John Sheeles

SHEELES, John. b. 1695?  (baptised St Mary Magdalene, Lincoln, 11 April). Next to nothing is known about his life, except that he was for a time the in-house composer at the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, London. He composed and published songs and harpsichord music, and in 1742 published The Skylark: A Collection of All the Divine Odes and Hymns Taken Out of The Spectators Set to Musick by Mr Sheeles. One of the dedicatees, Lady Mary Bertie, paid £3 16s. 6d. for ‘Mr Sheeles Musick’ on 17 July 1742, according to family papers in the Lincolnshire Record Office. The seven tunes are engraved for voice and figured bass, and are in an up-to-date, not to say fashionable, style that won them a...