The rise and demise of Octavia Hamilton: a study of colonial celebrity and scandal Patricia Kennedy A thesis in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of a Master of Arts by Research UNSW School of Humanities and Languages Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences June 2017 1 THE UNIVERSITY OF NEW SOUTH WALES Thesis/ Dissertation Sheet Surname or Family Name: Kennedy First name: Patricia Other names/s: Anne Degree: Master of Arts by Research in History School: Humanities and Languages Faculty: Arts and Social Sciences Abstract This thesis recovers the history of Octavia Hamilton, a singer-celebrity who occupied colonial Victoria’s lyric stage between 1854 and 1865 before scandal destroyed her career, and provides insights into the cultural values of the era. The English born subject arrived in Melbourne in 1854 as Mrs Moon, a theatrical unknown, yet she secured her first singing engagement within a month under the pseudonym “Miss Octavia Hamilton”. Her celebrity was founded on a level of musical expertise that was valued, in part, because it supported colonists’ own projects of social mobility: attendance at high calibre musical productions showcased residents’ material and cultural capital. Hamilton’s history complicates the notion of colonial female respectability, supporting the argument that pragmatism was a stronger ideological force than evangelicalism in the construction of respectable female lyric stage identity in mid- nineteenth-century Victoria. This study of Hamilton’s life adds depth to our understanding of colonial female experience by revealing new connections between lyric stages performance and audience ambition, female philanthropists and celebrity music-makers, Melbourne’s ‘ladies’ and female artistes, and women in financial crisis from both the working and middle class. Hamilton’s history provides additional knowledge about enabling female networks and collaborative relationships between male and female professionals. While there is evidence of strong and diverse class support for Hamilton, analysis of her failure to connect with some audiences, such as Melbourne’s Trade Unionists, adds strength to the thesis' argument that spectator involvement in lyric stage culture was influenced by self-conscious projects of identity formation. An analysis of the two-phase nature of the Hamilton scandal provides new insights into social perceptions of female misdemeanour in mid-nineteenth-century Victoria. In a colony striving to build an image of civility, some residents were prepared to dim the lights on the publicised adultery of a singer with cultural utility. However, Hamilton’s perceived abandonment of her children in the second phase of the scandal saw her shunned by audiences, a response conveying the limits of colonial pragmatism. In this cultural history, the study of Hamilton’s rise and demise reveals as much about Victorian colonists as it does about a long-forgotten celebrity. Declaration relating to disposition of project thesis/dissertation I hereby grant to the University of New South Wales or its agents the right to archive and to make available my thesis or dissertation in whole or in part in the University libraries in all forms of media, now or here after known, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968. I retain all property rights, such as patent rights. I also retain the right to use in future works (such as articles or books) all or part of this thesis or dissertation. Patricia Kennedy Joseph Pugliese March 31, 2017 2 Originality Statement ‘I hereby declare that this submission is my own work and to the best of my knowledge it contains no materials previously published or written by another person, or substantial proportions of material which have been accepted for the award of any other degree or diploma at UNSW or any other educational institution, except where due acknowledgement is made in the thesis. Any contribution made to the research by others, with whom I have worked at UNSW or elsewhere, is explicitly acknowledged in the thesis. I also declare that the intellectual content of this thesis is the product of my own work, except to the extent that assistance from others in the project's design and conception or in style, presentation and linguistic expression is acknowledged.’ Authenticity Statement ‘I certify that the Library deposit copy is a direct equivalent of the final officially approved version of my thesis. No emendation of content has occurred and if there are any minor variations in formatting, they are the result of the conversion to digital format.’ 3 Table of Contents Acknowledgements .................................................................................... 5 Points to note regarding sources and referencing ...................................... 6 Introduction – Octavia Hamilton, Australian colonial singer ................. 7 Who was Octavia Hamilton? ................................................................... 12 Literature Review ..................................................................................... 16 Archive and methodology ........................................................................ 24 Terminology ............................................................................................. 28 Chapter Overview .................................................................................... 30 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 31 Chapter 1 – Octavia Hamilton as adaptable networker ......................... 32 From nonentity to celebrity: the emergence of Octavia Hamilton ........... 35 Adaptable lyric stage artistes and their critics .......................................... 47 A colonial sense of entitlement: the staging of La Traviata .................... 58 A tale of singers and tradesmen ............................................................... 66 Conclusion ................................................................................................ 70 Chapter Two – Octavia Hamilton, a respectable celebrity .................... 72 Singing the colony into ‘legitimacy’ ........................................................ 75 Female singers with a licence to travel .................................................... 80 Singing for colony and Christ .................................................................. 87 Hamilton and the ladies of Melbourne ..................................................... 95 Conclusion .............................................................................................. 106 Chapter 3 – Octavia Hamilton, a ‘scandalous’ woman ........................ 108 ‘Melbourne is not Botany Bay’ .............................................................. 110 A woman in need of male protection ..................................................... 115 “Startling” disclosures ............................................................................ 123 “A woman… must be a woman” ........................................................... 128 Scandal management in the British world ............................................. 140 Hamilton’s final attempt at a comeback ................................................. 144 Conclusion ................................................................................................. 151 Epilogue ..................................................................................................... 154 Appendix 1 – Octavia Hamilton and English-born siblings ...................... 163 Appendix 2 – Octavia Hamilton’s children ............................................... 164 References ................................................................................................. 165 4 Acknowledgements I am immensely grateful to Zora Simic my supervisor for her expertise, patience and encouragement throughout this project. Zora’s supervision has been enabling in every respect and I have benefited greatly from her intelligence and wisdom. I am also very grateful to Anne O’Brien my secondary supervisor for her careful reading and insights. I thank Geoffrey Whitelaw and Anne Fortune, the descendants of Hamilton’s first- born daughter Frances Octavia Whitelaw (nee Moon), for their warmth and encouragement. Like their Scrivenor ancestors who migrated to the colonial Victoria in the 1850s, siblings Geoffrey and Anne live in Melbourne. I have benefited from the sense of passion and community offered by family historians and I thank the following individuals very much: Jill Bickmore, Marianne Punshon, Elizabeth Paget, Michelle Thomas, Suzanne King, Elske Shaw and Sharon Cooper. Thanks to generous Melbourne genealogist Rodney Eisfelder who checked certain ‘facts’ against his database in the early stages of my project, Petersham All Saints Church archivist Noel Cragg who gave me information about the funeral of Mrs Lloyd (nee Moon) and Rodney Reynolds, Melbourne Philharmonic Society (MPS) archivist, who provided me with insights into the MPS. I thank cultural historian Colin Holden and print scholar Louise Box for their gracious responses to my inquiries about access to St Peter’s Church archive. I am thankful for a number of stimulating interactions with Melbourne artist, writer, researcher and Hamilton enthusiast, Allister Hardiman. Mostly importantly I thank my husband Joseph and my son Sebastian for the constancy of their affection. I am also grateful to my dear Aunty Mary who at 103 years of age still remembers her encounters with Edith Florence