Ethel Edith Bilsland

Ethel Edith Bilsland (20 January 1892 – 2 November 1982) was an English composer, soprano and pianist. Born in Plumstead, Kent, she was the younger daughter of James Bilsland and Mary Ann Moore. She was already performing and composing by 1911. Mackenzie conducted a performance of her Adagio and Scherzo for piano and orchestra at the Queen’s Hall in June 1912. In 1912 she won the Charles Lucas Medal, awarded for the finale of her Symphony. Three years later a Serenade for string quartet and piano was reviewed in The Music Student. And in 1915 her music was included in a Society of Women Composers concert of chamber music, alongside music by Katherine Eggar, Liza Lehmann and Marion Scott. In 1920 she married Walter Baley, proprietor of the Lord Derby public house opposite Woolwich Arsenal in Plumstead. They had two children, Margaret (1926 – 2006) and John (1928 – 2021). She continued to develop her own career after her marriage: for instance, she performed as a singer in the 1923 Proms season, and for the 1925/6 season was signed by agents Ibbs and Tillett. However, in 1932 her husband died and she had to support the upbringing of her children alone, leaving little time for composi