Ada Crossley
Ada Jemima Crossley (3 March 1871 – 17 October 1929) was an Australian contralto notable as the first Red Seal recording artist engaged in the US by the Victor Talking Machine Company in 1903.
Born at Tarraville, Gippsland, Victoria, she was the daughter of Edwards Wallis Crossley (died 11 April 1902), an ironmonger, and Harriette, née Morris, both from Northamptonshire, England. Ada was the sixth surviving child in a family of twelve children.
She was the principal contralto in the choir of Charles Strong's Australian Church. She made her début performance in Sydney in January 1892, and also became well known there.
On 27 February 1923 she appeared in concert at Wigmore Hall in support of her friend and protégée, the South Australian contralto Clara Serena. The London newspapers gave positive reviews, also praising Serena's accompanist (and husband) Roy Mellish.
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