HANDY CIRCUS FAMILY - HANDY CIRCUS TROUPE

John Astley's Royal Grove Circusmasonicmedals.net

Astley's Amphitheatre, London - Scene in the circus

 

philip astley brought the circus to england in the 1850s having served ...wherefivevalleysmeet.blogsp...

 

The first circus Philip Astley's circus in 1770. The top picture shows the outside.
The bottom picture shows the open-air arena.


Philip Astley started the circus in 1768 in London.Before this time there had for many hundred years been troupes of acrobats.
But Astley was the first to present the performance in a ring.
The first entity using the name circus in Denmark was probably trick rider Didier Gautier's company who in 1869 advertised themselves
as performing in "the American circus" in Odense.
In 1855 the English Hutchinson Bros. presented a tented performance in Odense but without using the name circus.
The eldest of those of the Danish circuses, which still are on tour, is circus Dannebrog established in 1880.
It closed in 1928 but was re-established in 1977 under the present owner. Circus Benneweis was founded in 1887.
It has been touring every summer season since

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HISTORY OF BENJAMIN AKA BEN HANDY
(Partner of Philip Astley)
- insert info

 

the modern circus dates back to 9 January 1768, when Philip Astley ...

 

The history of the modern circus dates back to 9 January 1768, when Philip Astley performed a trick riding display in London.
The diameter of a traditional circus ring is 42ft, a distance fixed by Astley as the smallest around which a horse could gallop comfortably.
Between horse-riding displays he brought in jugglers, acrobats and clowns but he did not call his show a 'circus'.
That term was coined by Astley's rival Charles Dibdin after the Roman circus of chariot races.
The patron saint of circus workers is St Julian the Hospitaller.
According to legend St Julian killed his own father and mother through a case of mistaken identity.
http://www.wakkipedia.com/WEIRD-FACTS-ABOUT-CIRCUS/

 

Benjamin Thomas Handy aka Ben Thomas Handy aka The World's Best Horseman aka The Unparalleled Vaulting Horseman a partner in Astley's Circus and, owner of Ben Handy Circus Troupe aka Benjamin Handy Circus Troupe
~His parents were Irish
His first wife was Signora Riccardini and, they had one child "The Child of Promise" - she drown when crossing a river in 1797 and, Signora Riccardini died in 1789 Both were Circus performers
Benjamin Handy -The Best Horseman in the World 1st wife Signora Riccardini died 1789
Their Child was known as The Wonderful Child of Promise
- Miss Mary Ann HANDY, Miss Marianne HANDY
equestrienne, rope dancer, tight rope walker; born 1784 -died 1797 drown on ship Viceroy from Liverpool to Dublin, along with 20 circus horses
around the age of 12 or 13 - FAMOUS CIRCUS PEOPLE

 

Sunday, June 9, 2013


The Circus in the Garden



In Ancient Rome, the circus was a building for the exhibition of horse & chariot races, equestrian shows, staged battles, plus displays featuring trained animals, jugglers, & acrobats. The circus of Rome perhaps was influenced by the Greeks, with chariot racing & exhibitions of animals as traditional attractions. The Roman circus consisted of tiers of seats, lower seats & boxes were reserved for persons of rank; however, the circus was the only public spectacle at which men & women were not separated. After the fall of Rome, itinerant performers, animal trainers & showmen traveled between towns throughout Europe, performing at local fairs.

In 1768, London, Philip Astley (1742-1814) established a riding academy & open-air equestrian show, fencing a 42 foot riding ring & covering the grandstand area with a wooden structure. Astley’s exhibition included trick riding, acrobatics, a strongman, & a clown who performed a routine on the slack rope to provide a comedic disruptive element to the seriousness of the trick riding. When Astley added tumblers, tightrope-walkers, jugglers, & performing dogs to fill time between his own demonstrations, he created a what many call a modern circus.


Marcellus Laroon's (1653–1702) Cries of London The Famous Dutch Woman

In 1724 Philadelphia, a female dancer performed on a rope holding baskets with iron chains on her feet, while"wheeling a wheelbarrow, and spinning with swords."

In 18th-century early America, just as in Rome, colonials enjoyed bear-baiting, cockfighting, bull-baiting, itinerant performers, animal trainers, & masterful riders, & even some clowns which had been traveling up and down the Atlantic coast since the 1720s, appearing outside local taverns & in public gardens.



