Nellie Wigglesworth

Across perthin the 1890s, the excitement and whirl of the flourishing amateur entertainment scene put stars into the eyes of many young men and women. As soon as a precocious and talented child was identified as being competent by their aptitude and skills, they were permitted on stage. To have parts filled by children was commonplace, where the child was capable and had the required self-assurance. The remarkable Mary Ellen ‘Nellie’ Wigglesworth was born in April 1872 in Yorkshire, England, the sixth child of Edward and Anne Wigglesworth. Her Aries birth sign would not be ashamed of claiming Nellie as being ‘typical’ of the sign, great faith in the self and an intense desire to be the best. Her stellar career as an amateur performer was full of flair, fun and high achievement.

Nellie’s family moved to Western Australia in 1884, shortly after her twelfth birthday. Edward Wigglesworth had been enticed from England to manage the Perth Gas Company. Nellie arrived in the colony, part of a big family in a household where there were rules and requirements, but also encouragement, inspiration and lessons in practical living. The Wigglesworth’s provided soundly for their children. Nellie received a decisive education at the progressive Bishop’s Girls’ College in Perth. She was an outstanding pupil, and her musical talent and presentation set her aside. She grew into a confident young woman, who could act, sing and possessed charisma. She would become a belle of the Perth theatre.

Nellie Wigglesworth emerged with the Perth Amateur Operatic Company, under the influence of the pulsating promoter Francis ‘Jerry’ Hart and his equally energetic wife Lilian. The Harts were gifted performers and leading journalists. Patronised by Governor William Robinson and the prominent Hensman and Onslow musical families, the Perth amateurs rose to accomplishment and distinction. The network of cultured citizens and their sons and daughters, adept in the performing arts, stretched across eminent Perth society. Being taught to play an instrument, recite, sing or act was a vital component of their children’s education. The number of stagestruck ladies and gentlemen, of all ages, of varying talents, was measured in scores rather than dozens.¹

At the Girl’s College prize night at the end of 1886, Nellie stood out in music and art, as well as academically. Over the next two school years she continued to achieve success in all subjects, particularly the arts, as she developed as a singer with a first-rate voice. The school and its tutors trained her in the acting arts, about the part being played, to project, to sing and speak. She became a proficient entertainer with not only the voice, but the persona. By 1889, Nellie’s formal education at the Girl’s School had completed. She debuted at the Town Hall aged seventeen into the vibrant world of the amateur entertainers, now as a young woman and not as a child. She was a gifted and vivacious talent waiting to be ‘discovered’.²

The amateur societies and salons, troupes and operatic companies of Perth were a product of the presiding class, publicised and promoted by the generous reporting of entertainment journalists. In Perth, the talent pool arose by osmosis. The better class of educated citizens was determined to present their children as a finished product. In vast columns of print, newspapers reported the names of influential Perth people who had any part in a play, recital or concert. The Prinsep family, Mrs Gibbs and her daughter May, the Leake’s, judges, public servants and business people enthusiastically joined in producing their own entertainment. Mr F.D. North, who was a Civil Servant, served as ADC to Governor Robinson and married into the Hamersley family. F.D. was a capable singer and he and his wife Flora advanced the appreciation of music, as part of the Amateur Operatic Society. Anybody with aptitude could be an amateur performer.

Key to the enormous momentum was vivid newspaper reporting, led by Jerry and Lilian Hart. They produced column after column of reviews, critical observations and stage side gossip. The papers were eagerly read by the amateur theatre players of Perth. For youthful men and woman, or their elders, being recognised for stage presence created an aura of fame and distinction. The novel world of news transmission brought instant recognition and the daily editions of newspapers were enthusiastically received. Updates and fashions from interstate capitals and London were fitted to an eager readership. The attraction of the applause and celebrity of the amateur stage reached out across the city.

In October 1893, at the Perth Town Hall, Nellie took part in a Grand Complimentary Concert to the vocalist Madame Anna Herz.

The Western Australian, 27 September 1893

Cover of the libretto for Predatoros (aka The Handsome Ransom). Nellie performed in the premiere of the opera, which took place in Perth in 1894.

National Library of Australia, Canberra

From seventeen to twenty-seven years of age, Nellie became a prominent female player of the amateur theatre that proliferated in Perth. Attractive, not tall, but well-proportioned, with deportment and style, she had abundant self-confidence. Nellie was presented into society, from a respected family, with a degree of sass and flair that would serve to enchant her enlightened era. Western Australian statehood and the fabulous gold rushes created a booming economy, presenting endless opportunities for Nellie to display her musical talents. She acted, sang and performed with the who’s who of Perth amateurs, as well as in professional casts. Nellie’s career was enacted in the public eye and her celebrity played out henceforth. Sometimes with publicity not within her control.

In 1893 a young man Bernard Smith, a Perth post-office letter sorter, was committed for trial on a charge of illegally opening a letter addressed by Mr. F.D. North to Nellie. The oversized envelope contained a letter and some promotional photographs. The case was played out publicly in Perth’s newspapers. Details of post office management procedures were heavily questioned. Bernie Smith received his own moment of fame, or infamy. For Nellie and her parents, it was perhaps unwanted publicity, as the newspapers carried just a hint of the unusual. From March until after Easter, in columns of newsprint, the case bounded to and fro, mostly about post office dealings, much to the embarrassment of the bureaucrats. It was a story eagerly followed by chattering Perth. Ultimately the jury retired and after ten minutes deliberation acquitted Bernard Smith, who was discharged from custody, undoubtedly traumatised by the whole experience.³

The case may have interposed Nellie’s equilibrium for a moment, her prominent family undoubtedly looking on. However, her career was destined to succeed. Nellie’s personality among her young peers and approval of the seasoned ladies and gentlemen amateur performers helped her to shine. She reached 21-years old with remarkable years to follow as a singer and actor in light opera. Her circle of friends and acquaintances intersected with theatre movers and shakers in the boom State of Western Australia. In 1894, her appearance in the show ‘The Handsome Ransom’, composed by William Robinson with Jerry Hart as librettist, placed her in rare company. Until she married Charles Knox Ross in December 1900, Nellie’s career thrived unabated, within a once-in-a-generation group, in an extraordinary time.⁴

Nellie (Wigglesworth) Ross and her family and governess, from the left: Miss Fernibough, Mollie, Nellie, Don and Charles Ross at ‘Glen Lossie’, Kojonup, c.1909. Nellie is 37 years of age. Photograph supplied by Susan Bilney, Kojonup Historical Society.

Endnotes

1. The West Australian, 18 December 1886, p.5

2. Advertisement, The West Australian, 27 May 1889, p.3

3. Western Mail, 8 April 1893, p.40

4. Family Notices, The West Australian, 28 December 1900

References

ANCESTRY— incl. 1881 England Census [database on-line], retrieved January 2023.

Brendan Kelly, ‘Francis Jerome Ernest Hart’, Early Days, 102, RWAHS, 2019.

Brendan Kelly, ‘Gerald Raikes—A Discreet Silence’, Early Days, 106, RWAHS, 2022.

Brendan Kelly, ‘CORA – A Presswoman of Repute’, Early Days, 107, RWAS 2023.

This article, which featured in the Friends of Battye Library Newsletter no.182, March 2025, is reproduced with kind permission of the Friends of Battye Library (Inc) with all rights reserved.