THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Ernest Eglington

Ernest Eglington (1890, 1893-98)

Ernest Eglington served as a touring chorister with D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "E" in 1890. By April 1893 he was with D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "C," filling in that month for Fred Billington as Private Willis in Iolanthe and Don Alhambra in The Gondoliers. In June he subbed for Billington as the Sergeant of Police in The Pirates of Penzance, and in October as Don Alhambra again. Eglington remained with Company "C" for the next three years, appearing regularly as the Foreman of the Jury in Trial by Jury, and filling in from time to time for Billington as Dick Deadeye in H.M.S. Pinafore, the Sergeant in Pirates, Private Willis in Iolanthe, Pooh-Bah in The Mikado, Wilfred Shadbolt in The Yeomen of the Guard, and Don Alhambra in The Gondoliers. He also filled in from time to time in 1896 as the Learned Judge in Trial by Jury.

From December 1896 to June 1897 he toured South Africa with a D'Oyly Carte Company, appearing as Second Citizen in The Yeomen of the Guard, Scaphio in Utopia Limited, and the Prince of Monte Carlo in The Grand Duke. He also made at least one appearance on that tour as the Learned Judge and Doctor Daly in a Trial by Jury/Sorcerer double bill, though one or both of those roles may have been as an understudy filling in for Lawrence Gridley.

Upon his return to England in July 1897, Eglington made a few appearances with D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "B" as the Judge, the Notary in The Sorcerer, Pirate King and Samuel in The Pirates of Penzance, the Earl of Mountararat in Iolanthe, the Mikado in The Mikado, Sergeant Meryll in The Yeomen of the Guard, Giuseppe in The Gondoliers, and Scaphio, then transferred the following month to Carte's Company "C."

With D'Oyly Carte Opera Company "C" from August 1897 to June 1898 he was the Usher (and briefly the Foreman) in Trial by Jury, the Notary, Captain Corcoran in H.M.S. Pinafore, the Pirate King (and briefly Samuel) in Pirates, Colonel Calverley in Patience, the Mikado, Sergeant Meryll, Giuseppe, and Scaphio.

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