A Dictionary of Music and Musicians/Beale, William

by William H. Husk

BEALE, William, was born at Landrake Jan. 1, 1784, and brought up as a chorister of Westminster Abbey under Dr. Arnold and Robert Cooke. In 1813 he gained by his madrigal, 'Awake, sweet muse,' the prize cup given by the Madrigal Society. He published in 1820 a collection of his glees and madrigals. On the title-page of his madrigal 'What ho! what ho!' published in 1816, he is styled 'Gentⁿ, of His Majesty's Chapels Royal,' an appointment he never held. He gained a prize at the Adelphi Glee Club in 1840. He died in London on the 3rd of May, 1854. [App. p.533 adds "After the breaking of his voice he served as a midshipman on board the Révolutionnaire, a 44-gun frigate, which had been taken from the French. From Jan. 30, 1816, to Dec. 13, 1820, he was one of the Gentlemen of the Chapel Royal. In November of the latter year he had been appointed organist of Trinity College, Cambridge. In Dec. 1821 he returned to London, and became successively organist of Wandsworth Parish Church and St. John's, Clapham Rise. (Dict. of National Biography.)"]

[ W. H. H. ]