James Lyon was an operatic composer so far as music was concerned almost entirely self taught (he went however to Oxford and became a Mus Doc of that university in 1905). He himself later taught at Bantock's Birmingham and Midland Institute and also at St Michael's College Tenbury, King Edward's School, Warwick and Trinity College London. He examined and adjudicated widely. He wrote two books for students: A Practical Guide to the Modern Orchestra (Musicians' Library, 1912) and The Elements of Harmony (Banks 1920). He died in Australia on 25 August 1949