Alfred James Phasey (19 February 1834 – 18 August 1888) was a British bandsman and tenor brass artist in the mid-nineteenth century. As a euphonium player, he was cited as the master of the instrument in his time. Life Alfred J. Phasey was born in Pimlico on 19 February 1834 based on the records of the Royal Military Academy at Chelsea. He was the son of Pte. Thomas Phasey of the Grenadier Guards 1st Foot Guards. On 12 September 1839, at the age of 5 years 7 months, he was enrolled in the Duke of York's Royal Military Academy at Chelsea. This was an early age for enrollment in this boarding school and in his biography of Phasey, John Roberts speculates that this might have been due to the death of his mother with his father being unable, due to commitments to the service, to raise him alone. He would remain at the RMA beyond his 14th year, the customary age at which students then enlisted in the service, not leaving until 12 February 1849, when he enlisted in the band of the Coldstream Guards. He would play Ophicleide and trombone before baritone and eventually euphonium under bandmaster Charles Godfrey. In 1853, as the baritone/euphonium voice became accepted in military and popular bands for the first time, Cadwallader Thomas became bandmaster of the Coldstream Guards. Phasey, in addition to finding a new instrument to play, euphonium, found a wife in Miss Elizabeth Hall. She was the daughter of John and niece of T.Hall, a watchmaker who had become the town band leader in her hometown of Banbury. She was two years his senior when they married in 1854. They had three sons. The oldest, Alfred Jr., played euphonium with the Gilmore Band in the United States and ultimately assumed his father's many musical responsibilities upon the elder Phasey's death. Son Handel Phasey was also a euphonium player. In 1859 or 1860, Alfred Phasey joined the faculty of the new Kneller Hall school, but was forced by his many other commitments to relinquish that post after only a few years. As a soloist, bandmaster and performer, he was very active in the London music scene and well known. In 1887, Elizabeth Phasey died. Alfred began relinquishing assignments due to poor health in 1888 and died at Chester on 18 August 1888. Euphonium In eulogizing Alfred Phasey, The British Bandsman credited him