Arthur KING – real name Theodore HERCHLER
Born in Germany in September 1859. As a young man Arthur was a student of the Conservatoire of Music where he graduated with honours. He then started working with Gilbert and Sullivan, Doyle Carte in England as a repetiteur or rehearsal pianist.
Arthiur King – Funeral Procession down Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie – Photo J J Dwyer
On the 22nd October 1890, he sailed from Gravesend, London on the SS Fifeshire (steamer) sailing to Fremantle Western Australia via Las Palmas. He arrived on the 6th December 1890 along with four other passengers, including Myles O’Reilly, and a contingent of 50 navvies who were to work for the Midland Railway Co. By this time Theodore was using the name, Arthur King. It was not long before Myles and Arthur were to set up in business together.
Inquirer and Commercial News 14 January 1891, page 5
Two very talented musicians with high credentials have recently settled in Perth, and will, it is to be trusted, find sufficient inducement to remain. They are Mr. Myles Beresford O’Reilly and Mr. Arthur King. The former is a professor of the violin hailing from Brussels Conservatoire and is an executant as well as a teacher of great ability. Mr. Arthur King is a gentleman well-known in London musical circles as a vocalist and a trainer of the viola, in which he has had much experience. He makes voice production — a musical department so much neglected— a specialty, and gives lessons in the theory of music, harmony, and counterpoint. Both these gentlemen have taken up their residence in Hay-street west, and are prepared to receive pupils.
Arthur King has an illustrious career in Perth performing in many operatic and musical events as an operatic singer, pianist, and conductor. He also performed several times to aid various charities.
Arthur King
In September of 1892, Arthur King was employed by the Pollard Opera Company and toured with them throughout Australia and New Zealand for a little under two years until April 1894.
In April 1894 Arthur travelled to Charters Towers where for over five years he opened a school of music and formed the town’s first amateur operatic society. In October of 1899, he then rejoined the Pollard Operatic Company on tour untilMarch of 1903 when he again returned to Perth and became the musical director of the Gilbert and Sullivan Society.
In April of 1904, he was to play a season in Kalgoorlie. While here he obtained a good position as musical director of the Kalgoorlie Operatic and Dramatic Society. When he first arrived in Kalgoorlie he was conductor of the Boulder City Orchester and on the amalgamation of that orchestra with the Hannans Orchester as The Appollo Orchester. He was to establish the Goldfields College of Music at the Semaphore Chambers in Hannan Street, Kalgoorlie in 1905.
On the 6th July 1908, Arthur King was admitted to the Government hospital after being found in an unconscious condition in his studio by some of his pupils.
He passed away on the 14th July 1908 – Anglican Grave 3087. It is surprising that for such a well know person and such a large funeral that there was no headstone.
Grave of Arthur King Kalgoorlie Cemetery – Photo Danelle Warno
Kalgoorlie Western Argus – 21 July 1908, page 12
DEATH OF MR. ARTHUR KING. The death of Mr. Arthur King, a prominent musician of the goldfields, took place on Wednesday evening at the Government Hospital, Kalgoorlie, where he was admitted for treatment as an in-patient on the morning of Saturday, July 3. Previously he had been found at his studio. He was then in an unconscious state. Dr. G. M. Barber, Dr. Way, resident medical officer. and other physicians, who were called in for consultation purposes, diagnosed that Mr. King was suffering from a terribly painful ailment called uremia.
He never recovered consciousness from the time of the seizure. The late Mr. King, to give him his professional cognomen, but whose real name was Theodore Hechler, a native of Germany, was a musician of splendid repute and was the master of a fine system of training, either students of vocalism or of instrumentation. He had travelled extensively since his first arrival in Australia, many years ago. He visited both South Africa, New Zealand, and Tasmania in connection with various musical companies. He had a school of music in Charters Towers, Queensland, for a few years, The late Mr. King taught pupils in Perth 13 years ago.
He came to Kalgoorlie as conductor for the Pollard Opera Company four years ago, and he determined to remain here. He established the Goldfields College of Music, where, assisted by an efficient staff of teachers, he achieved a great deal of success with his methods of imparting instruction to pupils, many of whom came out well in Trinity College and other examinations. When he came first to the goldfields he acted as conductor of the old Boulder City Orchestra, but upon the amalgamation of that body with Hannans Orchestra, under the title of the Apollo Orchestra, he took over the charge of it. He continued in that position up till the time of his decease.
Arthur King
He was a conductor for the Kalgoorlie Operatic Society for a long term, and that organisation produced under his guidance the operas “The Mikado,” “Bocaccio,” “The Gondoliers,” and “Les Cloches do Corneville.” Comparatively little is known as to the domestic affairs of the. late Mr. King, except that he has a daughter who was married in England a year ago, and that he has a sister living in London. The latter -information was conveyed in a letter to the Ven. Archdeacon McClemans from the Rev. Gordon Saville, who stated that that lady, who was a Sister of the Church, had asked him to convey a message to her brother.
The deceased gentleman. was 48 years of age in September of last year. Mr. Arthur King’s Funeral.-The funeral of the – late Mr. Arthur King took place in. Kalgoorlie on Thursday last, in the presence of a representative assemblage of Kalgoorlie and Boulder citizens, which showed the esteem in which the deceased musician was held on the goldfields. Half an hour before the cortege was timed to leave the Masonic Hall, Egan street, a large crowd of people had gathered in the vicinity.
The service of the. Masonic Lodge, of which the deceased was a member, having been conducted by the Worshipful Master, Bro. W. J. Read, the remains were conveyed from the hall to the hearse, and the cortege started for the Church of England portion of the Kalgoorlie Cemetery. The Kalgoorlie, Boulder, Model, and Boulder Fire Brigade bands headed the funeral procession, which turned into Porter street, thence into Hannan street, and along Maritana street to the cemetery.
The bands played Handel’s “Dead March” along the route. The Kalgoorlie Masonic Lodge, No. 24, of which the deceased was a member and the honorary organist, followed the bands and preceded the hearse. The coffin, which was made of polished cedar, was covered with beautiful flowers in the form of wreaths.
Then came representatives of the Piccadily Masonic Lodge, the Apollo Orchestra, the Golden Square Lodge, the Breadalbane Lodge, the Golden Pillar Lodge, the Broomehill Lodge, the Boulder Lodge, the Mossligel Lodge, the Ivanhoe Lodge, the Sir William Wallace Lodge, and Salters. Lyric Orchestra, while in the other vehicles that followed. Other organisations were represented, including the Kalgoorlie Operatic Society. At the grave the Venerable Archdeacon
McClements, the chaplain of the lodge, read the Masonic service, as well as that of the Church of England, after which the Boulder Liedertafel sang “The Long Day Closes.” The lodges and. other societies then marched back to town behind the bands, who played the customary spirited march. The lodge was resumed at the Masonic Hall and duly closed.
The pallbearers were Messrs. A. J. Mellowship (Liedertafel and Boulder Masonic Lodge), J. Williams (Golden Pillar Lodge), T. P. Sharp (Kalgoorlie Lodge), McDougall (Piccadilly Lodge), W. Derrington (Boulder Liedertafel and Boulder Lodge), and – Morris (Golden Square Lodge).
References:
Summary by Peter Downes 1990 – Historian relating to New Zealand music, theatre, and broadcasting history
TROVE
State Library of WA
The New Zealand Mail Newspaper
Alexander Turnbull Library Wellington New Zealand
Shyama Peebles
Moya Sharp
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