THE D'OYLY CARTE OPERA COMPANY

Powis Pinder as Matthew Scraby in Lady Tatters

Powis Pinder (1894-95, 1896, 1897-1903)

[Born Camberwell Oct-Dec 1872, died Sandown, Isle of Wight 25 Jul 1941]

Henry Powis Pinder's first stage appearance was on tour in 1893 as the Vicomte de Champletreaux in Ma'm'zelle Nitouche with Mr. & Mrs. Frank Wyatt. He made his London Stage debut at the Savoy in December 1894, creating the small role of Escatero in the first production of The Chieftain. The Chieftain ran at the Savoy until March 1895, then briefly toured the London suburbs.

Pinder next appeared in a D'Oyly Carte program with Carte's Company "D" from March to November 1896, playing the Herald in The Grand Duke and (from October forward) Mr. Goldbury in Utopia Limited. The Company disbanded on November 21, 1896.

Pinder then went on tour again as Archie FitzRaymond in A Village Venus.

He returned to the D'Oyly Carte in April 1897, and from that date until December 1898, toured with Carte's Company "C," appearing as Counsel for the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury (August 1897-July 1898), Colonel Calverley in Patience (on occasion, August 1897-December 1898), Strephon (on occasion, April-July 1897) and the Earl of Mountararat (August 1897-December 1898) in Iolanthe, Arac in Princess Ida (December 1897-December 1898), the Mikado of Japan in The Mikado (briefly in June 1898), First Yeoman (August 1897-July 1898) and the Lieutenant of the Tower (briefly in June 1898) in The Yeomen of the Guard, Antonio (December 1897-July 1898), Luiz (on occasion, 1898), and Giuseppe (July-December 1898) in The Gondoliers, Captain Corcoran in Utopia Limited (August-December 1897), and Count Cosmo in His Majesty (April-August 1897).

He then was called to the Savoy, where he played Bob Beckett in the June 1899 revival of H.M.S. Pinafore, filling in on occasion as Dick Deadeye for Richard Temple in September. He was a Soldier of the Guard in the first production of The Rose of Persia (November 1899-June 1900), then returned to chorus and understudy duty for The Pirates of Penzance (June-November 1900) and Patience (November 1900-April 1901), but filled in for Jones Hewson as the Pirate King in August 1900.

In April 1901 Pinder created the small part of Private Perry in The Emerald Isle, but was eventually called upon to replace the ailing Hewson as the Earl of Newtown. He played John in Ib and Little Christina and Hi-Ho in The Willow Pattern (November 1901), and continued as Hi-Ho when The Willow Pattern played with Iolanthe (December 1901-March 1902), also appearing as the Earl of Mountararat in the fairy opera. In April 1902 he created the part of A Butcher in Merrie England, and in January 1903 was Bill Blake, one of four jolly sailor men in the first production of A Princess of Kensington. A Princess of Kensington went on tour in May 1903.

After the tour, Pinder (along with many others from the Company) left the D'Oyly Carte organization and appeared in December 1903 at the Adelphi (and, later, the Lyric) in The Earl and the Girl. He also appeared simultaneously in 23 matinee performances of Little Hans Anderson at the Adelphi. In 1905 he was in The Talk of the Town at the Lyric, and he appeared in a benefit matinee performance of Trial by Jury at Drury Lane in June 1906.

Pinder subsequently appeared in London in The Vicar of Wakefield (Prince of Wales's, 1906-07), Lady Tatters (Shaftesbury, 1907), the pantomime Little Boy Bluebeard (Court, 1910-11), and a musical version of Alice in Wonderland (Comedy, 1913-14). Pinder married former D'Oyly Carte singer Ethel Quarry in 1908. He later ran seaside concert parties for many years, and was a theatre manager on the Isle of Wight at the time of his death.

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