St George B. Crozier

Of Scottish-Irish parentage, he had arrived in Canada by the time of the 1837-8 rebellion. He served as bandmaster of the 68th Regiment, and later the 93rd Foot or Highlanders. In the early 1840s he lived in Toronto; a few years later he was stationed in Ireland, England and the Mediterranean. In 1846 A. & S. Nordheimer issued his quick march Those Evening Bells, one of the publisher's earliest Canadian compositions. In 1855 Crozier led an orchestra in Hamilton in a program which included Haydn's ' Surprise' Symphony (or part of it); in this period he also held the position of inspector of revenue in that city. In 1858 he participated in several Toronto concerts, conducting the Metropolitan Choral Society on one occasion. In 1860 he settled in Belleville, Upper Canada (Ontario) as a music teacher. He was also the first bandmaster of the 15th Battalion band. About 1866 he retired from the militia with the rank of captain. In 1871 he was appointed organist at St Andrew's Church in Belleville and music director of Albert College. The following year he was certified as a D MUS 'ad eundem gradum' by Victoria U, Cobourg, Ont. According to his obituary he had taken the degree 'at one of the leading conservatories' in the USA 'with high honours'. Late in the 1870s the Nordheimer Co published his Nor'West Mounted Police Waltzes. Crozier appears to have remained a resident of Belleville for the rest of his life. In 1886 he was a vice-president of the Canadian Society of Musicians. His brother Thomas Charles Crozier was active in Toronto in the 1840s as bandmaster and composer of 'Le songe de Crozier' (Nordheimer 1846) and 'Les jolies filles du Canada' (Nordheimer 1848).