Belville Robert Pepper

Cast list of Trial by Jury in a programme from April 1875: Pepper is the Associate. Belville Robert Pepper (October 1850 – September 1888) was a bass-baritone known for creating the role of the Usher in the first production of Trial by Jury in 1875 at the Royalty Theatre in London. the youngest of three children born to Sarah née Carden (1824–1869) and Montague Pepper (1821–1854), a wood carver and gilder. Following his father's death in 1854, Pepper was sent as a boarder or "inmate" in the St Marylebone Parochial Schools. His mother died in his teens.

Pepper was a professional vocalist in the early 1870s and appeared with a company in Great Yarmouth in 1870. and then to the non-singing role of the Associate in April 1875. At the same time Pepper was playing the small roles of the Usher and the Second Notary in Offenbach's La Perichole, which was the main attraction that Trial by Jury was supporting at the Royalty, and he also played the Porter in The Secret, a farce on the same bill during the run. Pepper appears to have left the Royalty in June 1875. From March to August 1878 he was sharing the role of the Foreman in Trial by Jury, in a touring company managed by D'Oyly Carte, as part of the first touring production of The Sorcerer. and in 1882 he sang the role of Vanderprout in a touring production of Offenbach's Geneviève de Brabant.