Rosa Bird

Jacombs, was a daughter of Josephine Jacombs née Lane ( – 8 October 1918), and William Thompson Jacombs (1830 – 27 April 1920) who, for over 40 years was head bookkeeper for Tooth's Brewery, Sydney. Their home for much of this time was at Forest Lodge Estate, Glebe, and sometime before 1906 retired to a cottage on the Kameruka estate, owned by Sir Robert Lucas-Tooth.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104744085 |title=Valedictory to Mr and Mrs W. W. Wren, Kameruka |newspaper=The Bega Budget |volume=I |issue=96 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 October 1906 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} In mid-1917 the couple left Kameruka. Mrs Jacombs died at North Sydney, where they were boarding privately,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239265381 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |issue=12177 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=22 May 1918 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} in 1918 and her husband died at their daughter's home in Goulburn, in 1820.

:Their family also included

:*Anne Emily Jacombs (8 April 1870 ) married Henry James Brook, B.A. on 10 April 1901, lived at Warren, New South Wales

:*Martha Newark Jacombs (21 April 1872 – 1944), married Walter Cullen of Laggan and Goulburn,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103143237 |title=Obituary |newspaper=Goulburn Evening Post |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=30 November 1944 |access-date=23 July 2023 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

:*William Mortimer Jacombs (17 January 1874 – 5 January 1943) married Susan Henrietta Macmahon on 22 October 1896

:*Louisa Fanny Jacombs (20 June 1878 – 2 December 1899) married William Charles Grey (27 March 1875 – 12 March 1930) of Balaklava, South Australia{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article207082529 |title=Death of C. S. Grey |newspaper=The Central Advocate |volume=IV |issue=168 |location=South Australia |date=11 January 1907 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} and lived in Boulder, Western Australia.

:*David Matthew Jacombs (26 June 1881 – 17 September 1915), who was born in Bungendore, enlisted for The Great War with the 7th Light Horse Brigade and was killed in action.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article77602153 |title=Killed in Action |newspaper=The Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=12 November 1915 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Jacombs grew up in Glebe, Sydney. She studied piano and singing under Henri Kowalski,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article126728072 |title=Prominent Women of Today |newspaper=The Sunday Times |issue=1149 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 January 1908 |access-date=23 July 2023 |page=10 (magazine section) |via=National Library of Australia}}

On 18 April 1888 she married Arthur Henry Popplewell.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article71097565 |title=Orange Blossoms. |newspaper=Australian Town and Country Journal |volume=XXXVII |issue=957 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=12 May 1888 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=35 |via=National Library of Australia}} She was listed as S. A. Jacombs. They had two children in the following three years.

:Arthur H. Popplewell was the only son of Benjamin Popplewell (c. 1828 – 11 March 1864) confectioner of Glebe, and his wife Elizabeth Popplewell (died 6 May 1899). He was for many years accountant for the Sydney Permanent Building Society, but possibly better known for organising church and charity concerts.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13606781 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=14,892 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=17 December 1885 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13630211 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=15,288 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 March 1887 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In 1894 she made her first major public appearances, charity concerts at Petersham Town Hall on 15 January, and at the Sydney Town Hall on 2 February, on that occasion singing Ombre légère, the aria from Dinorah,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236089885 |title=Advertising |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |issue=4556 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=31 January 1894 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}} for which an encore was called.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article236099592 |title=Benefit at the Town Hall |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |issue=4559 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=3 February 1894 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} On both occasions Kowalski served as her accompanist.

:On 13 August 1894 her husband died at Cobran station,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13965754 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=17,610 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 August 1894 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} where his sister Mary Jane (c. 1853–1924){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16158771 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=27,069 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=7 October 1924 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} lived, married{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article13776705 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=16,372 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=13 September 1890 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} to Hiram Popplewell (c. 1852–1924),{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article245475142 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |issue=14,039 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=5 December 1924 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} station manager.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article227501513 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Australian Star |issue=2100 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=28 August 1894 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} Popperwell's mother Elizabeth also died at the residence of Hiram Popperwell, her son-in-law, no longer at Cobran but Wollahra station; both on the Culgoa River.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article239524054 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |issue=6220 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=20 May 1899 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}

On 12 March 1895 Jacombs appeared at a farewell concert at the YMCA, and on 3 March left by RMS Ophir{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14011720 |title=Miss Jacombs' Concert |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=17,776 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=9 March 1895 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}} for London, where she studied under Henry Blower, of the Royal College of Music,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article145921728 |title=Music and Musicians |newspaper=Table Talk |issue=531 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=30 August 1895 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=7 |via=National Library of Australia}} then briefly with Madame Marchesi. Around this time she adopted her stage name, "Rosa Bird".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article193449925 |title=Anglo-Australian Notes |newspaper=The Age |issue=13,049 |location=Victoria, Australia |date=26 December 1896 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}}

She made her London stage debut in a reception at the Albert Hall, for Lord Kitchener, on his return from the South African War.

