Born in
Sheffield, Aldous began his career as the organist at the chapel of the British Embassy in Paris. In 1876, he earned his BA in Trinity College. He emigrated to Canada in 1877 at the age of 23 to assume the post of organist-choirmaster at
Central Presbyterian Church in
Hamilton, Ontario. He left there a few years later to assume a succession of similar church posts, first in
St. Thomas, Ontario and then in Hamilton at St Mark's and St Thomas' churches. In 1884 he returned to Central Presbyterian where he remained for several years. Aldous founded the Hamilton Orchestral Club, one of the city's earliest orchestras, in 1884, serving as the ensemble's first conductor. From 1882 to 1885 he served as the head of the music program at
Brantford Ladies' College and from 1885 to 1888 he worked in the same capacity at
Woodstock Baptist College. In 1898 he founded the
Hamilton School of Music, serving as the school's first director from 1889 to 1908. He also taught on the faculty of the
Royal Hamilton College of Music of which he became co-director with
Bruce Carey and
W. H. Hewlett in 1907. His notable pupils included
Mona Bates and
Ada Kent. In 1890 Aldous became the conductor of the Hamilton Philharmonic Society after the departure of
Clarence Lucas. In 1894 he was appointed president of the
Canadian Society of Musicians and in 1896 he became an examiner at the
University of Toronto. He also contributed articles to the ''
Organist's Quarterly Journal and The Violin'' during his career. He died in 1934 in Hamilton at the age of 80. ==References==