The circus – it’s one of those things you either love or hate isn’t it? Me, I love it, ever since I was a small boy in the 1950s visiting the Bertram Mills Circus. I was fascinated by it all, especially by Coco the Clown, who became my childhood hero. But the circus isn’t only about garishly painted clowns, leotards and spangled tights. It has a rich tradition with an intriguing history and many families may have circus performers hidden among their ancestors. I often give talks on the history of the circus and I’m amazed how many people tell me about their Great Uncle George who ran away to the circus, or their Aunt Mabel who became a tight-rope walker. Indeed, one of my own fifth cousins (sharing a 4x great grandfather) married into a comedy acrobatic troupe named the Leopold Brothers, who performed in circuses and music halls. I found my relatives in the entertainment industry newspaper The Stage, which is available on the British Newspaper Archive.
Many circus skills are rooted in ancient folk cultures, but it was not until the arrival of Philip Astley that the circus as we know it today began to develop. Philip was a retired sergeant-major of horse, who had served with distinction during the Seven Years War. On his return to England, he acquired a piece of land named ‘Halfpenny Hatch’ on the south bank of the Thames; the site is now largely covered by Waterloo Station. Here, in 1768, he pegged out a circular ‘ride’ and began to give demonstrations of trick riding. An imposing figure, resplendent in his full military uniform, astride his white charger named Gibraltar, he would parade around the streets announcing the forthcoming attractions.
His natural showmanship and business acumen created a growing popularity and it was not long before he was earning over 40 guineas a day, a significant amount of money for the period and equivalent to more than £2,500 today. Philip was ambitious. He went on to obtain another piece of land near Westminster bridge, now sited under St Thomas’s Hospital, and built a sheltered arena that he named Astley’s New Riding House. By 1780, this was fully roofed and popularly known just as Astley’s. There were to be two disastrous fires, in 1796 and again in 1803, but each time it was rebuilt and became ever more popular. Charles Dickens gives us a colourful description in his 1840 novel The Old Curiosity Shop:
“Dear, dear, what a place it looked, that Astley’s; with all the paint, gilding and looking-glass; the vague smell of horses suggestive of coming wonders; the curtain that hid such gorgeous mysteries; the clean white sawdust down in the circus… the clown who ventured on such familiarities with the military man in boots –the lady who jumped over the nine-and-twenty ribbons and came down safe upon the horse’s back – everything was delightful, splendid and surprising!”
Philip Astley expanded his shows to include a clown named Fortunelly, an Italian strong-man named Colpi and a troupe of tumblers who would create a human pyramid. He had brought together performers and a paying audience in a dedicated performance space; the circus had been born. Fame and popularity breed rivals, and it was not long before Charles Hughes established his own amphitheatre in London, which he called the Royal Circus. It is Charles who actually must be credited for giving us the word ‘circus’ for this type of entertainment.
By the early 1800s, many towns and cities across the United Kingdom had their own Amphitheatre with circus style performances. Philip Astley travelled to France and established an amphitheatre in Paris and Charles Hughes travelled across Europe as far as Russia, establishing amphitheatres there. In 1792 John Bill Ricketts, a partner in the Circus Royal in Edinburgh, moved to the newly formed United States of America with his own equestrian company and built his first ‘circus’ in Philadelphia. He spent seven years touring America and is credited with being the founder of the American circus. The most famous American circuses of the 19th century were the Ringling Brothers and the Barnum & Bailey circuses, which later combined to become ‘The Greatest Show on Earth’ and ran for 146 years before finally closing in January 2017. If you know that your circus ancestor worked for either of these circuses, then The Ringling website has an archive request form. From simple demonstrations of trick riding in London the circus was now spreading throughout the world.
By the time of Philip Astley’s death in Paris in 1814, there were several prominent performers and the most famous was perhaps Andrew Ducrow. The son of a Belgian strong-man, Ducrow first began performing at Astley’s with his father’s troupe when he was only four years old. Wearing close-fitting flesh-coloured body stockings they were the ‘Chippendales’ of their day and were certainly a hit with the ladies! He became a skilled equestrian and later the manager of Astley’s.
Wearing close-fitting flesh-coloured body stockings they were the ‘Chippendales’ of their day
The circus became very popular during the Victorian era and many groups toured throughout the UK. Among the well known circus owners of the time was the exotically named Pablo Fanque. Born William Darby in Norwich, little is known about his early life except that his father was African-born and had been
in service. By 1835, Pablo was taking top billing with Batty’s Circus and later established a circus of his own. He became the first black circus owner in the UK, if not the world.
The growth in popularity of the circus saw the rise of the female performer. Before the time of Astley it had been very much a male-dominated business but now the circus allowed women to perform on equal terms with men and, in some cases, to outdo them. Some became household names, some were celebrities in their own right, some were divas, and some were simply outrageous.
Patty Jones, Astley’s wife, performed on horseback alongside her husband. Madame Saqui, a French tight-rope walker, captivated early 19th century audiences in London so much that she became a cult figure; women dressed á la Saqui and her image appeared on chocolate box lids. Adah Isaacs Menken, otherwise known as La Belle Menken, scandalised British audiences in 1864 when she arrived from America and performed at Astley’s on horseback, dressed in very little clothing at all. She also openly smoked, cut her hair short and wore what seemed to be alarmingly short dresses for the period. Vulcana, the Welsh-born strong-woman, promoted the virtues of female health and fitness. They were all strong-minded women who challenged and sought to change male perceptions of womanhood. Some were politically minded, others not, but by their actions they became part of the vanguard for women’s rights and emancipation.
The circus world was not immune to tragedy. Pablo Fanque lost his first wife in a disastrous gallery collapse in his circus in Leeds in 1848. In 1863, a Madame Genevieve fell from her tight-rope and died at a festival in Aston, Birmingham. ‘Lord’ George Sanger, a favourite of Queen Victoria, was later murdered by an employee in 1911. In 1931, the famous American aerialist Lillian Leitzel died of injuries received in a fall during a performance in Denmark.
The popularity of the circus began to decline towards the end of the 19th century. The growth of the music halls drew audiences away from the circus and many performers also switched to performing on stage. If you know the name of your performing ancestor and believe that they may have worked the halls, then the British Music Hall Society website would be a good place to start your research. The early cinema and growing popularity of sporting events also had an effect upon the circus. But it was the events of the First World War that hit the circus really hard. Not only did it take the men away but it also took the horses, both as cavalry mounts or as draft animals. A high ranking officer was recorded as saying that the best cavalry mount was a circus-trained horse, as it knew how to respond to commands. During this time many smaller circuses closed.
The period between the wars was a fallow time for the circus. Although Bertram Mills had opened his circus in the early 1920s it was not until the 1930s that he became really popular with his yearly shows in London’s Olympia. By the end of the Second World War, the circus was on the rise again. The Chipperfields had survived and Billy Smart opened his circus in the mid-1940s. Now the industry
was to be dominated by these three giants and continued to be so until the 1970s, when social attitudes caused another dip in popularity.
But the circus is growing in popularity once more; people are returning to the circus. With the permanent circus venues at Blackpool and Great Yarmouth; the National Centre for Circus Arts and other circus training schools; Community Circuses and the many Youth Circus Groups around the country, we are witnessing a resurgent interest in the circus.