The Homebush Galop

 

Courtesy National Library of Australia

https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-661665048/view?partId=nla.obj-661668413#

Calling all pianists!

In June 1856 musician Stephen Hale Marsh composed The Homebush Galop, dedicating it to Mrs John Rose Holden, formerly the pianist Miss Broadhurst. Marsh had arrived in Sydney in 1842 aboard the Sir Edward Paget, along with Ludwig Leichhardt.[1] Marsh would often give recitals on board the ship. Leichhardt became a close friend and occasional housemate, whose expeditions Marsh celebrated with compositions such as Dr Leichhardt’s March. Marsh settled in Sydney with his wife and family, later moving to Melbourne and remarrying after the death of his wife. His compositions included operas. He left Australia in 1872, spending a few years in Japan before settling in San Francisco, where most of his manuscripts were destroyed in the great fire and earthquake of 1906.

Stephen Hale Marsh. Illustrated Sydney News 4 March 1854 p.4

https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/63614052

Fortunately The Homebush Galop survived. This copy is from the collection of the National Library of Australia. A dashing, spirited composition, reminiscent of Johan Strauss’s Tritsch Tratsch Polka, dancers would canter, even gallop, about the ballroom, undoubtedly flushed with exertion and in need of a glass of champagne. The Sydney Morning Herald announced its publication in June 1856:

‘Mr S.H. Marsh has just published two new musical compositions for the pianoforte. They are from his own pen. Both are nicely printed… The second is, “The Homebush Galop,” dedicated to Mrs John Rose Holden – also in B flat. It is a lively piece in two-four time, but the manipulation requisite to express the ideas of the composer need not discourage the amateur.’[2]

Mrs John Rose Holden was the former Susan Broadhurst and Holden’s second wife. Holden himself was a settler, soldier and politician – and a friend of explorer, William Charles Wentworth. He was also a sportsman, who was elected to the committee for the establishment of the Homebush Racecourse in 1840,[3] and a foundation member of the Australian Jockey Club. You can read more about the Homebush Racecourse at: https://strathfieldheritage.com/parks-and-reserves/homebush-racecourse/ During October 1847 Holden was the umpire for the ‘Swamp Hurdle Races’ at Homebush[4] and again for the Drapers’ Homebush Spring Meeting of 1853.[5] A well-known public figure in Sydney, he served as a director of the Mutual Fire Insurance Co. and the Sydney Infirmary. He lived for some time at Retreat Farm near Liverpool[6] and also served as a magistrate. During 1851 Holden was elected a Member of the Legislative Council for Cumberland Boroughs, serving until 1856.

The Sportsman, John Rose Holden, 1847 by William Nicholas. Courtesy National Gallery of Australia https://searchthecollection.nga.gov.au/object/69438&pictaus=true

After the death of his first wife in 1849, Holden married Miss Susan Broadhurst, ‘the fair and accomplished’'[7] second daughter of the late Reverend Thomas Broadhurst, at Christ Church Sydney on 7 May 1853.[8] It was a double wedding as Susan’s brother, Edward Broadhurst Esq, barrister and Member of the Legislative Council, was married at the same time. Susan had been born in Bath, England in 1807. The Rose Holdens spent only a few more years in Sydney before returning to England.

An auctioneer in 1858 advertised for sale a pianoforte belonging to Susan ‘well known in the higher circles as having been specially to order by Broadwood and imported for Miss Broadhurst.’ [9]

John Rose Holden died in England only a short time later in 1860. Little more is known about Susan, and no image has been located, but she died in Hampshire, England in 1887, aged 80.

John Rose Holden. Courtesy State Library of NSW.

https://archival.sl.nsw.gov.au/Details/archive/110327468

 

It is likely many years since The Homebush Galop has been played. Perhaps a local pianist would like to give it a whirl? The sheet music can be found at: https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-661665048/view?partId=nla.obj-661668413#

 

By J.J. MacRitchie

Local Studies Advisor

 

References

[1] Mackerras, Catherine. ‘Marsh, Stephen Hale Alonzo (1805-1888)’ Australian Dictionary of Biography. https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/marsh-stephen-hale-alonzo-4157

 

[2] Sydney Morning Herald 10 June 1856 p.4 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/12980793

 

[3] Parsons, Vivienne. ‘Holden, John Rose (1810-1860)’ Australian Dictionary of Biography https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/holden-john-rose-2193

 

[4] Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer 23 October 1847 p.2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/59768009

 

[5] Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer 8 October 1853 p.2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/59757777

 

[6] McCormack, Terri. ‘Holden, John Rose’ Dictionary of Sydney https://dictionaryofsydney.org/entry/holden_john_rose

 

[7] Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer 26 February 1953 p.2 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/59756807

 

[8] Bell’s Life in Sydney and Sporting Reviewer 14 May 1853 p.3 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/59757147

 

[9] Sydney Morning Herald 13 February 1858 p.7 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/13006230