Colonials also enjoyed the presentation of exotic animals. A lion was exhibited as early as 1720, the first live African lion to be exhibited in the British American colonies was in Boston. An advertisment in the Boston Gazette on July 3, 1721, announced that "at the South End of Boston at the house of Mrs. Adams is to be seen The Lyon, where on a Sign is writ the words The Lion King of Beasts is to be seen here. He is not only the Largest and most Noble, but the Tamest and most Beautiful Creature of his Kind, that has been seen, he grows daily, and is the wonder of all who see him. Constant attendance is given to all Persons who desire to satisfy themselves with the sight of him." Apparently the lion was brought to Boston, when he was just a cub. For a while, Sea Captain Arthur Savage had "The Lyon of Barbary" on display at his Brattle Street home, where it was kept "under guard by the captian's Negros."


Marcus De Bye (Dutch artist, 1612-1670) 1660 (Petrus Schenk Edition)

The October 2, 1721, Boston Gazette announced, "Just arrived from Africa, a very large Camel being above Seven Foot high, and Twelve Foot long, and is the first of its Kind ever brought into America to be seen at the bottom of Cold Lane where daily Attendance is given." By 1730, trained monkeys joined the traveling circuit.



In 1733, the following account from Boston of a captured polar bear appeared in the The Pennsylvania Gazette on March 8, 1733. "For the Entertainment of our Readers, we shall give the Publick the following Account of the Greenland Bear , as reported by Captain Atkins, who has lately brought one to this Place. Capt. Atkins went a Whaling last Summer, with a Sloop, in Davis's Streights, on the Western Coasts of Greenland...in the Month of June last, he descry'd on one, a Large White Greenland Bear , with a Cub sucking Her: The Cup suppos'd to be then about Three Months old. The Captain hoisted out his Boat, and with five Hands more, arm'd, rowed with a Design to shoot her, and if possible catch the young One. As soon as the Bear saw the Boat, she made towards it with the utmost Rage and Fierceness, roaring out in the most hideous Manner, plunging into the Seas, and swimming with open Mouth to seize and devour them; her Cub hastening after, and roaring also. Three times they shot and hit her, which she nothing minded: But a fourth Shot pierc'd in to her Head, and kill'd her at once. Upon this the Cub made up to her, got upon her and with great Noise and Fury fought them in their Attempts to take him.. However, throwing Ropes with Nooses at him, they at length entangled him, drag'd him to the Sloop; and hoisting him up with Tackles, keeping at a Distance from him, lower'd him into the Hold, and brought him home. They also hoisted in the old One, which they skinn'd and tried: Her Skin is twelve Foot in length, and her Fat made two Barrels of Oil. The young One quickly tore in pieces the first Cage they made; and tho' but nine Months old, is grown four foot high, and five or six in Length. He is naturally as white as Snow, tho' now somewhat sullied, by the Dirt of the Cage. He is very fierce, and roars: and is to be seen at the south Side of Clark's Wharff, at the North end of Boston. These Greenland Bears are all white. They generally keep near the Edges of the Cakes of Ice on the Greenland Seas, to catch Seils, which they chiefly live on. They will swim and dive like Fishes: When they see a Flock of Fowls on the Water, they will dive down at a proper Distance, and when they come under them, will suddenly rise up and catch them: And they are so outagious and fierce, they are afraid of nothing. They never show the least Fear of Men, nor of their Weapons. Firing at them does but whet their Rage; and they are for falling on and devouring every living Thing they meet with. This is the first of the Kind that ever was brought into this Country."



In 1752 New York's Spring Garden offered nightly a "POSTURE MASTER, who transforms his Body into various Postures, in a surprising and wonderful Manner: with many Curious Dancings and Tumblings..He also performs The Flight of Hand...to the Music of a Dulcemer."


Marcellus Laroon's (1653–1702) Cries of London Clark the English Posture Master

In 1753, one pleasure garden announced truly extraordinary entertainment for their patrons. New Yorker Adam Vandenberg employed a wire walker, Anthony Dugee, to perform in a "new House built for the Purpose" in his Mead Garden. Shows occured in Vandenberg's open structure "weather permitting," and he charged four shillings for pit seating and two shillings for the gallery. Vandenberg's wire walker advertised that he had performed for the King of Great Britain. He walked forward and backward on a swinging rope, balancing first a pipe and then a straw on his nose. He also juggled four balls at once and balanced a twirlling plate on the point of a sword. Adding to the curiosity, an Indian and a young black boy assisted. The most amazing part of the act was not the juggling wirewalker, but his wife. The wirewalker's helpmeet, billed as "the Female Sampson," laid extended between two chairs bearing a 300 pound anvil on her chest while two men struck at it with sledge hammers. Still precariously stretched between the chairs, the wife then had six men stand on her chest. After this ordeal, the wife left the chairs and lifted the 300 pound anvil by her hair. To climax her portion of the show, she planted a 700 pound stone on her chest and then heaved it 6 feet away from her. Amazing circus performers continued to appear at commercial pleasure gardens throughout the colonies.


