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{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox person {{Infobox person
| name = Ada Cherry Kearton | name = Ada Cherry Kearton
| image = Ada Cherry Kearton (Ada Forrest).jpg | image = Ada Cherry Kearton (Ada Forrest).jpg
| alt = A black-and-white bust portrait (c. 1910) of Ada Forrest in profile. She wears a gown, and she is wearing her brown hair up. Her autograph is on the lower-right corner of the photo, written in a very clear, round hand.
| alt =
| caption = Autographed portrait of Ada Kearton c. 1910 | caption = Autographed portrait {{nowrap|of Kearton, {{circa|1910}}}}
| birth_name = Ada Forrest | birth_name = Ada Forrest
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1877|07|17|df=yes}} | birth_date = {{Birth date|df=yes|1877|07|17}}
| birth_place = Congella, ], South Africa | birth_place = Congella, ]
| death_date = {{Death date and age|1966|01|19|1877|07|17}} | death_date = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1966|01|19|1877|07|17}}
| death_place = London, UK | death_place = London, UK
| nationality = | nationality =
| education = ] | education = ]
| occupation = Opera and concert singer | occupation = Oratorio and concert singer
| spouse = ] | spouse = (i) Allen Hawes<ref>Kearton, Ada Cherry. ''On Safari''. London: Robert Hale, 1956</ref> (ii)]
}} }}


'''Ada Cherry Kearton''' (born '''Ada Forrest''') (17 July 1877 – 19 January 1966) was a South African ] opera and concert singer. '''Ada Cherry Kearton''' (born '''Ada Forrest'''; 17 July 1877 – 19 January 1966) was a South African classical ] who sang in concert and ]. She made her London debut in 1907 and retired from the stage shortly before her marriage in 1922 to the English wildlife photographer ]. Her 1956 autobiography ''On Safari'' recounts their travels together in Africa, Australia and New Zealand.


==Life and career== ==Life and career==


Kearton was born in Congella, a settlement near ] in the ] province of South Africa.<ref name="RAM">{{cite web|url=http://apollo.ram.ac.uk/emuweb/pages/ram/partydisplay.php?irn=20281|title=Museum & Collections: Forrest, Ada|publisher=]|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref> She received her first nstruction in singing at her convent school in Durban and made her first public appearance at the South African ] in Durban when she was 14. She went on to study at the ] in London and subsequently studied under ], ], and ]. She made her London debut on 24 May 1907, at the ] Concert in ]. England was to become her home, although she returned to South Africa several times to perform, including a concert tour 1909.<ref name="Wyndham">{{cite book|last=Wyndham|first=Henry Saxe |title=Who's Who in Music |url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusic017375mbp |year=1913 |publisher=Small, Maynard & Co.|page=83}}</ref> Kearton was born in Congella, a settlement near ] in the ].<ref name="RAM">{{cite web|url=http://apollo.ram.ac.uk/emuweb/pages/ram/partydisplay.php?irn=20281|title=Museum & Collections: Forrest, Ada|publisher=]|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref> She received her first instruction in singing at her convent school in Durban and made her first public appearance at the South African ] in Durban when she was 14. She went on to study at the ] in London and subsequently studied under ], ], and ]. A soprano,<ref name="Catholic Herald">{{cite web|url=http://archive.catholicherald.co.uk/article/1st-june-1956/6/recollections|title=Recollections|publisher=]|accessdate=2 August 2014}}</ref> she made her London debut on 24 May 1907, at the ] Concert in ]. England was to become her home, although she returned to South Africa several times to perform, including a concert tour in 1909.<ref name="Wyndham">{{cite book|last=Wyndham|first=Henry Saxe |title=Who's Who in Music |url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusic017375mbp |year=1913 |publisher=Small, Maynard & Co.|page=}}</ref>


