John Orlando Parry

John Orlando Parry (3 January 1810 – 20 February 1879) was an English actor, pianist, artist, comedian, songwriter and singer. As a child of a musician, he studied harp and piano and first performed on the harp in his teens. He began singing professionally in 1830 and both performed and studied singing in Italy in 1833. He also was employed as an illustrator and artist.

Parry returned to England and continued singing and playing. He married in 1835 and began performing in musical theatre in 1836. By 1839 he was becoming known as a comic singer and soon began composing for the stage. In the 1840s he focused on writing songs, concert singing and playing the piano. He later began performing his solo entertainments of comic monologues and songs, accompanying himself at the piano. In 1853, because of the strain of touring and performing, Parry suffered from mental derangement. While recovering, he worked as an organist in Southsea and taught singing.

In 1860, he joined the German Reed Entertainments in London, where he performed for nearly nine years in comic impersonations and musical monologues, writing comic sketches with musical illustrations around his own comic songs and accompanying himself.

Read more about this composer on Wikipedia.