1792 North America The Buffallo. Massachusetts Magazine

New York City had a parade of curious animals during the 1750s. In 1751, there was advertised to be seen at the house of Mr. Edward Willett, at Whitehall, a creature called a Japanese, of about two feet high, his body resembling a human body in all parts except the feet and tail: price, one shilling; children, ninepence. In 1751, the town was invited to see, at the house of John Bannin, next door to Mr. Peter Brewer's, near the Dutch church, "a curious live porcupine of various colors; a creature armed with darts, which resemble writing pens though of different colour, and which he shoots at any adversary with ease when angry or attacked, though otherwise of great good humour and gentleness." In 1755, Captain Seymour arrived in New-York in the ship Fame in 8 weeks from Cadiz. He brought with him a young lioness, which he took on board at Gibraltar. He also brought from the African coast two ostriches, "fowls of that country," but they died on the voyage. In 1754, a living alligator, full 4 feet long, was shown for sixpence. In December, 1759, at the sign of the Ship-a-Masting, at the upper end of Moravian street, near the back of Spring Garden, there was advertised to be seen "a wild animal lately brought from the Mississippi, called a Buffalo." Occasionally young elks were on exhibition.


Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (French naturalist, 1707-1788) Porcupine

The 1770s saw several traveling horsemanship masters entertaining at local taverns, gardens, & public spaces. Jacob Sharpe entertained audiences in Boston, Essex, & Salem, Massachusetts with his daring equestrian performances. An Englishman named Faulks rode on several horses at once in Philadelphia & New York City. When Faulks was finished with his tricks on multiple steeds, he would vault over one of the horses while astride one galloping at full speed. Jacob Bates also performed in those towns in 1772-3. He claimed to introduce colonials to Astley's "Burlesque on horsemanship, orThe Taylor riding to Brentford" skit. Bates would finally settle in Philadelphia to establish a riding school.



In 1785, the staid Selectmen of Boston allowed an acrobatic equestrian to set up his show "in a proper enclosure"near the Musick-house Garden on the Commons. Performer Thomas Pool announced that he would mount "a single horse in full speed, with his right foot in the near stirrup, and his left leg extended at a considerable distance from the horse...then two horses in full speed, with a foot in the stirrup of each saddle, and in that position (leap a bar to mount) a single horse in full speed and (fire) a pistol. At the conclusion of the performances...three horses...will lay themselves down as if dead. One will groan apparently through extreme sickness and pain, afterwards rise and make his manners to the Ladies and Gentlemen. Another, having laid down for a considerable time, will rise and set up like a Lady's lap-dog...between the different parts...a Clown to amuse the spectators...and an exhibition of brilliant Fire Works." Pool traveled to Boston from Philadelphia, where he had performed similar feats of daring for audiences there. He would then go on to Baltimore, New York City, & Georgia, with his daredevil act.

Travelling performers trouped from town to town and garden to garden in the summers. Baltimore's Chatsworth orGrey's Gardens offered an "afternoon's amusement" in 1792. "The New Company of Tight Rope Dancers, Tumblers, &c, just arrived from Phildadelphia, will exhibit in Chatsworth Gardens...a five o'clock precisely...Tickets, one quarter of a dollar each."



The country’s first elephant, toured inns & garden taverns in 1796. An April, 1796, publication, Greenleaf’s New York, mentions an elephant journeying to New York aboard the ship America. A few days later an elephant was exhibited around Beaver Street & Broadway, according to an advertisement in New York newspaper The Argus, April 23, 1796. This area was the location of the Bull’s Head Tavern, a place frequented by ships’ captains, drovers, and a variety of businessmen. The elephant arrived aboard the America which set sail from Calcutta for New York on December 3, 1795. The first references to the elephant "Old Bet" start in 1804, in Boston as part of a menagerie. In 1808, while residing in Somers, New York, Hachaliah Bailey purchased the menagerie elephant for $1,000 and named it "Old Bet." On July 24, 1816, Old Bet was killed while on tour near Alfred, Maine by a farmer who shot her, and was later convicted of the crime. The farmer thought it was sinful for people to pay to see an animal.


