THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Wilson Sheffield as Captain Corcoran in Utopia Limited

Wilson Sheffield (1892-94)

[Born 1865, died South Africa20 Jul 1903]

Born Edward Sheffield Wilson, Wilson Sheffield's first role under D'Oyly Carte management wasn't with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, rather it was at the Royal English Opera House as the Squire in the last days of Arthur Sullivan's grand opera Ivanhoe (November 1891). He would go on to play the Equerry of the King in Messager's La Basoche there (November 1891-January 1892). Wilson Sheffield joined D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "C" later that year, appearing as the Lieutenant of the Tower in The Yeomen of the Guard and Antonio in The Gondoliers until December 1892, and filling in as Colonel Calverley in Patience for a time in November.

In December 1892 he transferred to D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "D," touring for two years as Tommy Merton in The Vicar of Bray (December 1892-December 1893 and November-December 1894), Sir George Vernon in Haddon Hall (December 1892-December 1893), and Captain Corcoran (as well as Calynx, under the pseudonym S. Wilson) in Utopia Limited (December 1893-December 1894).

He then left the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to tour in early 1895 in Sullivan's Ivanhoe, returning to London in October of that year for a series of grand operas:Tannhauser and Carmen at Covent Garden (October-November 1895), and Faust, Cavalleria Rusticana, The Bohemian Girl, Carmen again, and Lohengrin at Drury Lane (April-May 1896).

He was the brother of D'Oyly Carte artists Thorpe and Leo Sheffield.

S Index  |  "Who Was Who" Homepage