THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Gertrude Cave-Ashton

Gertrude Cave-Ashton (1878)

[Born Southwark, London 17 Apr 1855, died Cavendish Square, London 30 Mar 1886]

Gertrude Cave-Ashton, real name Gertrude Eva Andrews, was one of three artists to appear as Aline in The Sorcerer at the Opera Comique following the departure of Alice May. She appeared for portions of January and February 1878, after which Giulia Warwick assumed Aline in a full-time basis.

In 1873, as Gertrude Ashton, she appeared in several comic operas and operettas with music by T. Thorpe Pede at the Alexandra Theatre, Camden Town, under the management and direction of the composer. She was also the original Laetitia Grinder in Stephenson & Sullivan's musical folly The Zoo (St. James and Haymarket, 1875), and shortly thereafter was a star soprano at the Crystal Palace and on tour with the famous tenor Sims Reeves. She later toured with the Hersee Opera Company (1877).

After leaving the D'Oyly Carte, Mme. Cave-Ashton toured in the title role in the comic opera Celia (1880), and appeared in The Lancashire Witches (Liverpool, 1881). In 1884 she took her own opera company on tour, and she headlined in opera and concert engagements until shortly before her death at age thirty in 1886.

C Index  |  "Who Was Who" Homepage