Maria Dowding Billington Hawes (1816 – 1886) was an English contralto singer and composer who performed in two Mendelssohn debuts. Maria_Billington_Hawes

She was baptised at St-Martin-in-the-Fields, London, on 21 June 1816, the third daughter of the composer William Hawes, who taught her to sing. Her godmother was opera singer Elizabeth Billington. She made her debut at her father's annual concert in 1832. She was in contact with

Felix Mendelssohn Jakob Ludwig Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy (3 February 18094 November 1847), widely known as Felix Mendelssohn, was a German composer, pianist, organist and conductor of the early Romantic music, Romantic period. Mendelssohn's compositions inc ...

, whom she visited in Germany. She performed at the premier of his '' Lobgesang'' (23 September 1840) and was the principle contralto at the premier of his ''

Elijah Elijah ( ) or Elias was a prophet and miracle worker who lived in the northern kingdom of Israel during the reign of King Ahab (9th century BC), according to the Books of Kings in the Hebrew Bible. In 1 Kings 18, Elijah defended the worsh ...

'' at the

Birmingham Triennial Music Festival The Birmingham Triennial Musical Festival, in Birmingham, England, founded in 1784, was the longest-running European classical music, classical music festival of its kind. It last took place in 1912. History The first music festival, over th ...

of 1846. The aria "O Rest in the Lord" in ''Elijah'' was written for her. She composed 27 songs and hymns including "There be none of beauty's daughters" (1856) and "Oh Lord, thy mercies we proclaim" (1872). On 18 July 1847 she became the second wife of James Drege Merest, a magistrate of Bury St Edmunds. She died at Ryde, Isle of Wight, on 24 April 1886.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawes, Maria Billington 1816 births 1886 deaths 19th-century English women singers Contraltos English contraltos 19th-century English women composers