She appeared numerous times in the ] between 1909 and 1915.<ref name="BBCProms">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/performers/ada-forrest/1|title=Ada Forrest performances in the Proms archive|work=]|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref> During the course of her career she appeared in many other concerts and recital halls in England and Scotland, including a solo recital at London's ] in November 1918, where she sang 17th-century songs by ] and ] and modern settings of ]'s poems. The Wigmore performance did not impress ] who wrote a scathing review for '']'': "As Morley and Lawes scarcely preserved a trace of their beauties in the path of her assault, I fled before she began singing modern settings of Tennyson."<ref name="Pound">{{cite book|last=Pound|first=Ezra|title=Ezra Pound and Music: The Complete Criticism|url=http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=GnXy0TPigw4C&pg=PA148|year=2008|publisher=New Directions Publishing|isbn=0811217841|page=148}}</ref> She appeared numerous times in the ] between 1909 and 1915.<ref name="BBCProms">{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/proms/archive/search/performers/ada-forrest/1|title=Ada Forrest performances in the Proms archive|work=]|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref> During the course of her career she appeared in many other concerts and recitals in England and Scotland, including a solo recital at London's ] in November 1918, where she sang 17th-century songs by ] and ] and modern settings of ]'s poems. The Wigmore performance did not impress ] who wrote a scathing review for '']'': "As Morley and Lawes scarcely preserved a trace of their beauties in the path of her assault, I fled before she began singing modern settings of Tennyson."<ref name="Pound">{{cite book|last=Pound|first=Ezra|title=Ezra Pound and Music: The Complete Criticism|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GnXy0TPigw4C&pg=PA148|year=2008|publisher=New Directions Publishing|isbn=978-0811217842|page=148}}</ref>


She made a last recital tour in South Africa 1921 before retiring from the concert stage. She changed her name from Ada Forrest to Ada Cherry Kearton in 1922, upon marrying the wildlife photographer ] (his second marriage) and then "devoted her life to her husband and his work".<ref name="TCM">{{cite news|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article/36786597|title=Woman Singer Who Turned Explorer|date=2 January 1936|work=]|page=16|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref> The couple had a chimpanzee named Mary who lived with them for six years as "one of the Kearton family". The Keartons were said to have taught Mary to write her name and play three musical instruments. According to the Brisbane '']'', the chimpanzee would sit and sew with Ada for an hour at a time and accompanied the couple on many of their travels.<ref name="TCM" /> Ada Kearton's autobiography, ''On Safari'', about their travels together through Africa, Australia and New Zealand, was published in 1956,<ref name="CKB">{{cite web|url=http://www.shakariconnection.com/cherry-kearton-books.html|title=Cherry Kearton Books|accessdate=25 July 2014}}</ref> and she appeared as a "castaway" on the ] programme '']'' on 8 October 1956.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/06c4739d#p009y95q |title=Desert Island Discs - Castaway : Ada Cherry Kearton |work=] |publisher=BBC |accessdate=25 July 2014}}</ref> She made a last recital tour to South Africa in 1921 before retiring from the concert stage. She changed her name from Ada Forrest to Ada Cherry Kearton in 1922, upon marrying the wildlife photographer ] (his second marriage) and then "devoted her life to her husband and his work".<ref name="TCM">{{cite news|url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article36786597|title=Woman Singer Who Turned Explorer|date=2 January 1936|work=]|page=16|accessdate=27 July 2014}}</ref> The couple had a pet chimpanzee named Mary who lived with them for six years as "one of the Kearton family". The Keartons were said to have taught Mary to write her name and play three musical instruments. According to the Brisbane '']'', the chimpanzee would sit and sew with Ada for an hour at a time and accompanied the couple on many of their travels.<ref name="TCM" /> Between 1934 and 1940 they lived at 'The Jungle' Firs Road, Kenley Croydon. The house was destroyed by bombing and the area is now known as Kearton Close. Ada Kearton's autobiography ''On Safari'', an account of her travels through Africa, Australia and New Zealand with her husband, was published in 1956.<ref name="Catholic Herald" /><ref name="CKB">{{cite web|url=http://www.shakariconnection.com/cherry-kearton-books.html|title=Cherry Kearton Books|accessdate=25 July 2014}}</ref> On 8 October of that year she appeared as a "castaway" on the ] programme '']''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/features/desert-island-discs/castaway/06c4739d#p009y95q |title=Desert Island Discs Castaway : Ada Cherry Kearton |work=] |publisher=BBC |accessdate=25 July 2014}}</ref>


