Charles Benjamin Incledon (pronounced 'Ingledon') (176311 February 1826, Worcester) was a Cornish tenor singer, who became one of the foremost English singers of his time, especially in the singing of English theatre music and ballads in which he was considered without rival.P.H. Highfill, K.A. Burnim and E.A. Langhans, 'Incledon, Charles Benjamin 1763–1826, singer, actor' in A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800, Vol. 8: Hough to Keyse (SIU Press, 1982), pp. 86–99.W.H. Tregellas, 'Incledon: The Singer', in Cornish Worthies. Sketches of Eminent Cornish Men and Families, 2 volumes (Elliot Stock, London 1884), II, pp. 89-112 (Google).
Early career Charles Benjamin Incledon, the son of a doctor in St Keverne, Cornwall, was educated at Blundell's School and as a choirboy and soloist at Exeter Cathedral, under the tuition of organist and composer William Jackson. Before his voice broke, he was accustomed to sing in the Cathedral close to impromptu audiences, and once spent three days singing aboard a naval ship at Torquay.S. Baring-Gould, Cornish Characters and Strange Events (John Lane/Bodley Head, London and New York 1909), pp. 375–76. When of age he joined the Navy, and after two years' active service his fine tenor voice was 'discovered' by Admiral Hervey during a voyage to Saint Lucia, and, being generally admired in the Fleet, won the favour of Admiral Pigot. He took part in the Battle of the Saintes against the French Fleet in 1782.
Upon discharge in 1783 he was sent with a recommendation to George Colman at the Haymarket, but was turned away. For a while he struggled in companies at Southampton and Salisbury, before gaining a place for a few seasons under John Palmer at the Theatre Royal, Bath:William Parke, Musical Memoirs (Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, London 1830), vol. 1, p. 127 (Google). he soon came to the attention of the Venanzio Rauzzini, who gave him instruction, and, much admiring his Handelian singing (notably in 'Total Eclipse' from Samson), publicly called him his scholar. He first sang at Vauxhall Gardens in London, his songs of James Hook being found appropriate and pleasing, in summer 1786:Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, p. 71. In 1787 Charles Dibdin mentions him as an established singer there.C. Dibdin, The Musical Tour of Mr. Dibdin; in which, previous to his embarcation for India, he finished his career as a public character (J. Gales, Sheffield 1788), p. 23, Letter VI (5 October 1787): 'I gave the song to Mr. Incledon, who sings it charmingly at Vauxhall.' On 12 January 1791 he sang before Josef Haydn at a meeting of the Anacreontic Club.L.M. Middleton, 'Incledon, Charles', Dictionary of National Biography, Vol XXVIII (Macmillan & Co, London & New York 1891), pp. 427–8.
Covent Garden Thomas Harris heard Incledon at Bath, and engaged him, at first for three years, for Covent Garden. In accepting this offer the tenor narrowly missed a better one – for higher fees and a longer term – made soon afterwards by Thomas Linley. Incledon kept his agreement however, although his experiences with Covent Garden were not always of the happiest. He made a successful debut there in 1790 as Dermont in The Poor Soldier by William Shield, who became a lifelong friend and associate. In February 1791 he appeared in Shield's opera The Woodman, being universally encored in his ballad 'The streamlet', and with Charles Bannister in the same cast singing 'Much more a helpless woman'.Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, p. 136 (Google). In 1793 he made a short Easter tour with Bowden, Mrs Martyr and the oboeist William Parke, to Portsmouth, where they were very well received. February 1794 introduced him in Shield's The travellers in Switzerland in a cast with Miss Poole, Mrs Martyr and Mr Fawcet; and in April in a new work, Netly Abbey (a compilation from various composers) Incledon sang Shield's old song 'The Arethusa', which he had already made his own.Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, pp. 187–88 (Google).
Incledon's performances, and Shield's new operas, 'made him so popular that for several years he travelled in the summer, and at every considerable town in England gave an entertainment consisting of recitation and songs (on Dibdin's plan), with great applause and profit.'Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 2, p. 249 (Google). At Covent Garden a notable production was the revival of The Beggar's Opera in October 1797, with Madame Mara (engaged for twelve nights at huge cost) as Polly and Mrs Martyr as Lucy. Incledon was thought unrivalled as MacHeath.Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, p. 253–54 (Google). In 1800 the two-act Paul and Virginia (music by Mazzinghi and Reeve) gave Incledon two pieces, one a spirited air with oboe obbligato, and the other, 'Our Country is our Ship' by Townshend won him a general encore.Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, p. 282 (Google). In 1800 also he earned the distinction of singing in the London premiere of Haydn's The Creation on 28 March in the composer's presence. The Oratorios at Covent Garden in 1801 commenced with Mozart's Requiem and Handel's L'allegro ed il pensieroso. Incledon's laugh, in his singing of 'Haste thee, Nymph' was so infectious that the audience joined in with him.Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, p. 291 (Google).
