THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

E. G. Osborne (1875-76)

[Born Liverpool 1849, died 1902]

When Trial by Jury opened at London's Royalty Theatre on March 25, 1875, Edward George Osborne was Panatellas in Offenbach's La Perichole, the full-length attraction at the time on the Royalty bill. (Oddly, the first night program reproduced in Reginald Allen's "The First Night Gilbert and Sullivan," lists C. W. Norton as Panatellas, however, Norton had left the cast on March 11 and died on March 17!) Osborne also played Thomas in The Secret, a farce that was added to the program later that month.

Osborne had two further engagements under D'Oyly Carte management in 1876. He was Rudiger in The Duke's Daughter and O'Rafferty in A Blighted Being when they played at the Royalty and Globe by Selina Dolaro's Company under the joint management of Carte and George Dolby, January-March 1876.

In June 1876, Mr. R. D'Oyly Carte's Opera Bouffe Company was formed for a brief tour with Carte himself as musical director. The Company performed such full-length works as La Perichole (Osborne presumably as Panatellas), La Fille de Madame Angot (Osborne in an unidentified role), and shorter works including Trial by Jury (Osborne was one of two artists to appear as the Defendant) and Carte's own Happy Hampstead (Osborne in an unidentified role).

Osborne would continue to tour in comic opera and musical hall for the rest of his life though details a sketchy. He described himself as "comedian" in the 1891 and 1901 census records.

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