Sara Flower

[3] Sara Elizabeth Flower was born in the English market town of Grays, Essex, situated on the River Thames at the edge of the Tilbury marshes.

Little is known about her, though she may have been the prototype for the mother of a fictional opera singer whose sad fate stood prophetically foretold in Alice Diehl's first published novel, Garden of Eden.

Crivelli's knowledge of the exploitation of falsetto may account for Flower's protean ability to cross the entire range of the operatic singing voice.

On 4 November 1839, The Musical World noted that Flower and her sister had both appeared at a lecture by Charles Henry Purday (1799–1885) at the Hoxton National School Room in inner North London.

[15] They also believed Flower was associated with "Music for the Million," the singing school of Joseph Mainzer (1801–1851),[16] which had been modelled on the monitorial method of Guillaume Louis Bocquillon Wilhem [1781–1842] and his 'Orphéon' choral fests.

[17] These fests included teaching, often illiterate, working people to sight-sing from notation sheets as a non-conformist socio-religious project to revitalize music education in the Anglican Church.

[19] Around 4 November 1839, she assisted C. H. Purday in presenting a lecture titled "The Proper Object of Music" at the Hoxton National School Room, London.

Her operatic debut was on 7 January 1843 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, as the peasant Pippo in Macready's concert version of Rossini's La gazza ladra, starring Sabilla Novello as Annette.

Flower would continue working at the Princess's Theatre, reprising the role of Pippo in a production of La gazza Iadra in 17 July 1843 with a full orchestra alongside Emma Albertazzi as Annette.

Upon her return to London, she made a series of appearances at the Princess's Theatre: as Bertha in Edward Loder's Night Dancers alongside Emma Albertazzi as Giselle from 28 October 1846; as Ernestine in George Rodwell's Seven Maids of Munich from 19 December 1846; in Donizetti's Anna Bolena as Smeaton on 12 January 1847, starring Louisa Bassano in the lead role; in Mendelssohn's Midsummer Night's Dream as Oberon from 23 April 1847; and as Donna Olympia in Loder's The Young Guard, starring Anna Thillon from 20 January 1848.

Around this time, she was a corps musicale member attending the ninth General Theatrical Fund reunion held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate Street, chaired by Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton and supported by Charles Dickens.

However, her contingent persuaded Flower to appear again for Reed at the Queen's Theatre on 26 March[22] and proceed to Sydney aboard the ship Asia, where she was to join her brother, George.

[28] Various British and Australian newspaper reports of the period describe Flower's voice and vocal affect with terms such as volume; melody; compass; resonance; sonorousness; simplicity; cultivation; powerful; exquisite; flexible; rich; full; distinct; nervous; rare; delicious; sweet; mellow; liquid; welling; gushing; wonderful; expressive; clear; enchanting; perfect; delightful; wonderful; extraordinary; thrilling; electrifying; melancholy; noble; pure; magnificent; splendid; glorious; astonishing; commanding; great; masterly; force of expression; sensation; harmony; charm; liveliness; ease; heart-pathos; depth of feeling; emotional power; tenderness; a host in itself; divine; beyond praise; heaven; a treasure; the great contralto.

"[29] A review of Sara's recitative introduction in a duet role with Annette in "Ebben, per mia memoria" reported her positive reception: Her notes were so exceedingly full and rich, her articulation so admirable, rare qualities in an English singer of recitative, that the audience were literally taken by surprise, and uttered loud and continuous applause, which was frequently reiterated as the very superior quality of her voice was exhibited in the course of the duet.