In February the following year, Thomas Arne's opera Love in a Village was revived for Mrs. Billington, into which she introduced William Boyce's duet 'Together let us range the fields' for herself and Incledon, which was loudly encored. In the same month was presented a new comic opera written by Dibdin, The Cabinet (the music by various composers), in which Incledon appeared together with John Braham and Nancy Storace, and in delivering the hunting song 'his fine volume of voice filled the whole theatre'.Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, p. 304–06 (Google). Incledon's MacHeath was reprised at Margate in August 1803. Another new Dibdin opera, The British Fleet in 1342 (music entirely by Braham) appeared in December, and on that evening the highlight was a duet by Braham and Incledon, 'All's Well', which was encored.Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 1, p. 324 (Google).
At Covent Garden, Incledon successfully took on as a tenor several important roles created by his friend the celebrated bass Charles Bannister, about a generation after the original productions. Thus he appeared as Tom Tug in Dibdin's The Waterman (first presented at the Haymarket in 1774)G.H. Davidson, The Songs of Charles Dibdin with a memoir by George Hogarth, 2 vols (G.H. Davidson, London 1848), I, pp. xx, xxxiii, 44–45. and in 1809 took the role of Mr. Steady in Dibdin's The Quaker (first presented at Drury Lane in 1777).The British Drama: A Collection of the Most Esteemed Tragedies, Comedies, Operas, and Farces, in the English Language. In Two Volumes, (Jones & Co., London 1824), Vol. 1, p. 233.A propos The Quaker, it is amusingly related that Incledon, finding himself in Margate to play Mr Steady without a suitable costume, induced a 'comfortable plump-looking Quaker' whom he met in the street to lend him his clothes for the night: and the Quaker attended the performance from a hidden vantage, to see how his people were represented. See Mrs Mathews, Memoir of Charles Mathews, Comedian (Richard Bentley, London 1838), Vol. 2, pp. 201–03 (Internet Archive). In 1810, similarly, he appeared as the Serjeant in Isaac Bickerstaffe's musical entertainment of The Recruiting Serjeant (formerly produced at the Royalty Theatre in 1789, first 1770),The British Drama, 1824, p. 210. and in 1814 as Mr. Belville (another Bannister role) in Mrs Brook's opera Rosina (presented first at Covent Garden in 1783).The British Drama, 1824, p. 241. Since the airs or ballads in these musical dramas stood alone with spoken dialogue, the transposition from bass to tenor did not create excessive difficulty.
After singing in that theatre for many years, and after several disagreements with Harris, he finally withdrew, and 'soon after took a parting benefit at the Italian Opera House, at play-house prices, assisted by many of his brethren of both theatres, to a house filled to an excess that proved how highly his talents were appreciated.'Parke, Musical Memoirs (1830), vol. 2, p. 250 (Google).Baring-Gould, Cornish Characters (1908), p. 378.
The singer among his contemporaries Incledon sang both in opera and in oratorio, but his chief popularity lay in his delivery of ballads ('not the modern sentimental composition, but of the robust old school'Baring-Gould, Cornish Characters (1908), p. 379.), such as The Lass of Richmond Hill, Sally in our Alley, Black-eyed Susan, The Arethusa, and anything of a bold and manly type. He enjoyed a popularity of twenty-five or thirty years' duration.He was a forthright man, given to speaking his mind openly, which also showed itself in the freedom and natural expression of his singing, and he had vocal resources to sustain the flights of interpretative impulse which enlivened his performances.Spectator, 3 October 1829, p. 8. A somewhat vain man,His vanity caused his friends to play practical jokes on him, see Mathews, Memoirs of Charles Mathews, Comedian, 2 Vols (Richard Bentley, London 1838), Vol. 2, pp. 161–167 (Internet Archive). who affected gold jewellery and snuff-box, he regarded himself (not entirely without cause) as the 'English Ballad Singer.' Edward Fitzball, who as a lad saw him play Macheath, remembered him being very fat, with an immense white cravat in which his chin seemed buried, his costume a blue dress coat with gilt buttons, a white waistcoat, leather 'smalls' and top boots.E. Fitzball, Thirty-Five Years of a Dramatic Author's Life, 2 Vols (T.C. Newby, London 1859), I, pp. 296–301.
His friendship and professional involvement with William Shield, from his first days at Covent Garden, set the character of his career. He and Shield, Charles Bannister, Charles Dignum, 'Jack' Johnstone, Charles Ashley and William Parke in 1793 formed themselves into 'The Glee Club', a set which met on Sunday evenings during the season at the Garrick's Head Coffee House in Bow Street, once a fortnight, for singing among themselves and dining together.W. Parke, Musical memoirs (1830), pp. 175–79. Many of Shield's songs were either written for him or were sung by him, with the composer's high approval. Shield said of him that, not only did Incledon's interpretation of the songs he had written for him never disappoint his expectation, but that he often brought a grace, beauty and charm to them which the composer had not imagined to be present in his own work, and that a large share of the popularity of those songs might be credited to Incledon's unrivalled excellence in singing them. Many songs were written for him also by George Baker (1773–1847), the composer and organist of Stafford and Derby, who had been a fellow-pupil of Incledon's under Jackson at Exeter.W.H. Husk, 'Baker, George, Mus. Bac.' in J.A. Fuller Maitland (Ed.), Grove's Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Vol. I (Macmillan & Co., London 1922), pp. 167–68.