwreck of the Ly-ee-moon off the Green Cape Lighthouse.[7]

Bondi Aquarium c. 1891

Baker moved back to Sydney in late 1886 to have piano lessons with Victor Benvenuti and singing lessons by Albert Fisher.

The Evening News
writer praising her debut performance:

Miss Baker possesses a voice of rare quality, good range, and sings with the ease and grace of a natural artiste and a cultivated vocalist. Her style is marked by fascinating refinement, her intonation is perfect; her enunciation distinct, and as a ballad singer she bids fair to take place in the front rank of Australian vocalists.[8]

She performed in another two concerts and for her second concert the

Sydney Morning Herald reporter described: "The palm must be given to Miss Ada Baker, who appeared for the first time at these concerts. She possesses a voice of rich calibre; the lower notes are deliciously liquid, the upper ones of full power, so that she fills the building with ease."[9]

Baker as a member of Harry Rickards' Company, Perth, July 1898. When the company returned to Sydney, Baker remained in Perth.[10]

Baker married former castmate Hall, now a law clerk, on 23 April 1887 at the

Congregational Church, Surry Hills. According to Baker, Hall had married her reluctantly as her brother threatened to "break his head" if he did not.[11] The couple had two children: Beatrice in 1887 and Vera in 1889.[1] Being married and a mother did not stop Baker from continuing as a teacher and performer. In 1887 she had sung in three concerts at Bondi Aquarium (at Tamarama).[3]: 65 [note 1] In October 1890 she was in Henri Kowalski's "Grand Concert" at Centennial Town Hall as the lead soloist, singing Gioachino Rossini's "La Carita".[12] She finished 1891 in the Christmas pantomime playing Zorilda in Sinbad the Sailor.[13]

Between 1891 and 1893 Baker toured India and China with the Willard Opera Company, playing lead for three years in a series of

Gilbert & Sullivan comic operas, and "created something of a stir in the part of Hollee Beebee" in a rival opera, The Nautch Girl.[3]: 66 [14] Decades later she recounted how she gave a concert to the Maharaja of Mysore (though she also stated that it was the Maharaja of Cooch Behar).[15][16] She recalled that during the concert only six people were in the direct audience, and that though she could not see any women of the court she could hear them. She also claimed that after the concert she was granted the privilege of riding on the Maharaja's elephant.[15][16]

Upon her return from overseas, Baker performed in a hospital benefit at the School of Arts in North Sydney,[17] and in August 1894 joined Harry Rickards' vaudeville company at the Tivoli Theatre.[18] She applied for divorce from Hall in 1897, on the grounds of desertion since 1891.[3]: 67  During the court case, her lawyer revealed that Hall had been convicted of embezzlement and imprisoned.[19] She had continued her teaching and singing after the wedding and claimed that Hall had not financially supported her nor their children.[19] It was alleged by Hall's lawyers that Baker had committed adultery with her castmate Harry Fitzmaurice, which she denied. The judge found that there was no evidence of desertion and no evidence that Baker had been unfaithful to her husband, so dismissed the case.[11][20] In the era of at-fault divorce–Australian enacted no fault-divorce in 1975–if neither party could prove fault in the marriage by the other, then it would not be granted.[21][note 2] Baker and Hall never formally divorced although they remained separated. Hall died in 1937 in Perth.[22]

Move to Western Australia

Advertisement announcing Ada Baker's intentions to stay in Perth to teach singing.[23]

During July and August 1898 Rickards' Tivoli company, including Baker, toured in Western Australia. When the company returned to Sydney, Baker remained in Perth.[10] There she worked as a singing teacher,[23] and performed with the Lyric Club, the Fremantle Orchestral Society and the Perth Musical Union.[1][24]

Baker, in December 1898, sued the proprietors of The Continental Gardens, who arranged performances in the Hotel Continental as well as tours outside of Perth, for £5 over lost wages. The case centred around her assertion that when signing her contract for performances she had told them she could not travel. However the company advertised performances at the

