Kate Lee, born Catharine Anna Spooner (9 March 1859 – 25 July 1904), was an English singer and folksong collector, one of the founders of the

Folk-Song Society The English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS, or pronounced 'EFF-diss') is an organisation that promotes English folk music and folk dance. EFDSS was formed in 1932 when two organisations merged: the Folk-Song Society and the English Folk Dan ...

in 1898.

Early life and education

She was born in Rufford, Nottinghamshire, one of the ten children of Lucius Henry Spooner and Margaret Skottowe Parker Spooner. Her father was a land agent who died in 1874; her mother was from Ireland. Her cousins included

William Archibald Spooner William Archibald Spooner (22 July 1844 – 29 August 1930) was a British clergyman and long-serving Oxford don. He was most notable for his absent-mindedness, and for supposedly mixing up the syllables in a spoken phrase, with unintentional ...

, who gave his name to the "

spoonerism A spoonerism is an occurrence of speech in which corresponding consonants, vowels, or morphemes are switched (see metathesis) between two words of a phrase. These are named after the Oxford don and priest William Archibald Spooner, who report ...

". Spooner entered the

Royal Academy of Music The Royal Academy of Music (RAM) in London, England, is one of the oldest music schools in the UK, founded in 1822 by John Fane and Nicolas-Charles Bochsa. It received its royal charter in 1830 from King George IV with the support of the firs ...

in January 1876 with the ambition to become a singer. After marriage and motherhood, Lee resumed her studies at the

Royal College of Music The Royal College of Music (RCM) is a conservatoire established by royal charter in 1882, located in South Kensington, London, UK. It offers training from the undergraduate to the doctoral level in all aspects of Western Music including pe ...

from 1887 to 1889.

Career

Lee had a short but busy professional singing career. She sang in a

Drury Lane Drury Lane is a street on the boundary between the Covent Garden and Holborn areas of London, running between Aldwych and High Holborn. The northern part is in the borough of London Borough of Camden, Camden and the southern part in the City o ...

production of ''

Die Walküre (; ''The Valkyrie''), Wagner-Werk-Verzeichnis, WWV 86B, is the second of the four epic poetry, epic music dramas that constitute Richard Wagner's Literary cycle, cycle ''Der Ring des Nibelungen'' (English: ''The Ring of the Nibelung''). It was ...

'' in 1894, and had her debut concert the following year. She also sang at campaign events when her husband ran for a seat in Parliament in 1895. She was described variously as a

contralto A contralto () is a classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range is the lowest of their voice type, voice types. The contralto's vocal range is fairly rare, similar to the mezzo-soprano, and almost identical to ...

or a

mezzo-soprano A mezzo-soprano (, ), or mezzo ( ), is a type of classical music, classical female singing human voice, voice whose vocal range lies between the soprano and the contralto voice types. The mezzo-soprano's vocal range usually extends from the A bel ...

in range. In 1900, she gave her last performance, singing to illustrate her lecture on folk song. Lee also collected folksongs, often while bicycling in the countryside, notably from James and Thomas Copper. She wrote about them in an 1899 article, "Some Experiences of a Folk-Song Collector". "I shall never forget the delight of hearing the two Mr. Coppers, who gave me the songs," she recalled, "They were so proud of their Sussex songs, and sang them with an enthusiasm grand to hear." She was a member of the Irish Literary Society, and in 1898 was one of the leading figures in convening the first meetings of the Folk-Song Society. She became the Society's first secretary, but illness soon required that she hand over the work to

Lucy Broadwood Lucy Etheldred Broadwood (9 August 1858 – 22 August 1929) was an English folksong collector and researcher, and great-granddaughter of John Broadwood, founder of the piano manufacturers Broadwood and Sons. As one of the founder members of the ...

Personal life

Catharine Anna Spooner married barrister and sugar merchant Arthur Morier Lee (1847–1909) in December 1877. She had two sons, Phillip (1879–1914) and Archibald (born 1881). In 1900 she became ill with cancer, and she died at Stubbings near

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

in 1904.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Kate 1859 births 1904 deaths English folk-song collectors English classical singers 19th-century English women singers Musicians from Nottinghamshire People from Newark and Sherwood (district) British women folklorists 19th-century British musicologists