[4][5] Her mother was Eliza, née Lee, from Ireland, and her father was George Johnstone, a qualified Master Mariner[6] in the merchant navy.

[4] The Evening Telegraph of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on 17 November 1868 noted with approval in its review of The Lancashire Lass that "Miss Bessie Sudlow, who sustains the part of 'Fanny Danville' at the Chesnut, no longer affects a 'Grecian bend'.

[11] A review in The New York Times said that the pantomime-burlesque was "wrought out of tolerably old material ... [it] will be witnessed with greater pleasure when repeated rehearsals shall have smoothened it.

"[12] In December 1869 and January 1870 Sudlow played at the Tammany Grand Theatre in a burlesque of Richard III called Bad Dickey.

Sudlow returned to England and in September 1874 played with Thompson’s company in Blue Beard, a burlesque by Henry Brougham Farnie, at the Charing Cross Theatre in London.

[14] She appeared at the Gaiety Theatre, Dublin in March 1875 in The Isle of Bachelors, adapted from Charles Lecocq’s comic opera Les cent vierges.

[15] In June 1875 she performed in a promenade concert at the Theatre Royal, Dublin in honour of the American team taking part in an Irish–American International Rifle Match.

[16] In October 1875 Sudlow performed in another opera bouffe soprano role, Cesarine, in Charles Lecocq's Fleur-de-Thé at the Criterion Theatre.[11].

According to The Era, "Her acting was as fresh as a daisy, and her sparkling vivacity and pleasant manner again won showers of applause and golden opinions".

[19] In March 1876 Sudlow again went on tour with D'Oyly Carte's London Comic Opera Company, which again included La fille de Madame Angot in its repertoire.