Charles Sandys Packer

{{Short description|Australian composer (1810–1883)}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

Charles Sandys Stuart Shipley Packer (1810–1883), commonly referred to as Charles S. Packer, was an Australian classical music composer, born in Reading, Berkshire, England.{{cite book|url=http://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/packer-charles-sandys-stuart-shipley-4353|title=Australian Dictionary of Biography|first=E. J.|last=Lea-Scarlett|chapter=Packer, Charles Sandys (Stuart Shipley) (1810–1883) |publisher=National Centre of Biography, Australian National University|via=Australian Dictionary of Biography}}{{cite web|url=http://www.australianmusiccentre.com.au/artist/packer-charles-sandys|title=Charles Sandys Packer : Australian Music Centre|website=www.australianmusiccentre.com.au}}{{cite web|url=http://imslp.org/wiki/Category:Packer,_Charles_Sandys|title=Category:Packer, Charles Sandys - IMSLP/Petrucci Music Library: Free Public Domain Sheet Music|website=imslp.org}} He was a graduate of The Royal Academy of Music in London. Packer was convicted of embezzlement and sentenced to penal transportation to Tasmania in 1839 on the ship Mangles.{{cite web|url=https://convictrecords.com.au/convicts/packer/charles-sandys/43030|title=Convict Records: Charles Sandys Packer|website=convictrecords.com.au}} On release, he became a successful teacher and performer{{cite web|url=http://trove.nla.gov.au/list?id=4037 |title=Charles Sandys Packer - Lists - Trove |publisher=Trove.nla.gov.au |date= |accessdate=2017-10-09}} In 1863, he was convicted of bigamy and sentenced to five years' imprisonment in Darlinghurst Gaol with hard labour.

He was accompanist to the Sydney Choral Society, of which Joseph Massey sen. was conductor, meeting at the Sydney School of Arts, and which performed the Handel oratorios Messiah and Judas Maccabaeus with some success.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article165299909 |title=Music |newspaper=The Sydney Mail and New South Wales Advertiser |volume=LXIX |issue=2068 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=24 February 1900 |accessdate=12 April 2022 |page=438 |via=National Library of Australia}}

On 30 November 1871, as organist to the York Street Wesleyan Church,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13248395 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |volume=LXIV |issue=10,460 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 November 1871 |access-date=14 June 2024 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} he shared the programme with Frederick Morley at the opening of the Bourke Street Wesleyan Church organ.

He died penniless, forgotten and unmourned apart from his staunch friend August Huenerbein.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article253066407 |title=He Counts His Silent Bars |newspaper=Sydney Punch |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=21 July 1883 |access-date=15 June 2024 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}