Bertha Lewis

She attended St. Angela's High School, Upton[1] and then studied voice at the Royal Academy of Music, gaining an A.R.A.M.

[1] She had made professional appearances on the concert stage but had not acted before she joined D'Oyly Carte at the age of 19 in 1906 as Kate in The Pirates of Penzance.

She soon was touring with the company as Kate, Lady Saphir in Patience, Leila in Iolanthe, Ada in Princess Ida, Vittoria in The Gondoliers, and First Bridesmaid in Trial by Jury.

In 1908, at the Savoy Theatre, she played the part of Gwenny Davis in Fenn and Faraday's A Welsh Sunset, a curtain raiser to H.M.S.

Derek Oldham later reported that, in 1920, at the insistence of musical director Geoffrey Toye, Rupert D'Oyly Carte considered expanding the company's repertoire so she could play Carmen.

Queen Mary made personal enquiries, and the newspapers and the BBC gave daily news reports about her condition.