William Paull, born in London in 1872, had roots in the West Country. His father George Paull was from Redruth in Cornwall and his mother Ellen Horne was from Barnstaple in Devon. The maternal family was musical and William followed as a cathedral chorister, eventually studied at the Guildhall School of Music, and joined the Rosa on a three year contract in 1894. This last decision may have been influenced by a maternal relative, the soprano Clara Leighton who had briefly sung with the Rosa.
William made his Rosa debut as Capulet in Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet at the Grand Theatre, Blackpool, on 13 August 1894. He rapidly expanded his repertoire to include Alfio (Cavalleria Rusticana), Escamillo (Carmen), Valentine (Faust) and surprisingly Cedric in Sullivan’s Ivanhoe. The most important addition was at the Manchester Theatre Royal on 22 April 1897 when he created the role of Marcel in the British premiere of La Boheme, given as The Bohemians, with Claude Jaquinot conducting and Puccini in the audience. He left the company a month later as Di Luna in Il Trovatore at the Theatre Royal Middlesbrough on 29 May 1897 after 330 performances in seventeen operas.
His career now acquired an international flavour. He supported the famous soprano Emma Albani in a concert tour of Australia and New Zealand in 1898, remained there for two years, before combining periods in Britain with well received tours of America in English opera. All was going well but his third visit to America, whilst with the Castle Square Opera Company, at Saint Louis brought tragedy. He died on the 5 February 1903 in his thirtieth year after falling from a sixth floor window of his hotel. His career was brief and one can only speculate what he might have achieved had he lived? However he has achieved a kind of vocal immortality as his voice can still be heard via commercial recordings made for the infant Gramophone Company in 1901 and 1902.
The is no illustration of Clara Leighton available but she had only a brief association with the Rosa. She sang nine performances in April and May 1883 as Filina (Mignon) and Lydia (Colomba). Her career ended prematurely in 1903 with health problems.
© 2025 John Ward
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