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Hi Tony,
Currently I am investigating minstrelsy in the US and Australia in the 19th century. I realise that this comes out of the blue, but I have some information on JC Rainer that you may like to know.
I can confirm that JC Rainer was a blackface performer in the US from the early 1840s. Before that, I do not know. He performed with a group known as the Buckley's Serenaders (who also performed under the names The Congo Serenaders, The New orleans Serenaders, and The Ethiopian Serenaders). With this troupe he struck up a close friendship with the troupe's manager (and performer), Samuel S Sanford. In the late 1850s Sanford became one of the wealthiest performers in the US. Rainer and Sanford kept in sporadic contact after he came to Australia, and in Sanford's unpublished manuscript (at the University of Texas) he mentions Rainer several times. In 1846 the troupe performed at the White House for the President James K Polk and the statesman (and later president) Henry Clay. The President was apparently so happy that he gave the troupe leader - Fred Buckley - a diamond ring. Sanford's manuscript provides many anecdotes. One of which involves the troupe performing in Vicksburg, where a drunken man beleived the performers to be truly black. The drunken man stood, leveled his revolver at the group, shouted some obscenities and fired. The ball grazed Rainer's head, very nearly killing him. The troupe escaped, the drunk was arrested, and the show continued.
The Ethiopian Serenaders, including Sanford and Rainer, certainly did travel to England during 1847-48, playing in Liverpool, Dublin and Glasgow (perhaps even in Paris and Germany). They performed at various times for Queen Victoria and her children (succesfully toning down their jokes), and the Duke of Wellington. They also performed along with Charles Dickens at an orphan's benefit night. From all accounts, the troupe was tremendously successful in England. Upon their return to the US (they often toured from New York to New Orleans), Rainer was arranging music and was known as a tenor of some repute. Sanford left the Buckleys and set up his own troupe in Philadelphia, which Rainer joined. However, Rainer left after a few years to form his own troupe (mainly due to Sanford having another very talented composer named Nelson Kneass in his employ). Rainer played to the dissolving West Coast gold rush crowds before travelling to Australia (and I gather you know the story from there). I know that the Tasmanian state library has a copy of "Old Folks at Home" arranged by Rainer, which is available in pdf online.
Best of luck in your research.
Sincerely,
Ben.
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