George Wombwell never stops surprising me!

I recently uncovered some interesting information about George Wombwell. It seems he has been married ‘twice’. Actually, it is only once, but evidence exists that George was married prior to his partnership with Anne Morgan (nee Wombwell). I just have to follow up on that information when I have time to confirm. If anyone is already aware then please let us know. It is claimed he married a Mary Sim (or Sims) in 1800 at St Giles Church, London. Exactly what happened to that marriage, if it did take place is still a mystery and to whether there were any children! Any help appreciated.

Artefacts: ‘Consul the Intelligent Chimpanzee’

The ‘Almost Human’ Chimpanzee ‘Consul’ is shown in this postcard as a ‘pupil’ of Frank Bostock’s Jungle. However, since the original ‘Consul’ died several years before 1908, it actually shows Frank Bostock’s skills in promoting profitable acts even after their death! The original ‘Consul’ performed at Bostock’s Coney Island arena in New York, USA before coming to Europe to tour in 1904. He died shortly after his arrival in Europe. Bostock though, had several replacements lined up all billed as ‘Consul’!

From an old article (undated):

The performing chimpanzee Consul, which was regarded as the smartest monkey in the world, has died in Berlin. The chimpanzee was insured for £20,000. [An English paper has the following with reference to the chimpanzee: — “A living argument for Darwin’s theory is to be found in America in Consul, the chimpanzee, which is one of the central attractions of Bostock’s Animal Arena. This queer little man-like monkey lives like a gentleman. He rises at the sound of the gong at ten o’clock in the morning. After he has discarded his light blue silk pyjamas he takes his morning tub… Just before be retires at 11.30 pm he takes a pint of hot chocolate for a nightcap. Consul’s nearness to the human family is shown in his appreciation of stimulants and his fondness for cigars and cigarettes. He would sell his birthright if he had the opportunity, for a bottle of whisky. The very sight of it brings forth a grin from ear to ear. A full account of Consul’s daily doings would be a mere catalogue of all the things that other gentlemen do. He sleeps in a bed, stretches and yawns. He brushes his teeth and combs his hair, carefully parting it in the middle. He dresses and undresses himself and shows partiality for certain combinations of dress. He also mends his clothes, washes them, and   hangs them out to dry. He plays football, boxes like Fitzimmons and can carry a 30 lb weight while walking erect. Consul rides a bicycle. He is the only animal known who has succeeded in getting on and retaining the momentum of the bicycle. He is an expert chauffeur, and owns a handsome electric motor car.  He uses a typewriter and writes his name boldly.  His intelligence is marvellously suggestive”.]The Capricornian

I remember London Zoo holding daily Chimpanzee tea parties. I certainly attended one (as visitor!) during the school trip around 1958. They eventually died out given the rise of the Animal Rights movement and public opinion. That did not stop PG Tips from using Chimpanzees in their advertisements well into the 1960s in Britain.

Artefacts: Further items added to the Collection

George Wombwell menagerie ‘fostered’ many talented showmen, performers, trainers, etc. One such showman was James Chittock’s father, originally an apprentice baker in Norwich, and at 18 left to become an animal trainer with George Wombwell’s Menagerie. He stayed the next 20 years! When that show dispersed, he began on his own with, rather strangely, performing canaries, hares and ponies. James was born in 1841 and brought up in the business and was well known by George Wombwell. When old enough, James left his family, married, and travelled with his own show. James and his shows are described in the text Travelling Cinematograph Show by Kevin Scrivens and Stephen Smith.

Brief Excerpt:

In “TheShowman”  he was described as being from one of the “oldest and most representative families of the aristocracy of the road.” His first show featured his famous troupe of performing dogs and monkeys, considered the best travelling. It opened at the Agricultural Hall, Islington, each winter for over 30 years, and rarely travelled far from the London area. On seeing the success Randall Williams was having with his Cinematograph at the World’s Fair in 1896, James Chittock invested £500 and began to show moving pictures using a projector acquired from R.W. Paul, his first show being at a fair in Birmingham in 1897. He claimed that so popular was the new enterprise that he netted, in coppers, £40 a day.

The following rare photograph shows James Chittock’s Dog and Monkeys show entrance, probably prior to 1897, the year he turned his attention to the newly invented Cinematograph. (The rear of the card states ‘@FPS Chittock’s animal show. 1885.’)
The Chittocks are also related through marriage to the Chipperfield family.

Artefacts: More New Items Added

This card shows a tableau with Indra the Elephant as the main attraction. Tableaus containing exotic animals were popular around 1908, the year of the Earl’s Court Exhibition, London.

 

 

 

 

 

A souvenir postcard from one of Frank Bostock’s Jungle appearances. Artist unknown to date.

A card, also from Frank Bostock’s Jungle tours. It can be dated to 1908.

 

 

 

 

The rear view of the above card, showing Bostock’s enterprising use of associated advertising.

Artefacts: New Items in Possession

It has been a while since I published anything. However, I have been very busy researching travelling menageries. I am currently conducting a research project at the University of London on the subject of early travelling menageries and associated visual culture. That’s why I have not published articles here. It has uncovered a wealth of information and that will keep me going for several years I think! One day, I hope to announce that we can say we ‘know’ the early history of George Wombwell the menagerist. Included in this will be an account of the so called ‘Warwick Dog Fight’. I have some surprises in store for you all on that subject! Right now, I have to concentrate on the matters in hand.

