Australian Women's Register

An initiative of The National Foundation for Australian Women (NFAW) in conjunction with The University of Melbourne

Skip to content

Browse Entries

Exhibitions

  • Faith, Hope and Charity Australian Women and Imperial Honours: 1901-1989

Use Trove to find more resources by/about this Woman

  • Trove

Melba, Nellie (1861 - 1931)

Dame, GBE

Born
19 May 1861
Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died
23 February 1931
Occupation
Opera singer
Alternative Names
  • Mitchell, Helen Porter (maiden name)

Summary

Dame Nellie Melba (née Helen Porter Mitchell) was an internationally renowned opera singer, celebrated for her magnificent coloratura (soprano) voice.

Details

Melba's musical training began in Melbourne at Presbyterian Ladies' College, and continued in France under Mathilde Marchesi. Her operatic debut was in Brussels, in 1887.

Melba went on to perform in London, Paris and New York before returning to Australia to tour in 1902. She also toured Australia in 1909, 1911, 1924 and 1928. She founded a women's singing school in Melbourne and wrote a singing manual and a memoir.

Melba was appointed to The Order of the British Empire, Dame Grand Cross (Civil) on 3 June 1927 for services to Australia. She was also appointed to The Order of the British Empire, Dames Commander, on 15 March 1918 for giving fund-raising concerts to assist war wounded during the First World War.

Sources used to compile this entry: Davidson, Jim, 'Melba, Nellie (1861-1931)', in Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, Australian National University, 2006, http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/biogs/A100464b.htm.

Archival resources

Deakin University Archives

  • Miscellaneous papers re Caroline Chisholm and Dame Nellie Melba., 1833 - 1953, FRO; Deakin University Archives. Details

Grainger Museum, University of Melbourne

  • Grainger-Melba Correspondence; Grainger Museum, University of Melbourne. Details

Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music

  • Records of Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music, 1894 - ; Melba Memorial Conservatorium of Music. Details

Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales

  • Papers; Mitchell and Dixson Libraries Manuscripts Collection, State Library of New South Wales. Details

National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection

  • Account book, 1902 - 1903, MS 7987; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Correspondence of Melba, Nellie, Dame, 1861-1931., MS 1356; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Fairbairn, Anne. The discovery of a Nellie Melba archive, 1971, MS 1370; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Family Papers. Marchesi, Mathilde, 1821-1913., 1869 - 1945, MS 2647; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Lemmone, John, 1861-1949. Collection of papers relating to Dame Nellie Melba., 1911 - 1928, MS 4832; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Melba, Nellie, Dame Papers, 1895 - 1923, MS 9561; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Melba, Nellie, Dame Papers, 1908 - 1970, MS 9331; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Melba, Nellie, Dame Scrapbooks, 1924, MS 5380; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Miscellaneous papers re Caroline Chisholm and Dame Nellie Melba., 1833 - 1953, mfm G 27410; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details
  • Papers of Hart, Fritz Bennicke, 1874-1949, 1898 - 1951, MS 2809; National Library of Australia Manuscript Collection. Details

Performing Arts Museum, Victorian Arts Centre

  • Cochran Collection, 1888 - 1926; Performing Arts Museum, Victorian Arts Centre. Details
  • Papers of Lemmone, John, 1861-1949., 1884 - 1924; Performing Arts Museum, Victorian Arts Centre. Details
  • Van Straten Collection; Performing Arts Museum, Victorian Arts Centre. Details

State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection

  • Biographical file of information on Dame Nellie Melba, 1961, MS 11745; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
  • Letters, 1916, MS 8946; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
  • Papers of McCubbin, Frederick, 1855-1917., 1884 - 1962; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
  • Scrapbook, 1911 - 1937, MS 1077; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details
  • Scrapbook belonging to Beryl Fanning, 1909 - 1931; State Library of Victoria, Australian Manuscripts Collection. Details

