Henry Squires

Lucy Escott (c. 1827–1895), soprano, and Henry Squires (1825–1907), tenor, were American opera singers who performed in Australia throughout the 1860s. Having spent the 1850s performing in the USA, Italy and Britain, they were engaged by impresario William Saurin Lyster for a six month Australian tour which commenced in March 1861. Lyster’s company was soon a favourite with audiences, the singers performing six nights a week in a repertoire of operas in Italian, German and English. Squires was said by some to lack animation in his acting, but he was greatly admired for his stage presence and the quality of his voice. Escott was the company’s headline act, ‘possessing a voice and a power of execution equal to that of the most celebrated artistes.’ The tour turned into an eight year stay during which Lyster’s company gave around 1300 performances. Squires and Escott performed the lead roles in many of these and are said to have almost equalled Nellie Melba in making opera a form of mass entertainment in Australia. After nearly twenty years of working together, Squires and Escott married in May 1870 and retired to Paris. Squires returned to the USA following Escott’s death in December 1895 and died in Iowa in January 1907.