Charles Robert Thatcher

Charles Robert Thatcher (1830–1878) was a notable New Zealand singer, entertainer and songwriter.

Charles Robert Thatcher
Born	1830 Bristol, England
Died	1878
Occupation	Singer, entertainer and songwriter
Language	English
Nationality	Australian
Years active	1857-1878

He was born in Bristol, England in 1830.^[1] He was married to singer Annie Vitelli.^[2]

Life

In his early twenties Thatcher emigrated to Australia. Arriving in Melbourne on the Isabella in November 1852, he first tried his hand at goldmining but soon joined the orchestra at the Royal Victoria Theatre, Bendigo. He began filling in between the plays by singing topical verses to well-known tunes in his pleasant tenor voice. After this engagement Thatcher's reputation as a goldfields balladeer proceeded apace and by May 1854 he was given top billing at the Shamrock Hotel at Bendigo, which remained his base for several years. He travelled around all the principal goldfields of Victoria and also undertook three tours of New Zealand.^[3][4]

Bibliography

• Thatcher's Colonial Songster (1857)^[5]
• Thatcher's Colonial Minstrel (1859)^[6]
• The Victoria Songster (1860)^[7]
• Thatcher's Colonial Minstrel: new collection of songs (1864)^[8]

References

1. Hoskins, Robert H. B. "Charles Robert Thatcher". Dictionary of New Zealand Biography. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 23 April 2017.
2. New Zealand Ministry for Culture and Heritage Te Manatu Taonga. "Vitelli, Annie". teara.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 2 June 2021.
3. "Charles Thatcher". Austlit. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
4. The Oxford Companion to Australian Literature edited by Wilde, Hooton and Andrews, 2nd edition, p674
5. Thatcher, Charles R. (Charles Robert) (1857), Thatcher's colonial songster, Charlwood, retrieved 12 June 2023
6. Thatcher, Charles R. (Charles Robert); Thatcher, Charles, 1831-1878. Victoria songster (1852), Thatcher's colonial minstrel. no. 3, s.n.], retrieved 12 June 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
7. Noting library description - that this is bound into the copy of Thatcher, Charles R. (Charles Robert); Thatcher, Charles, 1831-1878. Victoria songster (1864), Thatcher's colonial minstrel : new collection of songs, Charlwood & Son, retrieved 12 June 2023{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
8. Facsimile of this and previous item Thatcher, Charles R. (Charles Robert) (1964), Thatcher's colonial songs : forming a complete comic history of the early diggings (facsimile ed.), Libraries Board of South Australia, retrieved 12 June 2023