Several early Australian singers who became well known overseas had stage names derived from or reflecting the communities which supported them early in their careers.
One of them was plain Elizabeth Ann Brown, above, who went under the name Hope Charteris , reflecting the Queensland goldmining boomtown of Charters Towers ,where she had lived, in Hope Street, the residents of which assisted her to study at the Royal Academy of Music in 1910 . Her life is covered in the National Trust Zara Clark Museum , Charters Towers .
She sang in Europe and London in major productions such as Chu Chin Chow, The Mikado ,Madame Butterfly and Aladdin .
Born in Broken Hill , New South Wales, in June 1929, June Mary Gough , who became an internationally acclaimed soprano and actress , adopted the stage name June Bronhill , honouring the mining town which raised money to send her overseas for professional training .
The famous soprano Dame Nellie Melba (Helen Porter Mitchell) took her name from Melbourne .
Elsie Mary Fischer (1881-1945) went under the name Elsa Stralia , which sounds almost Ockerish . Madame Vera Tasma had Tasmanian connections . And would you believe there was a Dorothy Canberra?
