Arthur Williamson Hayes

  General Notes:

George Ryan notes:
His marriage to Anne Caroline was his second --- perhaps bigamous --- marriage; he had been married in Limerick, Ireland, with a young family, but, for whatever reason, had left them without trace around 1823. His daughter was Catherine Hayes, the famous soprano.
Arthur Williamson Hayes was born in 1796 in Limerick, Ireland ; he married Mary Carroll in 1815.

They had 4 children : Henrietta (Jan 1816), Charles (Oct 1817), Catherine (Nov 1818) & William (Sept 1820).

However, Arthur Williamson Hayes abandoned his family in 1823, never to be heard of again by them. He moved to London, where, in March 1831, he taught singing at 56 Upper John Street, Fitzroy Square.

In mid-1852, Arthur remarried, to Anne Caroline Leigh, in Canterbury, UK. They moved to Wales, where they had 3 children;
Meanwhile, in Limerick, his first wife, Mary Hayes (nee Carroll), raised her children by working for the Earl of Limerick, who would later ignite Catherine's career by funding her stay in Dublin to study concert performance. Her obvious talent quickly transported her and her mother to Paris, where she studied under Manuel Garcia-who, a few years earlier, had helped Hayes's mentor, Sweden's Jenny Lind, to refine her soprano style. When she moved to London in 1849, then an emerging European centre for performing arts, she was as popular as Lind and Henrietta Sontag. Her repertoire was vast, including Donizetti's Linda, Verdi's I Masnadieri and Meyerbeer's Le Prophéte. Despite warnings of the health risks in famine-stricken towns and villages, Hayes returned to Ireland several times. When she made her Irish operatic debut in Lucia di Lammermoor, Dublin critics effused about the homegrown prima donna. In Limerick, crowds piled outside her hotel, calling her the "Irish Queen of Song."
Catherine Hayes spent many years abroad, beginning with her American tour in 1851. Though several Irish male performers had preceded her, she was the first Irish soprano to perform from the Eastern seaboard to New Orleans and up the Mississippi River; in San Francisco, one fireman paid more than $1,000 for a ticket to Hayes's show. The tour gained a romantic twist when her future husband William Avery Bushnell became her agent after she lost a lawsuit to her original agents, London's Cramer & Beale. Bushnell was a grassroots type of promoter and assured Hayes packed houses when they traveled to Hawaii, Australia, and Singapore. When he died less than a year after their wedding in 1857, she consumed herself with a performance schedule even more rigorous than her four concerts per week while abroad.
Hayes maintained a repertoire and persona infused with Irishness. Even when critics consistently mistook her for an "English" prima donna, she seduced audiences with a deliberate sampling of Italian arias, opera excerpts, and Irish ballads. When Queen Victoria requested an encore, she delivered an Irish song. Off stage, Hayes was philanthropic, frequently holding benefit concerts on the last day of a visit to a particular city. In New Orleans, she helped Father James Mullon raise funds to complete the building of St. Patrick's church, which still stands today.
At a time when Irish women had few opportunities to be independent, Hayes-who became fluent in French and Italian-played both bookkeeper and agent. She left no personal journals and only a few letters. In the end, it is clear that Hayes was an intelligent, discerning woman.

Michael Hogan notes:
Helen Hayes-1st Lady of Broadway claimed in her bio that Catherine was her gr. aunt. Helen's grandfather, Patrick came from Ahills, Castlehaven, Co. Cork. Ireland. My gr. grandmother, Mary Hayes was a sister of Patrick. Thank George Ryan for his great info.

  Noted events in his life were:

• connection. Ann & George Ryan's connection between me is as follows:

Ann & George Ryan . . .
Are linked in some way to . . .
Arthur Hayes (c1820) & Ann Caroline Leigh
They had Helen Hayes (1861) who married Philip Gard (1853)
They had John Gard (1886) who married Violet Carr (1886)
Her father was William Carr (1854) who married Charlotte Wright (1861)
Her father was Benjamin Wright (1825) & her mother was Charlotte Barwick (1830)
But Benjamin Wright (1825) also married Sarah Allen (1852)
Her father was John Allen (1822) & he also had Josiah Allen (1867)
He had Louis Allen (1891)
He had Enid Allen (1928) who married Ronald Whaites (1931)
His father was Hurtle Whaites (c1886) & he also had William Whaites (1915) who married Doris Davies (1917)
Her father was Thomas Davies (1881)
His father was Joseph Davies (1852) & he also had G. A. Davies (1894)
He had Colin Davies (1925)
He had me - Robyn Bray (nee Davies) (1950)

• Occupation. professor of music

• connection. ⁹⁸⁸ Michael Hogan's connection to me is as follows:
Michael Hogan . . .
His Great Grandmother was Mary Hayes (c1760)
Her father was ? Hayes (c1730) & he also had Patrick Hayes (c1760)
He had Arthur Hayes (c1820) & who married Ann Caroline Leigh
They had Helen Hayes (1861) who married Philip Gard (1853)
They had John Gard (1886) who married Violet Carr (1886)
Her father was William Carr (1854) who married Charlotte Wright (1861)
Her father was Benjamin Wright (1825) & her mother was Charlotte Barwick (1830)
But Benjamin Wright (1825) also married Sarah Allen (1852)
Her father was John Allen (1822) & he also had Josiah Allen (1867)
He had Louis Allen (1891)
He had Enid Allen (1928) who married Ronald Whaites (1931)
His father was Hurtle Whaites (c1886) & he also had William Whaites (1915) who married Doris Davies (1917)
Her father was Thomas Davies (1881)
His father was Joseph Davies (1852) & he also had G. A. Davies (1894)
He had Colin Davies (1925)
He had me - Robyn Bray (nee Davies) (1950)

Arthur married Anne Caroline Leigh. (Anne Caroline Leigh was born circa 1830.)

Arthur next married Mary Carroll in 1815. (Mary Carroll was born circa 1800.)