Lucelle Stuart Benstead was an Australian opera singer and performer. She also claimed to be the first European child born in Stuart ; although it was in fact her elder sister Queenie who died in infancy'''
Early life
Lucelle Benstead was born in 1891 when her parents William and Triphenia Benstead who at that time leased the Stuart Arms Hotel in Alice Springs where they publicly presented her on 5 February 1891. Later that year, and after tiring of the Stuart Arms Hotel and the prospects of the Arltunga Goldfields, the family moved to Coolgardie where, amongst a number of other activities, the musically talented family entertained the people on the mining fields. In Coolgardie Benstead trained with Mrs Jack Wilson and, with her regular performances helped the town be recognised as the '...musical centre of the goldfields''''. In 1907, the 'Coolgardie Lulu Benstead Continental Musical Education Fund Committee' was set up to raise money for further musical education for her and, to support her talent, her whole family moved to England in 1910 to help her further her career. Using the money raised she traveled to Berlin and Paris.
Career
Once living in Europe Benstead rose to the top of her profession and she often topped the bill at the London Palladium and sang extensively in Paris, Vienna, Milan, America and Canada under the newly adopted professional name 'Lucille'. Some of her most popular songs, that she introduced and where written for her, are: "The Bells of St. Mary's", "God send you back to me", "My Curly Headed Baby", "The Long, Long Trail", "The Perfect Day" and "Chloe". According to Jose Petrick, Benstead's personal favourite song was "Stay In Your Own Backyard". She also sang to troops in both World Wars throughout Germany, France, Holland and the Middle East and, during this time, she often experienced great personal discomfort. Following the height of her fame she gave singing lessons in London for her last 30 years, almost until her death, aged 92.
