Writer, librettist, lyricist, composer, actor, and businessman.
Bert Royle was born in England. During his early working life, he was employed in the office of Lloyd's in London, while spending his spare hours involved in the theatre. He eventually turned to the stage as a profession. In 1888, he arrived in Australia to join the Beefeater chorus in Williamson, Garner and Musgrove's first Australian production of Yeoman of the Guard (Melbourne). Royle later accepted a position with J. C. Williamson as his literary secretary. When Williamson and Musgrove found themselves in dire financial straits in 1895, they put the last of their capital into the pantomime Djin Djin. Williamson co-wrote the book with Royle. It was a huge success and toured for months across Australia and New Zealand, saving the firm from ruin.
Royle went to New Zealand in 1898 as Williamson and Musgrove's representative, replacing Gratton Riggs. One of his roles was to oversee the productions being staged by Tom Pollard, to which the company had the Australasian rights. An agreement had been reached some time previously, allowing Pollard to produce Williamson and Musgrove productions in New Zealand and elsewhere in the Antipodes. He also travelled with the Pollard troupe for almost four years and, in 1899, wrote the libretto for their musical comedy Saucy Susie.
Sometime around 1901-1902, Royle set up a permanent office for J. C. Williamson's Ltd in Wellington. Here, he arranged and supervised all the company's New Zealand tours. He continued as the firm's representative in that country until his death in 1929.
Among his other credits are the lyrics to a number of songs, including 'I've Chucked Up the Push for the Donah' (1892), with music by E. J. 'Teddy' Lonnen, and 'Too Late We Meet' (1901), with music by Arthur King. 'I've Chucked up the Push for the Donah' was revived almost thirty years later as one of the songs performed during the 1919/1920 New Zealand exhibition of Raymond Longford's film The Sentimental Bloke.