A postcard sized coloured advert for Barnham and Sanger outfits (1882)

I have also been busy collecting items associated with the subject and also with early circuses like Sanger’s. Below is the first batch of items that will, in due course be added to the research website. A short description is attached to each item. Sometimes I have to rely on the originator’s description which may not be 100% accurate. As always, higher resolution images have been stored.The card shows Barham, Sanger and Hutchinson together with a procession including the Lion Queen on the elephant from Sanger’s outfit (his wife Ellen). Eventually, after about 1880 the Barnum outfit became known as Barnum & Bailey’s. The original poster would represent some time between 1881-1887 after which date Hutchinson retired. His main job was as booking agent and he had worked for Van Amburg’s some time during the 1870s.

The postcard is much later of course and some ‘granny’ must have received it hand delivered!

 

 

 

This undated card is thought to be from Paris.

 

 

This card shows a ‘Black Comic Parade’ and is marked 1904. Its origin is not yet known.

The card was sent from Brussels during 1904 or it may be 1922-23. I’m no philatelist! Research is required to place this troupe in the history of entertainment and identity studies.

 

 

 

 

Here is another cracking image from the Goose Fair in Nottingham showing Bostock and Wombwell’s presence in the centre of the city during the early 1900s. Note the juxtaposition between the outfit and the statue of Queen Victoria, fascinating! The menagerie was always centre stage when it went to the fair.

Further items will be added shortly.

New Bostock and Wombwell Photograph surfaces from the Exeter area

Updated and corrected version

This photograph from a glass plate negative (poor condition) came to light recently and is now in the GeorgeWombwell.com collection.

Do you recognise either of these ‘drivers’? Let us know if your ancestors were drivers or elephant handlers with Bostock and Wombwell’s Travelling Menagerie.

The date is probably around 1900, but it may be earlier or even later.

The photograph shows a young African Asian elephant (large ears) so it cannot might be a young ‘Sir Roger’ (see research report when published) and if it is before 1900 it might be an elephant known as ‘Bill’ which was travelling around the same time and was recorded at the Goose Fair in Nottingham during 1896. A full research report will appear on the research website in due course.

Addenum: Thanks to Jim Stockley for correcting my undoubted lack of knowledge in the zoological department!

Thanks also to Geoff Younger for suggesting the man standing at the back might be Arthur Feeley. Arthur had been injured during WW1 and was given permission to travel inside the vans according to Geoff. This then might date the photograph from 1917 onwards when Arthur returned to duties at Bostock and Wombwell.

Arthur Feely, Elephant handler for Bostock&Wombwell

reproduced by kind permission of Geoffrey Younger, date unknown

I have been contacted by Geoffrey Younger with photographs by Arthur Feely, who used to be an elephant handler in the early 20th century. Geoffrey also says Arthur can be seen in the Hull Fair photograph recently published on here and the research website.

Geoffrey is Arthur’s grandson and has published some information about Arthur on the NFA website. Elephants were used extensively in travelling menageries for hauling waggons in the early days. I will be publishing a rare early photograph in the next few weeks concerning this practice.

reproduced by kind permission of Geoffrey Younger, date unknown

Close up of the booth from our Hull Fair photograph circa 1904

Geoffrey thinks Arthur is the man on the right in the close up of our Hull Fair photogragh.I think Geoffrey is correct. If anyone knows who else is in the photograph, then please contact us. It seems Arthur was a loyal worker for the menagerie.

Book Review: Tiger that Swallowed a Boy – John Simons

The Tiger That Swallowed The Boy: Exotic Animals In Victorian England.
John Simons. Libri, 208pp, £ 12.00. ISBN 9781907471711. Published 4 November 2012

I have to say, I did not know of its existence till a reader tipped me off. Anyway I have this text and provide the following review, taking into consideration the other reviews already published over the last 12 months.

John Simons is Professor and Executive Dean of Arts at Macquarie University, Australia and has previously released books on animal studies including Rossetti’s Wombat: Pre-Raphaelites and Australian Animals in Victorian London, 2008.

I therefore thought this text would be a scholarly work, but it is not. It is a good read nonetheless, and includes many of the facts and myths surrounding travelling menageries. It goes far beyond these menageries and covers zoos and private menageries as well as museums.

The Times Higher Education Supplement reviewed the book and made the following observations:

Drawing in part on a “spoil heap of material” from his 2008 book Rossetti’s Wombat: Pre-Raphaelites and Australian Animals in Victorian London, which told the story of Dante Gabriel Rossetti’s menagerie, Simons offers engaging and entertaining tales of how a tapir terrorised the people of Rochdale, the growth of Belle Vue and other zoological gardens and, of course, an account of the titular tiger that swallowed the boy. Equally interesting is his consideration of the trade in exotic animals and the clash of empires, in particular those of Germany and Great Britain. Despite its entertaining stories, however, the main problem with this book is that the research appears populated with the sensational narrative style of many 19th-century voices and less so, it appears, with archival sources. Too often, Simons’ conversational style has the flavour of a cut-and-paste assemblage of anecdotes, references and ripping yarns.

I tend to agree and I am disappointed that there are no footnotes and paged or chapter referenced bibliographies, other than a final Select Bibliography. I would have expected more from a scholar, which leads me to think it was a hurried publication of an unfinished project.

Nevertheles, it makes good reading and has provided many interesting ideas that can be followed up thoroughly in future. Available on Amazon via the link below:

The Tiger That Swallowed the Boy: Exotic Animals in Victorian England