CRIGHTON, MISS,
Made her first appearance on the English stage in 1852, and was at once recognised as a singer of no ordinary power and ability; she was then twenty-one years of age, and had been educated in the Royal Academy of Music, under the celebrated Manuel Garcia, brother of Malabran and Viardot, and master of Jenny Lind. It was only in 1847 that Miss Crighton determined on adopting music as a profession, the circumstances of her father, previous to that time, having been such as to render this devotion of her talents unnecessary; but the resolution was taken in consequence of his fortunes having suffered a wreck, in this disastrous epoch of mercantile history. Miss Crighton's debût was made on the stage of "Old Drury," in the character of the Princess Isabella, and it was, as we have already intimated, perfectly successful. She at once took the place of a Prima Donna, and a brilliant career was predicted for her, as her subsequent performances have fully justified. "The compass of her voice," said a critic at the time of her appearance, "is from D in alt to the lower G—nineteen notes of excellent quality—rich, round, and sympathetic, in every way calculated to depict varying dramatic emotion."
CROSLAND, CAMILLA,
Better known to the reading public by her maiden name, Camilla Toulmin, was the daughter of a London solicitor, who died while she was yet a child; her brother, who was also of the legal profession, and on whom the family mainly depended after the father's death, followed him in a few years to the grave, and the young Camilla, who had very early manifested literary tastes and abilities, adopted the pen as a means of support. Her first appearance in print was in the "Book of Beauty," for 1838; since which time she has been a large and regular contributor to periodical literature. She edited for several years "La Belle Assemble," a monthly magazine of good standing, and has published besides a volume of Poems, the following works:—"Lays and Legends Illustrative of English Life;" "Partners for Life, a Christmas Story;" "Stratagems, a Tale for Young People;" "Toil and Trial, a Story of London Life" "Lydia, a Woman's Book;" "Stray Leaves for Shady Places;" "Memorable Women;" and "Heldreth, the Daughter." All these are of a healthful, moral character; they Inculcate charity and benevolence, and cheer the drooping, suffering, and toiling ones with words of hope and comfort. Miss Toulmin changed her name in 1848, when she married Mr. Newton Crosland, a merchant of London.