Charles Knight after the drawing by Henry William Bunbury, published in London by W. Dickinson 1785.

Veteran circus rider Scotsman John Bill Ricketts opened a riding academy in October of 1782, at the corner of 12th & Market Streets in Philadelphia, announcing in Dunlap's American Daily Advertiser on in October of 1792, that "Mr Ricketts, lately from London purposed instructing Ladies and Gentlemen in the elegant accomplishment of riding. The Circus will be opened Thurs Day the 25 instant...Gentlemen's hours from 8 to 11 o'clock, and the ladied from 11 to 2 o'clock."

Traveling bands of entertainers trouped from town to town and garden to garden in the summers. Baltimore's Chatsworth or Grey's Gardens offered an "afternoon's amusement" in 1792. "The New Company of Tight Rope Dancers, Tumblers, &c, just arrived from Phildadelphia, will exhibit in Chatsworth Gardens...a five o'clock precisely...Tickets, one quarter of a dollar each."

On April 3, 1793 he gave his first American circus performance. Ricketts’ circus featured acrobats, trick riding & a clown named Mr. McDonald. President George Washington, visited Ricketts’ circus & either sold or donated Jack, the white steed he had ridden during the Revolutionary War, to the Scotsman. Ricketts traveled from New York City south to Norfolk & Charleston offering his spectacular skits to new citizens of the fledgling nation.

The Pennsylvania Gazette of March 8, 1797, reported, "On Saturday the Merchants of this city gave a public dinner, at Ricketts's Circus , to GEORGE WASHINGTON, in testimony of their approbation of his conduct as President of the United States. - The company, among whom were all the Foreign Ministers, many of the Members of both houses of Congress, the Governor of the state, and all the principal Merchants of the city, met at Oellers's hotel, and marched in procession from thence to the place of entertainment. On their entering the Circus , Washington's March resounded through the place, and a curtain drew up, which presented to view a transparent full length painting of the late President, whom Fame is crowning with a Wreath of Laurel, taking leave, after delivering to her his valedictory address, of the Genius of America, who is represented by a Female Figure, holding the Cap of Liberty in her hand, with an Altar before her, inscribed PUBLIC GRATITUDE. In the painting are introduced several emblematic devices of the honours he had acquired by his public services, and a distant view of Mount Vernon, the seat of his retirement."



The same Philadelphia newpaper reported on February 27, 1799, "Friday last being the anniversary of the birth of Lieutenant General Washington, the 9th company of Philadelphia Artillery paraded at the arsenal, and at 12 o'clock fired a salute. Several other volunteer corps paraded through the city; and in the evening the City Dancing Assembly gave a splendid Ball at Ricketts's Circus."

In 1797, Ricketts opened another circus in New York, where he promoted Washington’s 28-year-old horse Jack as a sideshow exhibit. Ricketts & his band of entertainers traveled up & down the east coast from Canada to Charleston, finally settling in Annapolis & then Easton, Maryland. Ricketts’ Philadelphia circus amphitheatre was destroyed by fire in 1799, & he was lost at sea in 1801.



In the New York City newspaper The Minerva, & Mercantile Evening Advertiser on August 31, 1796, notice was given "To The Curious. A Beautiful AFRICAN Lion. To be seen everyday, except Sundays, ...in the Fields, next to the corner of Murray Street in Broadway, where the proprietor has provided a cage in which the Lion moves at large, and which exhibits him to the greatest advantage...The noble animal is between 3 and 4 feet high, and measures 8 feet from nostrils to tail; is of a beautiful dun color, between 6 and 7 years old and uncommonly strong built...He was caught in the woods of...Africa when a whelp and brought from thence to New York. He is as tame as any domesticated animal, whatever, and is really worth the contemplationo of the curious. Price of Admittance 2 shillings."

Continuing the circus tradition, in 1802, Joseph Delacroix engaged an acrobat and equestrian performer, James Robertson, to stage a small circus in his New York City public pleasure garden. Robertson demonstrated feats of aerial & ground tumbling plus trampoline tricks. He also performed comic skits with a clown plus an astounding act he named the "Antipodean Whirligig." During this act, Robertson attached fireworks to his body & feet and surrounded himself with additional fireworks. Robertson lit all the fireworks, stood on his head, & whirled around on a rotating stand that he claimed turned 250 times a minute. Later he set up a circus ring to perform "feats of Horsemanship...in the same stile as at Astley's in London."



