Oddly enough a community that prided itself on the courage and daring of its sea captai ns and the hardiness of its fishermen was the birth place of a world famous opera star. Georgina Sterling was born in 1867, the daughter of Twillingate's first doctor, William Stirling. As a young lady, Georgina showed signs of possessing a remarkable soprano voice. Fortunately her father could afford to send Georgina to Europe where she studied to become a singer.
She took as her stage name Maria Toulinguet and toured Italy and the United States as an opera singer. Her promsiing career was tragically cut short when an illness caused her to lose her voice. She lived at Twillingate until her death in 1935 and was buried near St. Peter's Church. In 1964 local citizens erected a headstone to mark the grave of this famous woman. It reads: The nightingale of the north sang fairer than the larks of Italy. She entertained royalty by her voice, and the poor by the kindness of her heart. Erected by an admiring public, 1964.
Georgina Stirling, a Newfoundland woman whom the world of opera once placed on a high pedestal at the height of her career lies buried there. But if today you thread the narrow footpaths of that quaint little outport cemetery you will find no reference to the great woman who is interred there.
Not a headstone.
Not a boundary marker.
Nothing
She lies beneath a mound of sodded clay. A nonentity
But in her day Georgina Stirling was no nonentity. She was a gifted singer who came out of the remote Newfoundland fishing village of Twillingate and conquered - and richly graced - the world's opera stages. She rose rapidly on the ladder of success as a superb soprano. A highlight of her remarkable career was when she sang in the internationally renouned La Scala Opera House in Milan before the Italian Royal Family.
No Newfoundlander has achi eved such fame as a singer before or since the time of Georgina Stirling.
But tragedy entered Georgina's life which ended with her death on an Easter morning in the quietness of her house at Twillingate.
Let us look at Georgina's early life. She was born at Twillingate, the daughter of Dr. William Stirling. She was educated in her home village and later at schools abroad.
She was born with a beautiful singing voice and decided to go into the field of opera. She studied in Paris under noted Madame Mathilde Marchesi. She also studied music and singing in Italy. For her professional name she chose Mademoiselle Marie Toulinquet.
She sang on stages throughout the world and in 1897 - 1898 she toured the United States as Prima Donna Soprano of Colonel Mapleson's Imperial Opera.
The critics went wild about her singing. Great praise was heaped upon the gifted girl from Twillingate. Wrote one critic in an American newspaper; "a voice such as hers comes but once in a lifetime."
Georgina was the toas t of the world of music.
Then tragedy struck. She developed a throat ailment while in Italy and this ruined her brilliant career,. She found her way back to Newfoundland..and to her home village of Twillingate.
Some people in Newfoundland still remember "Twillingate Stirling" today. Willaim Temple, who was editor of the now defunct Twillingate Sun remembers a concert the great artist gave on a visit to Twillingate before sickness struck her. She sang the stirring and inspiring "The Holy City" in a h all in the fishing settlement and, remembers Mr. Temple, "The people were thrilled with her great voice. The walls rang with the power and great beauty of her magnificient voice."
Mr. Temple, who now resided in Glenwood, recalled the great artisit as "a very striking woman. A woman of strong opinions. But a very sociable woman. Very aristocratic woman."
Mrs. Gabriel Hewlett who once resided at Twillingate but who now lives at Robert's Arm in Green Bay, was a personal friend of Georgina Stirling "Georgina," says Mrs. Hewlett, "was thrice gifted. She was an accomplished pianist, actress and singer."
And the great artist had a sense of humor, recalls Mrs. Hewlett. Once, whi le in Twillingate, Georgina was hostess at a party attended by her close friend, the late Chief Justice Sir William Horwood. Says Mrs. Hewlett: "Everyone expected Miss Georgina to have her hair up very nicely as usual. Instead she wore a red bandana at the party."
Georgina and her sister, Rose, loved animals. They had cats and Georgina had a pet piglet which she often carried with her...the two sisters maintained a beautiful garden at Twillingate which had many variety of flowers and trees. At Twill ingate today there are two beautiful apple trees which the great artist planted years ago. And they blossom every year.
Mrs. A.H. Hodge of Twillingate has in her possession the original copy of a testimonial which the people of St. John's presented to Georgina Stirling when she visited the capital on one occasion and "brought the house down" at a grand concert. That was in 1895.
Mrs. Gabriel Hewlett remembers the death of the great soprano. She recalls, "Georgina played the organ for the last time in my house at Twillingate. After we had dinner, I asked Georgina to sing and play the organ - she loved organ music. Georgina said she would play...but she would never sing again. And she played the organ as if she knew it would be her last time. And indeed it was her last time. She later went across the road to her own house and never left it. She died of cancer. It was on Easter morning, 1935.
And Mrs. Hewlett remembers the funeral. Snow covered the land. There was so much snow that a diagram had to be used to locate the Stirling burial plot. It was found that there was no room in the plot for the casket bearing the body of Georgina Stirling. So, she was buried close by.
Today the grave is unmarked. Not even a headstone to say the name of the one who lies beneath the clay.
