Belville Robert Pepper (1850 – 1888) was a

bass-baritone A bass-baritone is a high-lying bass or low-lying "classical" baritone voice type which shares certain qualities with the true baritone voice. The term arose in the late 19th century to describe the particular type of voice required to sing thr ...

known for creating the role of the Usher in the first production of ''

Trial by Jury A jury trial, or trial by jury, is a legal proceeding in which a jury makes a decision or findings of fact. It is distinguished from a bench trial in which a judge or panel of judges makes all decisions. Jury trials are used in a significant ...

'' in 1875 at the

Royalty Theatre The Royalty Theatre was a small London theatre situated at 73 Dean Street, Soho. Established by the actress Frances Maria Kelly in 1840, it opened as Miss Kelly's Theatre and Dramatic School and finally closed to the public in 1938.

in London.Stone, David
"Belville R. Pepper"
Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, 9 August 2018. Retrieved on 13 April 2020

Life and career

Pepper was born in

Marylebone Marylebone (usually , also , ) is a district in the West End of London, in the City of Westminster. Oxford Street, Europe's busiest shopping street, forms its southern boundary. An Civil parish#Ancient parishes, ancient parish and latterly a ...

, London in 1850, the youngest of three children born to Sarah ''née'' Carden (1824–1869) and Montague Pepper (1821–1854), a carver and gilder. Following his father's death in 1854, Pepper was sent as a boarder or "inmate" in the St Marylebone Parochial Schools. Pepper was a professional vocalist in the early 1870s and toured with a company in

Great Yarmouth Great Yarmouth (), often called Yarmouth, is a seaside town and unparished area in, and the main administrative centre of, the Borough of Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, England; it straddles the River Yare and is located east of Norwich. A pop ...

in 1870. After creating the role of Usher in ''

'' at the

in London in March 1875, he was switched first to the role of ForemanSutherland, Jon and Diane Canwell
''Pocket Guide to Gilbert and Sullivan''
Pen Y Sword Books Ltd (2011) via Google Books and then to the non-singing role of the Associate in April 1875. At the same time Pepper was playing the small roles of the Usher and the Second Notary in Offenbach's '' La Perichole'', which was the main attraction that ''Trial by Jury'' was supporting at the Royalty, and he also played the Porter in ''The Secret'', a farce on the same bill during the run. Pepper appears to have left the Royalty in June 1875. On 11 September 1877 Pepper married dancer Elizabeth Mary Wilkinson (born 1856) at

St. John's church St. John's Church, Church of St. John, or variants, thereof, (Saint John or St. John usually refers to John the Baptist, but also, sometimes, to John the Apostle or John the Evangelist) may refer to the following churches, former churches or other ...

Manchester Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...

. Belville Robert Pepper
Manchester, England, Church of England Marriages and Banns, 1754-1930, Manchester, St John, 1874 June – 1878 November via Ancestry.com From March to August 1878 he was sharing the role of the Foreman in ''

'', in a touring company managed by D'Oyly Carte, as part of the first touring production of ''

The Sorcerer ''The Sorcerer'' is a two-act comic opera, with a libretto by W. S. Gilbert and music by Arthur Sullivan. It was the British duo's third operatic collaboration. The plot of ''The Sorcerer'' is based on a Christmas story, ''An Elixir of Lo ...

''. In 1881 Pepper and his wife, by then an actress, were appearing in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

, and in 1882 he sang the role of Vanderprout in a touring production of Offenbach's ''

Geneviève de Brabant ''Geneviève de Brabant'' is an opéra bouffe, or operetta, by Jacques Offenbach, first performed in Paris in 1859. The plot is based on the medieval legend of Genevieve of Brabant. For the 1867 version two additional characters, men-at-arms, ...

''. Little is known of Pepper's later life or career until his death in

Islington Islington () is a district in the north of Greater London, England, and part of the London Borough of Islington. It is a mainly residential district of Inner London, extending from Islington's High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the ar ...

in London in 1888 at the age of 38.Robert Bellville Pepper
England & Wales, Civil Registration Death Index, 1837–1915 for 1888, Q3-Jul-Aug-Sep via Ancestry.com

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pepper, Belville Robert 1850 births 1888 deaths People from Marylebone English bass-baritones Male actors from London Operatic bass-baritones 19th-century British male opera singers