Philip Michael Faraday

Philip Michael Faraday (1 January 1875 – 6 February 1944) was an English lawyer, surveyor, composer, organist and theatrical producer. He composed one of the last Savoy operas, staged several long-running shows in the West End of London, and wrote a book about local taxation that was for many years the standard work on the subject. After sustaining financial losses on shows that he produced in the 1910s, Faraday declared bankruptcy in 1914. In later years, however, he rebuilt his fortune through his legal and valuation work and resumed theatrical production.

Faraday was born in Upper Holloway, London, the youngest of five children of Charles Adkins Faraday (1835–1913) and his wife Maria nee Bragg (1836–1930). He married Elizabeth Mary Gale (1872–1950) in 1900, and the couple had four children: Stanley Michael (1902–1942), Yolande (b. 1904), Thelma (b. 1907) and Katharine Miriam.

Faraday first came to public notice in his capacity as a lawyer and valuation expert. In 1896, at the age of 21, he published Rating: Principles, Practice, Procedure, a study of local property tax. This work became the standard book on its subject; there were three new editions in Faraday's lifetime and a further edition seven years after his death, revised by Sir Arthur Comyns Carr and others. Faraday published other papers early in his career.

Alongside his work as a specialist in property valuation, Faraday began to compose songs and light operas. His songs include "Little princess, look up!" (1906), "Lovely woman" (1907), "I love somebody" (1910), "Jack the handy Man" (1910), "Maid o' mine" (1910) and "The Orphan Ward" (1910). With the librettist Frederick Fenn, he composed Amāsis; or An Egyptian Princess, a comic opera that opened in August 1906 at the New Theatre. Fenn's libretto was rated above average, and The Times said of Faraday, "He has a sense of humour, and uses his orchestra ingeniously and artistically; his melodies are nearly always individual, sometimes extremely pleasant, and always well scored and supported."The English Illustrated Magazine wrote, "Mr. Faraday's work is admirable throughout, perhaps a trifle too reminiscent at times, and often very suggestive of Sir Arthur Sullivan's work in this field ... but it is imaginative and vigorous." The cast included two popular former stars of the Gilbert and Sullivan operas, Ruth Vincent and Rutland Barrington. It ran for 200 performances, transferring to the Criterion Theatre during the run. After it closed in London, the production was taken on tour.

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