Frances "Fanny" Moody was an operatic soprano of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, billed as 'The Cornish Nightingale'. In 1898 with her husband, the bass Charles Manners, she formed the Moody-Manners Opera Company, dedicated to presenting opera in English. The Moody-Manners company performed in London, the British provinces, North America and South Africa, with Moody often in the leading soprano roles, from 1898 to 1916.
Fanny Moody as a girl – photographed by her father
Plaque in Redruth to James Hawke Moody and Fanny Moody
Moody (top left) as Tatyana in the British premiere of Eugene Onegin, illustration from The Graphic, October 1892
Moody as Marguerite in Faust
Charles Manners was a British bass singer and opera company manager. His earliest performances were with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company, first as a chorus member and then as a principal, creating the role of Private Willis in Iolanthe in 1882. After leaving D'Oyly Carte the following year, he sang with several opera companies, most notably the Carl Rosa Opera Company and Covent Garden. In 1898, he and his wife, the singer Fanny Moody, set up their own company, dedicated to presenting opera in English.
Charles Manners and Alice Barnett in Iolanthe, 1882
Manners circa 1900