Nielsen Hayden genealogy

Richard Dyer-Bennet

Male 1913 - 1991  (78 years)


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  • Name Richard Dyer-Bennet 
    Birth 6 Oct 1913  Leicester, Leicestershire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Gender Male 
    Death 14 Dec 1991  Monterey, Berkshire, Massachusetts Find all individuals with events at this location  [1
    Siblings 1 sibling 
    Person ID I30258  Ancestry of PNH, TNH, and others
    Last Modified 11 Sep 2020 

    Father Maj. Richard Stewart Dyer-Bennet,   b. 6 Oct 1886, The Lyons, Enville, Staffordshire, England Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 1983 (Age 96 years) 
    Mother Miriam Wolcott Clapp,   b. 10 Nov 1890, Jacksonville, Morgan, Illinois Find all individuals with events at this locationd. 30 May 1973, Alameda, Alameda, California Find all individuals with events at this location (Age 82 years) 
    Marriage 17 Feb 1912  Christchurch, Hampshire, England Find all individuals with events at this location  [2, 3, 4
    Divorce 1955  [5
    Family ID F10343  Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  • Notes 
    • From Britannica.com (accessed 11 Sep 2020):

      Richard Dyer-Bennet, (born October 6, 1913, Leicester, Leicestershire, England—died December 14, 1991, Monterey, Massachusetts, U.S.), British-born American tenor and guitarist who helped to revive the popularity of folk music through his concert performances, recordings, compositions, and teaching.

      Though born in England, Dyer-Bennet grew up in Canada and California and attended the University of California at Berkeley (1932–35), where he studied English and music. (He became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1935.) After visiting Swedish folklorist Sven Scholander in 1935, Dyer-Bennet adopted Scholander’s trinity of song interpretation—poetry, melody, and lute accompaniment. In 1944, though, he switched to the Spanish guitar and gave the first of what would become annual solo concerts at New York City’s Town Hall; the impresario Sol Hurok signed him for national and foreign tours for many years. He gained a cult following with his approximately 800 songs (including about 100 of his own composition) that ranged through British and French ballads, European medieval songs, Swedish shepherd tunes, and American cowboy songs. Curiously, though identified as a folk singer, he preferred the label minstrel or troubadour.

      Dyer-Bennet stopped giving concerts after a stroke in 1972 limited use of his left hand. From 1970 to 1983 he taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook.

  • Sources 
    1. [S35] Encyclopedia Britannica.

    2. [S2176] Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, 107th edition, ed. Charles Mosley. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 2003., date only.

    3. [S297] England & Wales, FreeBMD birth, marriage, and death indexes, 1837-1915, on ancestry.com., place only.

    4. [S2419] Wolcott Genealogy: The Family of Henry Wolcott, One of the First Settlers of Windsor, Connecticut by Chandler Wolcott. Rochester, New York: The Genesee Press, 1912., date only.

    5. [S2176] Burke's Peerage, Baronetage, and Knightage, 107th edition, ed. Charles Mosley. Wilmington, Delaware: Burke's Peerage (Genealogical Books) Ltd., 2003.