Wotton, William Bale

1832-

English bassoon-player and first performer in England on the saxophone; he was born at Torquay in Devonshire. At the age of thirteen he entered the band of the First Life Guards, of which his father was corporal-major. He could play the bassoon and cornet and learned the bassoon under John Hardy. He studied orchestral playing at the Royal Academy under Charles Lucas. He left the Life Guards in 1886 and became a member of the Crystal Palace orchestra. He has also played in the orchestras of the Philharmonic, Albert Hall and many others. He was made professor of the bassoon at the Royal College of Music.