By 1817, bears invaded a Boston public pleasure garden. A "Lapland White Bear" who did tricks and "walked with her arms folded" took up temporary residence at Washington Gardens near the Boston Commons, while visiting musicians presented "Concerts, Instrumental and Vocal" and "Fire-Works" exploded overhead. The gardens were not far from the place in Boston, where the first polar bear had been exhibited in 1733.



Apparently the circus was not an agreeable entertainment for all at the end of the 18th-century. In the 1797 novel The Coquette or, The History of Eliza Wharton by Hannah Webster Foster, a friend writes Eliza about attending a circus. “The circus is a place of fashionable resort of late, but not agreeable to me. I think it inconsistent with the delicacy of a lady, even to witness the indecorums, which are practiced there; especially, when the performers of equestrian feats are of our own sex. To see a woman depart so far from the female character, as to assume the masculine habit and attitudes; and appear entirely indifferent, even to the externals of modesty, is truly disgusting, and ought not to be countenanced by our attendance, much less by our approbation. But setting aside this circumstance, I cannot conceive it to be a pleasure to sit a whole evening, trembling with apprehension, lest the poor wight of a horseman, or juggler, or whatever he is to be called, should break his neck in contributing to our entertainment”

And, finally, I could not resist including this 19th century American genre painting of the circus.


(Carl J.) Joseph Becker (American artist, 1841-1910) A Night in a Circus. - The Dressing Room.
http://publicpleasuregarden.blogspot.ca/2013/06/american-commercial-gardens-circus.html

 

HANDY who, is mentioned in this book as Philip Astley of Astley's Circus is: Benjamin Thomas aka Ben Handy
- http://www.geni.com/people/Benjamin-Thomas-aka-Ben-Handy/6000000019147981973 Benjamin Thomas aka Ben Handy

http://www.circushistory.org/Frost/Frost2.htm

Frost’s Circus Life and Circus Celebrities
Chapter Two

Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6
Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12
Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18
Preface & Contents