Published resources

The Australian Women's Register Exhibitions

Books

  • De Vries, Susanna, The Complete Book of Great Australian Women: Thirty-six women who changed the course of Australia, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2003. Details
  • Magee, Adrian, Nellie Melba : the first Australian diva, CIS Cardigan Street Publishers, Carlton, Vic., 1995, 45 pp. Details
  • Melba, Nellie, Dame, Melba method, Chappell & Co., Sydney, 1926, 68 pp. Details
  • Melba, Nellie, Dame; Beverley Nichols, Melodies and memories, Butterworth, London, 1925, 335 pp. Details
  • Moran, William R., Nellie Melba, a contemporary review, Greenwood Press, Westport, Conn., 1995, 491 pp. Details
  • Vickery, Marian, Nellie Melba : the legend still lives, Victorian Arts Centre, South Melbourne, 1982, 12 pp. Details
  • Wechsberg, Joseph, Red plush and black velvet : the story of Dame Nellie Melba and her times, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, London, 1962, 376 pp. Details

Book Sections

  • Melba, Nellie, Dame; Beverley Nichols, 'Melodies and memories; introduction and notes by John Cargher', Nelson, West Melbourne, Vic., 1980, p. 253. Details

Newspaper Articles

  • 'Obituary [Dame Nellie Melba]', The Times, 24 February. Details
  • 'Obituary [Dame Nellie Melba]', Sydney Morning Herald, 24 February. Details
  • 'Obituary [Dame Nellie Melba]', Argus, 24 February. Details

Online Resources

See also

  • Dame Nellie Melba and J.C. Williamson Ltd. : grand opera season, June-July-August 1924, souvenir, J.C. Williamson, Sydney, 1924. Details
  • Victorian Women's Roll of Honour: Women Shaping the Nation, 1 edn, Centurary of Federation Victoria, 2001, http://www.women.vic.gov.au/CA25666E00000B30/Images/CoFHR/$File/CoFHR.pdf. Details
  • Popular Australian singers from the early years of sound recording [sound recording]. Volume 1., National Film and Sound Archive, c1988. Details
  • Beverley Nichols, Evensong, 1932. Details
  • Burchill, Elizabeth, Australian nurses since Nightingale 1860-1990, Spectrum Publications Pty Ltd, Richmond (Vic.), 1992, 258 pp. Details
  • compiled by the Historical Sub-committee of the Centenary Celebrations Council, Victoria, the first century : an historical survey, Robertson & Mullens, Melbourne, 1934, 462 pp. Details
  • Franklin Peterson (ed.), Dame Nellie Melba, George Robertson, Melbourne, 1915, 176 pp. Details
  • Lake, Marilyn and Kelly, Farley (eds), Double Time: Women in Victoria - 150 Years, Penguin Books Australia Ltd, Ringwood (Vic.), 1985, 476 pp. Details
  • Macklin, Robert, 100 great Australians, Currey O'Neil Ross, South Yarra, Vic., 1983, 248 pp. Details
  • McAleer, A J, The Shire of Lillydale and its military heritage : the First World War and its effect on the community, vol. 2 of 3, A J McAleer, Mooroolbark, Vic., c1995, 268 pp. Details
  • National Library of Australia, Papers of Dame Nellie Melba, 4 pp. Details
  • O'Connor, Shaunagh, 'Melba's keys to past', Herald Sun, 12 September 2003, p. 92. Details
  • Radi, Heather (ed.), 200 Australian Women: A Redress Anthology, Women's Redress Press, Sydney, 1988, 258 pp. Also available at http://nla.gov.au/nla.arc-78644. Details

Clare Land

Created: 24 April 2002, Last modified: 14 September 2005

Site-wide information and acknowledgements

National Foundation for Australian Women The University of Melbourne, eScholarship Research Centre

http://www.womenaustralia.info/biogs/IMP0003b.htm

The Australian Women's Register is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Australia License