Jessie Rose

Jessie Kate Rose (1875 – 27 May 1928) was an English opera singer and actress primarily known for her work as principal mezzo-soprano in the Gilbert and Sullivan comic operas with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company. From 1896 to 1899 she originated several mostly smaller roles in Savoy operas and then continued to play a variety of smaller and larger roles in repertory with the company. She was its principal mezzo-soprano from 1904 to 1909.

Rose was born in Uxbridge, Middlesex, to Henry Rose, a tinsmith, and his wife Ellen (née Masters).

She joined the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company in 1896 in the chorus of a revival of The Mikado at the Savoy Theatre. In March of that year she originated the small role of Bertha in The Grand Duke, and in February 1897 she created another small part, Helena, in His Majesty (1897). In August of that year, she married the composer and violinist Percy Elliott; they had a daughter, born in 1898, and a son, born in 1900. At the Savoy, Rose continued to perform in the chorus in the company's repertory productions and also originated the minor roles of Margery in Old Sarah (1897–1898) and Oasis (and sometimes covered Princess Laoula) in The Lucky Star (1899). In revivals, she played Amelie in The Grand Duchess of Gerolstein (1897–98), and Vittoria in The Gondoliers (1898). In mid-1899, she toured with the company in Haddon Hall, probably in the role of Deborah. She then returned to the Savoy until March 1900, playing the larger role of the Plaintiff in Trial by Jury (1899) and originating the substantial part of Scent-of-Lilies in The Rose of Persia (1899–1900).

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