Vicar of Bray in 1892; and John Manners in Haddon Hall later that year. Pounds left the D'Oyly Carte company in 1892. He appeared in another West End management, as Vincent in Ma mie Rosette, by Lacome and Ivan Caryll (1892). In mid-1893, Pounds produced his own company touring an "operatic triple bill" in which he played roles in each piece: Harry Croyland in the operetta The Lass that Loved a Sailor, by Bond Andrews to a libretto by Neville Doone; Harry Hamper in the vaudeville The Burglar and the Bishop, by Wellesley Batson to a libretto by J. Jocelyn Coghill; and Charley Dacre in Helen of Troy Up to Date; or, The Statue Shop, by John Crook to a farcical, pantomimic libretto by Wilton Jones. He brought with him on this tour several D'Oyly Carte colleagues, including Pounds's romantic partner, Millicent Pyne. Pounds returned to the West End as Ange Pitout in La fille de Madame Angot (1893); Connor Kennedy in Haydn Parry's Miami (1893); and Mark Mainstay in Howard Talbot's Wapping Old Stairs (1894). Returning to D'Oyly Carte in 1894, Pounds played Picorin in Mirette and created the role of Count Vasquez de Gonzago in The Chieftain late in 1894. The Morning Post described him in this role as "the jeune premier par excellence of the operatic stage." In 1895 he went on tour briefly with D'Oyly Carte as Picorin, Vasquez, and the Rev. Henry Sandford before leaving D'Oyly Carte again. He then travelled to Australia, appearing in the first half of 1896 with J. C. Williamson's opera company in Yeomen, The Gondoliers, Miss Decima, The Vicar of Bray and Ma Mie Rosette. Musicals, operetta and Shakespeare clowns In June 1896, Pounds returned to Britain. He toured as Mr. Shepherd in the musical comedy Belinda during the latter part of that year, and briefly played in music hall in January 1897, appearing at the Palace Theatre of Varieties. He also sang in concert at St. James's Hall with Marie Tempest and Ben Davies. In February, Pounds returned to the West End, playing Lancelot in Edmond Audran's La Poupée, which ran until September 1898. Lancelot, a comic role, marked the beginning of Pounds's transition from juvenile leads to character and comedy parts in both straight and musical theatre. This was succeeded by two more comic operas, both by Justin Clérice: The Royal Star, in which Pounds played Jack Horton,