Coolgardie regions with Baker prominently billed. When Baker learned of this, she produced a medical certificate testifying she was too sick to travel. She denied knowing what opposing counsel meant when they said she refused to go because of "a Coolgardie or Kalgoorlie reason". The defendants counter-claimed that Baker knew of the travel arrangements and her non-attendance resulted in financial and reputational disadvantage. They produced a witness who said that Baker had said it would inconvenience her singing business if she was to go to the fields. The magistrate was unconvinced by Baker's claims of illness and determined that the medical certificate was provided to avoid attending the fields. Hence, the court decided to find against Baker.[25]

When Baker left Western Australia in 1907 to go back to Sydney she had built a solid reputation, with the

Bunbury Herald describing her as "perhaps the best mezzo soprano vocalist in the state."[26] Years later her achievements and performances in Sydney were reported in the West Australian press. Hall, her estranged husband, had been living in Western Australia by that time. Despite Baker not arriving in Perth with him nor living with him, the Truth reported that "there seemed no regret for 'the man she had left behind her.'"[27]

Return to Sydney

Baker returned to Sydney in December 1907,

Marrickville,[35][36] with the first concert on 19 June 1908 at St James Hall, in Phillip Street, Sydney.[37] From this time that she became known as Madame Ada Baker, its earliest known press reference was in The Sunday Times in August 1908.[38]

Baker arranged music for and led the St Cecilia Ladies' Choir in

Pymble,[39] where she raised AU£1000 for the local branch of the British Red Cross Society during World War I.[1][40] The Sydney Morning Herald said that "Madame Ada Baker's Pymble Cecilia Ladles' Choir can fairly claim to be the original 'All-Girl' Patriotic Entertainers."[41] The choir performed a variety of concerts, including the play The Princess of Poppyland, by C. King Proctor,[note 3][42] and the cantata The Hours, by Shapcott Wensley.[43]

Baker was a prolific fund-raiser, including for the Sydney Hospital,

Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children.[51] Baker's enthusiasm when raising funds for the Rachel Forster Hospital had her made a life governor of the hospital in 1927.[1] From 1925 to 1932 she raised AU£500 for a permanent cot,[52][53] and in 1932 she raised a further AU£140 for that hospital.[54]

Baker also arranged and performed in numerous concerts, recitals and eisteddfods,

2FC.[64]

Later life

Map
150m
160yds
Ada Baker Street
Ada Baker Street in
Forde, ACT was named after the singer.[65]

Baker continued working throughout her life and remained involved in teaching children to sing. In March 1933 she was elected to the executive of the Australian Music Teachers' Alliance[66] and on 25 November was elected vice-president.[67] She was re-elected to this position in 1934[68] and 1935.[69] She gave two lectures for the alliance: the first in July 1934 was "The Training of Children's Voices"[70] and the second, in August 1938, was on English music of the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries.[71] By 1939 she had become an active member of the Nothing Under Seventy club, whose members were seventy years of age and above, regularly performing and undertaking charity work with other members.[16][72]

She continued to raise funds for charity. In 1945, after one of her grandchildren died while serving in the

motor vehicle accident.[75]

Upon her retirement, over 60 past and present students arranged a testimonial concert at

Northern Suburbs Crematorium.[76][77] Ada Baker Street in Forde, Australian Capital Territory was named in her honour in 2006.[65]

Notes

  1. ^ Contemporaneous records of these concerts are in advertisements:
    • "Manly Aquarium". Advertising. The Sydney Morning Herald. 25 January 1887. p. 2.
    • "Manly Aquarium". Advertising. The Sydney Morning Herald. 15 February 1887. p. 2.
    • "Manly Aquarium". Advertising. The Sydney Morning Herald. 29 March 1887. p. 2.
  2. Supreme Court to dissolve marriages under limited circumstances. See Bennett, J. M. (1963). "The establishment of divorce laws in NSW" (PDF). Sydney Law Review
    . 54 (2) (5th ed.): 241–248.