Cherry Kearton died in 1940. Ada died in London in 1966 at the age of 88.<ref name = "RAM" /> Cherry Kearton died in 1940. Ada died in London in 1966 at the age of 88.<ref name = "RAM" />


== Bibliography == == Bibliography ==
* {{cite book |last=Kearton |first=Ada Cherry |author-mask=2 |title=Under African Skies |year=1941 |publisher=]}}
* {{cite book |last=Kearton |first=Ada Cherry |author-mask=2 |title=On Safari |year=1956 |publisher=Robert Hale}}


==Recordings==
* {{cite book |last=Kearton |first=Ada Cherry |authormask=2 |title=On Safari |year=1956 |publisher=] }}

According to the ''Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa'', Ada Kearton and Annie Visser were the first major South African singers whose recordings included works in ]. Both of their recordings were made in London in 1908.<ref name="Potgieter">{{cite encyclopedia |editor-last=Potgieter |editor-first=Dick J. |encyclopedia=Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa |volume=5 |edition=1st |page=303 |year=1972 |publisher=Nasou |location=Cape Town |isbn=0625003217 |oclc=174335956 |quote=Apparently Annie Visser and Ada Forrest were the first major South African musicians whose work included recordings in 'the Taal' (early Afrikaans), both in 1908 in London.}}</ref> Kearton's other recordings were:
*]'s "Nymphs and Shepherds" for the ].<ref name="HMV-1912-05">{{cite web|url=http://sounds.bl.uk/related-content/TEXTS/029I-HMVNX1912X05-0000A0.pdf|title=His Master's Voice, New Records|date=May 1912|page=9|accessdate=29 July 2014}}</ref>
*]'s "There's a Land" and ]'s "When love is kind" (double-sided disc) for ].<ref name="PatheR">{{cite web|url=http://www.gepzongora.hu/pathe%201918.pdf|title=Pathé "Rooster" Complete Catalogue 1917–18|pages=35; 37|accessdate=29 July 2014}}</ref>

==See also==
* ]


== References == == References ==

{{reflist}} {{reflist}}


==External links==
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearton, Ada Cherry}}
* Performance credited to "Ada Forrest" (South African Music Archive Project)


{{Authority control}} {{Authority control}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Kearton, Ada Cherry}}
{{Persondata
| NAME = Ada Cherry Kearton
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
| SHORT DESCRIPTION = Singer
| DATE OF BIRTH =
| PLACE OF BIRTH =
| DATE OF DEATH =
| PLACE OF DEATH =
}}

] ]
]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
] ]
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Latest revision as of 10:55, 6 January 2025

Ada Cherry Kearton
A black-and-white bust portrait (c. 1910) of Ada Forrest in profile. She wears a gown, and she is wearing her brown hair up. Her autograph is on the lower-right corner of the photo, written in a very clear, round hand.Autographed portrait of Kearton, c. 1910
BornAda Forrest
(1877-07-17)17 July 1877
Congella, Natal Colony
Died19 January 1966(1966-01-19) (aged 88)
London, UK
EducationRoyal Academy of Music
Occupation(s)Oratorio and concert singer
Spouse(i) Allen Hawes (ii)Cherry Kearton

Ada Cherry Kearton (born Ada Forrest; 17 July 1877 – 19 January 1966) was a South African classical soprano who sang in concert and oratorio. She made her London debut in 1907 and retired from the stage shortly before her marriage in 1922 to the English wildlife photographer Cherry Kearton. Her 1956 autobiography On Safari recounts their travels together in Africa, Australia and New Zealand.

