Emma Howson

Emma Howson (28 March 1844 – 28 May 1928) was an Australian opera singer and actress primarily known as the creator of the principal soprano role of Josephine in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic opera ''H.M.S. Pinafore''.

She began her operatic career in Australia as a teen. In her early 20s Howson's family moved to America, where she played leading roles in opera, Victorian burlesque, other dramatic forms, and on the concert stage. After vocal studies in Italy, she continued her career in England where, in 1878, she joined Richard D'Oyly Carte's company to originate the role of Josephine. In the early 1880s, she returned to the US where she continued to perform and, within a decade, retired to teach music. Provided by Wikipedia