References

  1. ^
    ISSN 1833-7538
    . Retrieved 26 April 2020.
  2. ^ "Grandmothers Support Loan". Daily Advertising. Wagga Wagga. 10 May 1945. p. 6.
  3. ^ a b c d e Christian, Mark (September 2013), Family history: George Frederick Baker and Sarah Wilkinson Epsley; Deal, Kent to Australia 1854 (PDF)
  4. ^ a b "Once a Wagga woman". The Daily Express. Wagga Wagga. 11 August 1923. p. 8.
  5. The Daily Telegraph
    . Sydney. 24 July 1886. p. 1.
  6. Wagga Wagga Advertiser
    . Vol. XV, no. 1294. 11 September 1884. p. 3. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Well done, Ada!". General news. Evening News. 15 August 1886. p. 4.
  8. ^ "Amusements". Amusements. Evening News. Sydney: Associated Newspapers. 13 December 1886. p. 3.
  9. ^ "The Saturday Evening Promenade Concert". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 December 1886. p. 8.
  10. ^ a b "Round the Town". Sunday Chronicle. Perth. 4 September 1898. p. 2.
  11. ^ a b "In Divorce: Hall v. Hall, A professional singer's petition". Evening News. Sydney. 24 September 1897. p. 7.
  12. ^ "M. Kowalski's Grand concert". The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser. 1 November 1890. p. 973.
  13. ^ ""Sinbad the Sailor" at her Majesty's". The Australian Star. Sydney. 25 December 1896. p. 6.
  14. ^ "Once a Wagga Woman, now in the limelight". The Daily Express. Wagga Wagga. 11 August 1923. p. 8.
  15. ^ a b "Singer Celebrates her 70th Birthday: Madame Ada Baker's memories". The Sydney Morning Herald. 3 December 1936. p. 19.
  16. ^ a b c "She's The Baby Of The Nothing-Under Seventy Club". The Sun. Sydney. 4 July 1939. p. 13.
  17. ^ ""Under the Palms"". Amusements. The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 6 February 1891. p. 6.
  18. ^ "Advertisement: Tivoli Theatre". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 25 August 1894. p. 2.; review "Tivoli". Evening News. Sydney. 27 August 1894. p. 3.
  19. ^ a b "The Embezzlement Epidemic". Evening News. Sydney. 25 April 1891. p. 4.
  20. ^ "A music teacher and a law clerk". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 24 September 1897. p. 3.
  21. ^ "The Matrimonial Causes Act 1959". Australian Women’s Timeline. Archived from the original on 8 March 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  22. ^ "Obit: Charlie Hall – a Personality Passes". Sunday Times. Perth, Western Australia. 5 December 1937. p. 20.
  23. ^ a b "Classified Advertising". The West Australian. Perth. 5 September 1898. p. 2.
  24. ^ "Advertisement: Miss Ada Baker". Clare's Weekly. Perth. 10 September 1898. p. 1.
  25. ^ "Theatrical Wages Case". Western Mail. Perth. 30 December 1898. p. 29.
  26. ^ "News in Brief". Bunbury Herald. Western Australia. 7 October 1907. p. 3.
  27. ^ "Civil Servant Sued". Truth. Perth. 25 April 1908. p. 7.
  28. ^ "General Gossip". Referee. Sydney. 18 December 1907. p. 12.
  29. ^ "Music and Drama". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 28 November 1907. p. 4.
  30. ^ "Miss Ada Baker". The Theatres. The Sunday Times. Sydney. 12 January 1908. p. 2.)
  31. ^ "Nicholson and Co., George-Street". Freeman's Journal. Sydney. 28 December 1903. p. 19.
  32. ^ "The Children's Hospital: Facts and figures". The Daily News. Perth. 26 June 1908. p. 4.
  33. ^ "Miss Ada Baker's Choir". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 5 February 1908. p. 12.
  34. ^ Egeria (30 January 1908). "Gossip of the week". Egeria's Letter. The Mirror. Perth. p. 8. I saw Miss Ada Baker yesterday while in Paling's music warehouse. She was looking well, and says she is getting on splendidly. She has a choir of over 60 children under sixteen in training, and the first concert, to be given shortly, is to be partly in aid of the Children's Hospital.
  35. ^ "Miss Ada Baker, teacher of singing". Advertising. The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 11 March 1908. p. 2.
  36. ^ "Miss Ada Baker's Juvenile Choir". Advertising. The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 26 February 1908. p. 2.
  37. ^ "Sydney Juvenile Choir". Amusements. Evening News. Sydney. 22 June 1908. p. 8.
  38. ^ "Other shows". Sunday Times. Sydney. 9 August 1908. p. 2.
  39. ^ "A Ladies' Choir". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 9 May 1908. p. 17.
  40. ^ "Splendid Record". The World of Women. The World's News. 2 October 1929. p. 15. Since then Madame has been the means of raising £3000, including £1000 raised during the War by her Ladies' North Shore Choir, which gave the first war entertainment for Lady Cullen's War Fund.