Life and career

Kearton was born in Congella, a settlement near Durban in the Colony of Natal. She received her first instruction in singing at her convent school in Durban and made her first public appearance at the South African Eisteddfod in Durban when she was 14. She went on to study at the Royal Academy of Music in London and subsequently studied under Charles Santley, Pietro Neri-Baraldi, and Henry Wood. A soprano, she made her London debut on 24 May 1907, at the Empire Day Concert in Queen's Hall. England was to become her home, although she returned to South Africa several times to perform, including a concert tour in 1909.

She appeared numerous times in the Henry Wood Promenade Concerts between 1909 and 1915. During the course of her career she appeared in many other concerts and recitals in England and Scotland, including a solo recital at London's Wigmore Hall in November 1918, where she sang 17th-century songs by William Lawes and Thomas Morley and modern settings of Tennyson's poems. The Wigmore performance did not impress Ezra Pound who wrote a scathing review for The New Age: "As Morley and Lawes scarcely preserved a trace of their beauties in the path of her assault, I fled before she began singing modern settings of Tennyson."

She made a last recital tour to South Africa in 1921 before retiring from the concert stage. She changed her name from Ada Forrest to Ada Cherry Kearton in 1922, upon marrying the wildlife photographer Cherry Kearton (his second marriage) and then "devoted her life to her husband and his work". The couple had a pet chimpanzee named Mary who lived with them for six years as "one of the Kearton family". The Keartons were said to have taught Mary to write her name and play three musical instruments. According to the Brisbane Courier-Mail, the chimpanzee would sit and sew with Ada for an hour at a time and accompanied the couple on many of their travels. Between 1934 and 1940 they lived at 'The Jungle' Firs Road, Kenley Croydon. The house was destroyed by bombing and the area is now known as Kearton Close. Ada Kearton's autobiography On Safari, an account of her travels through Africa, Australia and New Zealand with her husband, was published in 1956. On 8 October of that year she appeared as a "castaway" on the BBC Radio programme Desert Island Discs.

Cherry Kearton died in 1940. Ada died in London in 1966 at the age of 88.

Bibliography

Recordings

According to the Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Ada Kearton and Annie Visser were the first major South African singers whose recordings included works in Afrikaans. Both of their recordings were made in London in 1908. Kearton's other recordings were:

See also

References

  1. Kearton, Ada Cherry. On Safari. London: Robert Hale, 1956
  2. ^ "Museum & Collections: Forrest, Ada". Royal Academy of Music. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  3. ^ "Recollections". Catholic Herald. Retrieved 2 August 2014.
  4. Wyndham, Henry Saxe (1913). Who's Who in Music. Small, Maynard & Co. p. 83.
  5. "Ada Forrest performances in the Proms archive". BBC Online. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  6. Pound, Ezra (2008). Ezra Pound and Music: The Complete Criticism. New Directions Publishing. p. 148. ISBN 978-0811217842.
  7. ^ "Woman Singer Who Turned Explorer". The Courier-Mail. 2 January 1936. p. 16. Retrieved 27 July 2014.
  8. "Cherry Kearton Books". Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  9. "Desert Island Discs – Castaway : Ada Cherry Kearton". BBC Online. BBC. Retrieved 25 July 2014.
  10. Potgieter, Dick J., ed. (1972). Standard Encyclopedia of Southern Africa. Vol. 5 (1st ed.). Cape Town: Nasou. p. 303. ISBN 0625003217. OCLC 174335956. Apparently Annie Visser and Ada Forrest were the first major South African musicians whose work included recordings in 'the Taal' (early Afrikaans), both in 1908 in London. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  11. "His Master's Voice, New Records" (PDF). May 1912. p. 9. Retrieved 29 July 2014.
  12. "Pathé "Rooster" Complete Catalogue 1917–18" (PDF). pp. 35, 37. Retrieved 29 July 2014.

External links

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