Frederick Nicholls Crouch

Who was Frederick Nicholls Crouch?

Frederick Nicholls Crouch was an English composer and cellist.

Crouch was born in Marylebone in London. He emigrated to the United States in 1849 and settled in Richmond, Virginia. During the Civil War, Crouch took up arms and played the trumpet for the Confederacy.

Crouch was noted as a fine cellist, having played in the King's Theatre as well as St Paul's Cathedral in London, before coming to the United States, but the majority of his compositions were not successful. His most famous song is "Kathleen Mavourneen".

During his years in the United States, Crouch composed two operas and unsuccessfully tried various musical undertakings. Well traveled after the Civil War, Crouch eventually settled in Baltimore, Maryland.

Emma Elizabeth Crouch, the second daughter of his first marriage, became known in Second Empire France as the courtesan Cora Pearl.