'Marjorie Florence Lawrence (1907-1979), dramatic soprano, was born on 17 February 1907 at Dean's Marsh, near Winchelsea, Victoria, fifth of six children of William Lawrence, butcher and fiddler, and his wife Elizabeth, née Smith, church organist, who died when Marjorie was 2. Reared by her paternal grandmother until she too died, Marjorie was educated at local schools; from the age of 10 she was a regular soloist. Her musical tastes were refined by the local Anglican parson and gramophone records of Nellie Melba and Clara Butt. At 18, despite her father's opposition, she left for Melbourne with her brother Cyril in search of work, paying Ivor Boustead to train her voice—she never had to unlearn anything he taught. Forced home by impecuniousness, she failed to gain a place in the Ballarat South Street competitions, but at Geelong in 1928 won the Sun Aria contest.' (Source: Australian Dictionary of Biography online)