Last year Hiram Silk of the CBC in Grand Falls started a campaign to raise funds for a headstone for the last and great Georgina Stirling. The response wasn't too encouraging.
And now, through this column the appeal for funds is being resumed. The Western Star and The Evening Telegram have contributed $15 and $25 respectively to the fund. Fund treasurer is Rev. A.R. Brett, Anglican minister at Twillingate. Please send your contributions to him and they will be acknowledged in this column.
Besided being an outstanding artist, Georgina Stirling was a charitible person. On one occasion she took off her dress and gave it to a poor woman who came along to her door in Twillingate. Miss Stirling also founded the Twillingate Branch of the Dorcas Society, an organization of women who met regularly and made clothing for the poor.
This week I had a rare treat. I heard a recording of Georgina Stirling's voice which was made in 1904. Though the recording is of poor quality - because of the abuses of time and careless handling over the years - I could still hear that Newfounland's own Georgina Stirling was gifted with a truly magnificent voice.
I wish you could have heard it.
I appeal to all my readers to get behind this fund to mark
the last resting place of a great Newfoundlander.
Your support is requested. Fund treasurer Rev. Brett will receive all contributions and they will be acknowledged in this column. Here is the list of acknowledgements received from Mr. Brett:
A.W. Scott, Washington, $10 If you have sent in a contribution and it is not acknowledged in this list, acknowledgement will come in a subsequent list. Three previous lists of acknowledgements have already been printed in this column. The monument to Miss Stirling - "Twillingate Stirling" - was shipped this week from Muir's Marble Works, St. John's, to Twillingate. A dedication service will be performed in the little Anglican cemetery July 19th at 3:00 p.m. It is in t
his cemetery that the great soprano - termed as the finest singer Newfoundland has ever produced - lies buried in an unmarked grave. About two years ago this column, in co-operation with Hiram Silk of the CBC, Grand Falls, and Rev. A.R. Brett, Anglican priest at Twillingate, began a campaign for funds to erect a monument to Miss Stirling. The response may be termed as fairly good. One outstanding feature of the campaign was that about half the contributions to the fund came from Newfoundlanders livign
in the United States and on the mainland. This illustrates that so called "former" Newfoundlanders are mindful of their own heritage and their native land. But after Sunday, July 19, those who pass by the grave of Georgina Stirling will read on her monument a fitting epitaph "The nightingale of the north and fairer than the larks of Italy". She entertained royalty by her voice, and the poor by the kindness of her heart." And there's an inscription: "Erected by an admiring public, 1964." Th
e
monument is imposing. It is six and a half feet high and weighs a ton and a half. It's a granite cross atop a three-tier base. The inscriptions are masterfully done by Muir's Marble Works. There will be a short service in St. Paul's Church, at Twillingate, where Miss Stirling began her great career, and then there will be a dedication service at the cemetery. All are welcome to attend. Here is the latest list of acknowledgements for the Memorial Fund: Click here to go back.
Brigadier J. Gillingham, Vancouver, $2
Miss Jessie M. Moors, Vancouver, $2
Mrs. A. Stock, Danbury, Conn, USA, $5
Mrs. Owen Davis, Lewisporte, $5
Mrs. A.J. Borgen, Vancouver, $2
Newfoundland Broadcasting Company, St. John's, Nf, $50
Mrs. Vera M. Alcock, St. John's, Nf, $2
Mrs, S.L. Sheppard, St. John's, Nf, $2
Mr. Arthur Shano, St. John's, Nf, $2
Mrs. Laura B. Murray, Brooklyn, USA, $3
Mrs. Lloyd Mercer, Gander, $2
Ernest Peyton, Gander, $5
Arthur Butcher, Corner Brook, $10
Mr. and Mrs. Fred Earle, Fogo, $2
Mrs. Caroline Knight, Moreton's Harbour, $1
Miss Amelia Anstey, Twillingate, $2Georgina Stirling
Reference a third newspaper column by Don Morris, The Voice of Don, about Georgina Stirling, written in the mid 1960s.
I am very happy to announce that the Georgina Stirling Memorial Fund project is drawing to a successful conclusion.
Raymond Myers, Corner Brook, $2
Mrs. Elsie H
odge, Twillingate, $2
Ernest Ashborne, Twillingate, $5
Allan Guy, Twillingate, $3
Miss Karan Brown, Trinity, B.B., $2
Rev. Lewis Reid, Comfort Cove, $2
Rev. G.L. Morgan, Ontario, $5
Anonymous, Victoria Cove, $2
Ralph Wylie, Bridgeport, $3
The Lever Family, St. John's, in memory of their mother, $5
Carla Emerson, St. John's, $3
S. Milley Ltd., St. John's, $10
Miss Marjorie Blygh, St. John's, $10
Hon. J.R. Smallwood, St. John's, $25
Gordon Duff, St. John's, $1
Mrs. C
harles Simms, Lewisporte, $2
R. Parsons, Grand Falls, $5
Mrs. Alison Bartle, Grand Falls, $2
Mrs. Mildred Manuel, New York, $10