After an absence of twelve years, she returned to Sydney on 20 January 1908, visiting her parents and her son at Kameruka estate. While in Sydney she heard the young pianist Winifred Purnell, and was so impressed that she brought her back to Hanover,{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14984326 |title=Australians Abroad |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=22,031 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=26 August 1908 |access-date=23 July 2023 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}} and London, persuading Sir Robert and Lady Lucas Tooth to sponsor her European studies.

In 1910 she had a residence "Lewgars" at Kingsbury, London{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article125780174 |title=News and Notes. |newspaper=The Southern Record and Advertiser |volume=1 |issue=13 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=24 September 1910 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}

In addition to concert appearances, often for charities, she took students.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article35476335 |title=Music & the Drama |newspaper=The Examiner (Tasmania) |volume=LXII |issue=46 |location=Tasmania, Australia |date=22 February 1902 |access-date=23 July 2023 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}}

She was a favorite of London society, entertaining guests at her house in Hyde Park and her river house on the Thames. She was seen in the company of novelists Maxwell Gray and Mary Elizabeth Braddon. She counted among her friends Princess Henry of Battenberg and the Infanta of Spain.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16354656 |title=Obituary |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=27,803 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=14 February 1927 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}

During the Great War, Bird turned her home at 1 Moreton Gardens, once owned by Jenny Lind, into a hospital for Australian officers, and established an Australian Voluntary Hospital, in Wimereux, France, with assistance from Lady Dudley, and largely financed by Sir Robert Lucas Tooth, who gave £10,000 to start it off. Contributions from the Australian public kept it going until all hospitals were taken over by the War Office. Bird served as commandant, (elsewhere described as "secretary"){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article116691116 |title=The Australian Hospital |newspaper=The Farmer and Settler |volume=X |issue=29 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=11 May 1915 |access-date=24 July 2023 |page=8 |via=National Library of Australia}} aided by her daughter Violet, with a matron and two nursing sisters in charge of V.A.D. nursing staff.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article122802691 |title=Painted Royalty |newspaper=Sunday Times |issue=2191 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 January 1928 |access-date=23 July 2023 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}} For her services she was awarded the Croix de Guerre.

She died at Oriel Lawn, Hampton Court, on 1 February 1927.

On 18 April 1888 she married Arthur Henry Popplewell (23 April 1861 – 13 August 1894) at Petersham, New South Wales. They had two children:

• Violet May Popplewell OBE (27 January 1889{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article108788607 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Evening News (Sydney) |issue=6771 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=1 February 1889 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=4 |via=National Library of Australia}} – 14 December 1959), married Queensland grazier, James Richmond in April 1929.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article254522947 |title=The Pendulum Swings |newspaper=The Leader (Orange, NSW) |volume= |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=25 March 1929 |access-date=25 July 2023 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}} This article credits her mother as a singer/composer and her father a publisher, not mentioning he had been dead 35 years. He owned Navena station near Blackall; Violet, who was also known as a portrait painter, was made an OBE for her patriotic and charitable work in the Great War.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article199821158 |title=Miss Violet Popplewell |newspaper=The Evening News (Rockhampton) |issue=2307 |location=Queensland, Australia |date=29 January 1929 |access-date=23 July 2023 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}
• Benjamin Thompson Popplewell (11 December 1890 – 29 May 1954){{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article27518396 |title=Family Notices |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |issue=36,330 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=31 May 1954 |access-date=26 July 2023 |page=18 |via=National Library of Australia}} served with AAOC and AEME (promoted to Captain in 1942).{{cite web|url=https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Gallery151/dist/JGalleryViewer.aspx?B=6135424&S=6&N=22&R=0#/SearchNRetrieve/NAAMedia/ShowImage.aspx?B=6135424&T=P&S=6 |title=NAA: Record 6135424: N60104 Popplewell, Benjamin Thompson |publisher=National Archives of Australia |access-date=26 July 2023}} He married Violet Colquhoun{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47674972 |title=Unusual Case in Divorce |newspaper=The West Australian |volume=65 |issue=19,725 |location=Western Australia |date=5 October 1949 |access-date=26 July 2023 |page=24 |via=National Library of Australia}} and (2) Margaret Moreau Palmer in 1950.{{efn|He is not the author of the songs "The RAAF Is There" (1944) "Hostess of the Air" (1946), and "Just Behind that Little Cloud" (1946) sometimes attributed to "Ben T. Popplewell", but the work of one Joseph Benjamin Popplewell (born 20 August 1914),{{cite web|url=https://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/ViewImage.aspx?B=5563443 |title=Mobilization Attestation Form |publisher=National Archives of Australia |access-date=25 July 2023}} whose Attestation Form was lodged at Forest Lodge.}}

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://spirits-of-gallipoli.com/families/files/JACOMBS-DM-Gen.pdf Jacombs family members]

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Category:1866 births

Category:1927 deaths

Category:Australian operatic sopranos

Category:English operatic sopranos

Category:Australian emigrants to England

Category:Australian expatriates in England