Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. William Luscombe Searelle (1853–1907) was a musical composer and impresario. He was born in Devon, England, and raised in New Zealand attending Christ's College, Christchurch. Searelle began working as a pianist in Christchurch and graduated to conductor. His early compositions found moderate success until the comic opera Estrella, written with Walter Parke, became a smash hit in Australia in 1884. In December that year Estrella went on at New York's Standard Theatre where it enjoyed just three performances before the theatre burnt down. Of his comic opera Bobadil one Melbourne critic wrote: “Mr Searelle is a sworn foe of dullness and a warm friend of variety”. By 1886, in spite of favourable crits, Searelle was bankrupt and turned his sights to South Africa's newly discovered gold field. In 1889 a heavily weighted ox-wagon rumbled down the dusty streets of Johannesburg, bringing a small party of opera singers from their hotel rooms to welcome Searelle, tired from his long trek from the port at Durban. Among those to greet him were the talented Fenton sisters, Blanche, Searelle’s wife and Amy.

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