  41. ^ "From Near and Far". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 17 October 1917. p. 7. Madame Ada Baker's Pymble Cecilia Ladles' Choir can fairly claim to be the original "All-Girl" Patriotic Entertainers. Their first performance was given for the war funds in August, 1914, and they have continued working for the patriotic causes since then. They played the Japanese operetta, "Princess Ju Ju," at Chatswood Town Hall, on September 29, with full scenic and costume effects, and repeated it on Saturday at Killara; a third performance will be given at the Repertory Theatre on October 27. The three performances are to help the War Chest, Y.M.C.A., and Red Cross Nurses' Comforts Funds.
  42. ^ "Pymble Ladies' Choir". Sunday Times. Sydney. 14 December 1919. p. 14. Proctor's operetta, Princess of Poppyland, was again successfully rendered by Madame Ada Baker's Pymble Cecelia Ladies' Choir on Saturday evening last at the Chatswood Town Hall. The entertainment was in aid of the Returned Soldiers' Building Fund, and was largely attended by an appreciative audience.
  43. ^ "Pymble Ladies' Choir at Killara". Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 15 August 1914. p. 16.
  44. ^ "Sydney Hospital Concert". The Sunday Sun. Sydney. 26 December 1909. p. 1.
  45. ^ "Protestant Orphan's Fair". Watchman. Sydney. 9 November 1911. p. 4.
  46. ^ "For Women". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 13 February 1912. p. 4. A most enjoyable concert was arranged on Friday evening last by Miss Ada Baker for the inmates of Callan Park Hospital
  47. ^ "Callan Park Hospital Entertainment". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 18 December 1912. p. 19.
  48. ^ "Sydney Mission to Seaman". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 22 October 1913. p. 10.
  49. ^ "For Women". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 4 November 1920. p. 3. A concert, in aid of the Sydney Night Refuge has been arranged by Madame Ada Baker, to take place in St. James's Hall on November 10.
  50. ^ "Tea-Table Gossip". Sunday Times. Sydney. 12 November 1922. p. 16. Students of Madame Ada Baker will present the Oriental operetta, Princess Passion Flower, on Wednesday next at St. James' Hall, Phillip-street. Mr. Elved Jenkins, winner of the cup at the Katoomba Eisteddfod, will be one of the principals. The proceeds are in aid of the work of the Sydney Night Refuge, Francis-street, which provided 6418 meals, free of charge, during the Winter months to destitute men.
  51. ^ ""Birds and Fairies"". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 18 November 1920. p. 11. Mme. Ada Baker directed a repetition of Millard's pretty fantasy "Birds and the Fairies," at St James's Hall on Monday night, In aid of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children.
  52. ^ "Near and Far". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 29 November 1932. p. 3. Madame Ada Baker's students arranged a gala concert and dance on Saturday night at Paling's concert hall, to celebrate the fact that they had completed the sum of £500 for their cot In the Rachel Forster Hospital.
  53. ^ "Near and Far". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 17 October 1932. p. 4. The final performance of "Les cloches de Corneville" was given by Madame Ada Baker and her students in the Railway Institute on Saturday night. There were four productions of the opera, the proceeds going to different charities Saturday nights performance was for the Rachel Forster Hospital and marked the completion of the total amount necessary for the endowment in perpetuity of the "Ada Baker" cot in the institution. Mrs. W. H. Read chairman of the hospital board gave a short address during the interval and said Madame Ada Baker and students had created a record in raising £500 necessary for the endowment of the cot in a little less than five years. She specially thanked Mr. W. Goodman who gave his services to play "Gaspard". A profusion of flowers was presented to the performers Madame Ada Baker was given a basket of flowers from the hospital board and a bouquet of roses and cornflowers by Miss Clare Peatling (hon secretary of the fund).
  54. ^ "Cheque for Hospital". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 18 April 1939. p. 2. At the annual meeting of the Rachel Forster Hospital today, Madame Ada Baker will hand over a cheque for £140, the proceeds of her recent Golden Jubilee opera entertainment.
