At the age of 11, she was apprenticed to the gymnast and trapeze artist Charlotte Armstrong, who at the time was performing with the Royal Magnet Troupe under the name "Lottie Angell".

Lottie was variously described as the "sister" or "cousin" of Victor Angell, another trapeze artist and gymnast who ran the troupe.

"[2][3][4] The Brisbane Courier wrote of her debut performance: The petite debutante must certainly be congratulated on her first appearance, and Lottie had better look to her laurels, which bid fair to be disputed by her 'little sister'.

He toured across the United States with them and his own troupe under the name "Rickards Combination", eventually ending up in New York in February 1875 where they performed at the Theatre Comique, a popular variety hall on Broadway.

Nevertheless, Rickards continued to tour her troupe with Kate receiving star billing, this time as "Mademoiselle Zenoni.

The Premier Lady Gymnast of the World" (a name inspired by Margherita Zenoni, a popular Italian opera singer who had toured Australia from 1871 to 1875).

The couple married the following year in the registry office of Chorlton, Manchester after Rickards's first wife, Caroline Hayden, granted him a divorce.

During this time, the couple toured Australasia from 1885 to 1887 as the "Rickards-Leete Combination", and Kate left her trapeze days behind to become an actress and singer.

[9][2] The Star wrote of her performance in Ballarat in January 1887: Kate Leete was as ladylike as ever, and her quiet and refined manner has certainly won for her many friends amongst her audience.

Her rendering of the ballad allotted her was effective, and the duet with Mr Rickards, "That's my pa, that's my daughter", was a treat to listen to, in fact, her performance from first to last was charming.

Over the next two years Kate, Harry and their three children basically lived on the proceeds of their Sunday night shows held during the summer on the Parramatta River ferry boat Alathea.

[f][2][16][15] The Rickards family eventually settled in Sydney in 1892, initially setting up operations in the old opera house on King Street.

[2][15] Kate Rickards retired from the stage in 1894 but for several years worked as a costume designer for her husband's productions, including his first ventures into pantomime, Jack the Giant-Killer, or Harlequin Fee Fi Fo Fum and King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table.

After Harry's death, she became an active benefactor of the Crown Street Women's Hospital and numerous animal welfare charities.

For a time, he and Noni were also invested in Madame Irene's Salon on Castlereagh Street in Sydney which sold luxury corsets.

In 1909 she married the English singer and character actor, Frank Harwood, in Margate, England where Harry Rickards owned a country house.

[27][28][29][21][30][31][32] Also surviving Kate Rickards were her two older brothers, Frederick and Archibald Aydon, who had gone by the surname Roscow earlier in their lives.

Frederick Aydon had managed Harry Rickards's Tivoli theatre in Melbourne for many years and was one of the trustees of his estate.

Archibald Aydon spent his life in Nelson, New Zealand where he had a boot-making business and raised a large family that included triplet boys.