| Biography | Amy Eliza Castles (1880-1951), dramatic soprano, was born on 25 July 1880 at Melbourne, eldest child of Joseph Castles, printer, and his wife Mary Ellen, née Fallon, both Victorian-born. In the early 1880s the family moved to Bendigo where Amy was educated at St Kilian's primary school and then at St Mary's College.
The Castles family was highly musical. Amy's sister Ethel (Dolly) became well known in Gilbert and Sullivan opera both in Australia and abroad; Eileen sang in grand opera, making her début in Australia with the Melba Grand Opera Company in 1911; and George, a tenor, sang professionally at home and overseas. The other three sons were locally known as singers. |