  55. ^ "Musical Festival, Commonwealth Eisteddfod". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 15 August 1910. p. 3.
  56. ^ "Choral Association Eisteddfod". Sunday Times. Sydney. 12 March 1911. p. 2.
  57. ^ ""The Rajah's Ruby"". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 30 May 1921. p. 3. Students of Madama Ada Baker, assisted by an ensemble from the studio of S. Vost Janssen, appeared at St. James's Hall on Saturday evening in a successful presentation of King Prostor's Oriental operetta in a prologue and three acts, "The Rajah's Ruby."
  58. ^ "Operetta for Charity was Enjoyed: Madame Baker's Students in "Lucky Dream"". Daily Pictorial. Sydney. 30 November 1930. p. 7.
  59. ^ "Madame Bennett North". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 22 October 1928. p. 5. At St. James's Hall on Saturday night the students of Madame Ada Baker presented the light opera, "In Old Havana," the proceeds being devoted to the cot fund of the Rachel Forster Hospital. There will be another performance on Wednesday night.
  60. ^ "Amusements". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 6 September 1937. p. 6. The recital was held in order lo raise funds to enable Madame Baker to produce Arthur Penn's new opera. "The China Shop," at the Railway and Tramway Institute
  61. ^ ""Boccaccio" Presented by Madame Ada Baker". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 13 November 1933. p. 5.
  62. ^ ""Les cloches de Corneville"". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 27 July 1939. p. 11.
  63. ^ "Broadcasting on 2FC". The Daily Telegraph. Sydney. 6 June 1925. p. 19. Sunday ... 3.0 Broadcast from the Lyceum Hall, Pitt Street, Sydney, Pleasant Sunday Afternoon Service. Preacher, Rev. F. H. Raward. Programme arranged by Madame Ada Baker.
  64. ^ "Radio Programme 2FC (Farmers) 1100 metres". Northern Star. Lismore. 8 April 1926. p. 6. Friday, April 9 ... Ada Baker's juveniles
  65. ^ a b Public Place names (Forde) Determination 2006 (No 1) (PDF), ACT Parliamentary Counsel
  66. ^ "Australian Music Teachers' Alliance". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 29 March 1933. p. 8.
  67. ^ "Music Teachers". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 25 November 1933. p. 10.
  68. ^ "Music Teachers' Alliance". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 29 October 1934. p. 10.
  69. ^ "Music Teachers' Alliance". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 30 October 1935. p. 8.
  70. ^ "Madame Ada Baker". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 14 July 1934. p. 8. An interesting lecture-recital on the "Training of Children's Vocies" was given by Madame Ada Baker before members of the Australian Music Teachers' Alliance in Paling's concert hall on Wednesday night.
  71. ^ "Music Teachers' Alliance". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 17 August 1938. p. 8. Madame Baker will speak on English music of the sixteenth to the eighteenth century.
  72. ^ "Sue Sees Sydney". The Sun. Sydney. 3 October 1940. p. 23.
  73. ^ "Grandmothers for Victory". The Sydney Morning Herald. 27 February 1945. p. 4. Sponsor of the idea is Madame Ada Baker, who has four grandchildren and one great-granddaughter. A grandson was killed in the RAF's first big raid over Berlin.
  74. Blue Mountains Advertiser. Blue Mountains
    , New South Wales. 29 March 1945. p. 8. Retrieved 20 September 2020 – via National Library of Australia.
  75. ^ a b "Madam Ada Baker Testimonial". The Sunday Herald. Sydney. 10 July 1949. p. 9. A singer who has sung her way through three wars, Madam Ada Baker, is retiring from a long career as a singer and a teacher of singing, at the age of 83, after being injured in a motor accident, which has affected her health. For more than 40 years Madam Baker has had a singing studio at Paling's buildings. During that time she calculates that she has trained many hundreds of singers, many of them now well known. She has staged between 40 and 50 operas. A committee of 60 people, many of there former pupils, who in turn are the parents of present pupils, have arranged a testimonial concert for Madam Baker at the Sydney Town Hall next Thursday.
  76. ^ "Singing Teacher Dead". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney. 25 July 1949. p. 4.
  77. ^ "Death of Mme. Baker". The Sun. Sydney. 25 July 1949. p. 8.
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