Thomas Frost, Circus Life and Circus Celebrities, London: Chatto and Windus, 1881.
Chapter II.
Fortunes of the Royal Circus - Destruction of Astley's Amphitheatre by Fire - Its Reconstruction - Second Conflagration
- Astley in Paris - Burning of the Royal Circus - Erection of the Olympic Pavilion - Hengler, the Rope-dancer - Astley's Horses - Dancing Horses
- The Trick Horse, Billy - Abraham Saunders - John Astley and William Davis - Death of Philip Astley - Vauxhall Gardens
- Andrew Ducrow - John Clarke - Barrymore's Season at Astley's - Hippo-dramatic Spectacles - The first Circus Camel.
For nearly forty years after the opening of Astley's Amphitheatre, the performances did not differ, in any respect,
from the usual entertainment of the smallest tenting company now travelling. The earliest bill of the collection in the library of the British Museum was issued in 1791,
when the great attraction of the place appears to have been the somersault over twelve horses, called le grand saut du Trampolin, of James Lawrence,
whose vaulting feats gained him the name (in the bills) of the Great Devil.
In 1792, the entertainments comprised a considerable musical element, and concluded with a pantomime.
One of the advertisements of this year announces the performances in the arena as follows:
'Horsemanship, and exercises for the Light Dragoons - Ground and lofty tumbling - A grand entry of horses - Equestrian exercises, particularly the metamorphose of the sack - Wonderful equilibres on a single horse - Whimsical piece of horsemanship, called The Taylor riding to Brentford.'
Sadler's Wells continued to vary its programme with tumbling and rope-dancing, and in 1792 gave 'a pleasing exhibition of strength and posturework, entirely new, called Le Tableau Chinois, by Signor Bologna and his children, in which will be displayed a variety of curious and striking manoeuvres. Tight-rope dancing by the Little Devil and Master Bologna, with the comic accompaniment of Signor Pietro Bologna.'
From the Royal Circus announcements of the following year, I select the following two, as good illustrations of the kind of performances then given, and curious examples of circus bills eighty years ago:
ROYAL CIRCUS.
The Company at the Circus beg leave to acquaint the Nobility, Gentry, and Public, that young CROSSMAN will appear this present Evening, August 7, On HORSEBACK, and challenge all the Horsemen in Europe.
FRICAPEE DANCING, VAULTING, TIGHT-ROPE
> DANCING, PYRAMIDS, GROUND AND
LOFTY TUMBLING, &C. &C. &C.
The performance will commence with a Grand Entry of Horses, mounted by the Troop. Young CROSSMAN'S unparalleled Peasant Hornpipe, and Hag Dance, not to be equalled by any Horseman in this Kingdom.
LE GRAND SAUT DE TRAMPOLINE by Mr PORTER, (Clown) who will jump over a garter 15 feet from the ground, and fire off two Pistols.
THE MUSICAL CHILD, (only nine years of age) will go through his wonderful Performance. Mr SMITH will go through a variety of Performances on a Single Horse.
THE HUMOURS OF THE SACK,
OR, THE CLOWN DECEIVED BY A WOMAN.
FRICASSEE DANCE,
By Mr CROSSMAN and Mr PORTER.
Mr INGHAM (from Dublin) will throw an innumerable Row of Flipflaps.
Mr CROSSMAN will vault over the Horse backwards and forwards, with his Legs Tied, in a manner not to be equalled by any Performer in this Kingdom.
GROUND AND LOFTY TUMBLING,
by the whole Troop.
The AFRICAN Will go through his astonishing Stage and Equestrian Performances.
LA FORCE DE HERCULES:
Or, The Ruins Of Troy.
Mr PORTER will perform on a single Horse, in a ludicrous manner.
Young CROSSMAN will leap from a single Horse over Two Garters, 12 feet high, and alight again on the Saddle, and Play the Violin in various Attitudes.
THE TAYLOR'S DISASTER,
Or, his Wonderful Journey to Brentford,
By Mr PORTER.
To conclude with a Real Fox and Stag Chase by twelve couple of Hounds, and two real FOXES, and a real STAG HUNT, as performed before their Majesties.
Crossman, it will be seen, had transferred his services from Astley's to the rival establishment, where he must have been an acquisition of some importance.
The Ducrow mentioned in the second bill, must have been the father of the celebrated equestrian of that name.
CHANGE OF PERFORMANCES.
THE WINDSOR HUNT.
This and every Evening, until further Notice, at the
ROYAL CIRCUS,
In which will be introduced a Representation of
THE DEER CARRIAGE AND STAG
With Horsemen and Women coming out of Holyport Mead to see the Stag turned out; the Hunt will be then joined by Ten Male and Three Female Equestrians. The Stag will be Twice, and the Horsemen and Horsewomen Five Times, in FULL VIEW.
AN ENTIRE NEW DANCE, CALLED
THE CROATIAN MERCHANTS,
Composed by Mons. Ferrere. Principal Dancers, Mons. Ferrere, Madame Ferrere, Mons. D'Egville, and Signora Fuzi, with Six Couple of Figurants. The Dresses and Decorations entirely New, by Mr RISLEBEN.
YOUNG CROSSMAN
Will appear this and every Evening on HORSEBACK, and challenge all the Horsemen in Europe.
TIGHT-ROPE DANCING,
By the celebrated SAXONI, from Rome.
PYRAMIDS, GROUND and LOFTY TUMBLING, &c.
The Grand Leaps over SEVEN HORSES.
Also, through the Hoop on FIRE, fourteen feet high, by Mr PORTER and Mr DUCROW. The former will leap over more Horses than any Man in Europe.
MR FRANKLIN'S inimitable Performances with
THE CHILD OF PROMISE,
In various attitudes. Playing on the violin, &c.,
MR SMITH, MR INGHAM, MR PORTER, MR DUCROW, MR MEREDITH, MR ALLERS, MR JONES, MR BENGE, MR QUIN, MR FRANCIS, and
THE FAMOUS AFRICAN,
(Who is not to be equalled) will go through the TILTS and TOURNAMENTS, and MILITARY EXERCISES, as performed on HORSEBACK, in the FIELD and MANAGE. To which will be added,
THE TAYLOR'S DISASTER!
AND FOX HUNT.
By the above Male and Female Equestrians.
The performances at Sadler's Wells this year included 'a series of varied equilibres and posturework, called Le Tableau Chinois, by Signor Bologna and his children,' and 'a capital display of agility on the tight-rope by the inimitable Mr Richer, from Petersburgh; also the pleasing exertions of La Belle Espagnole.' There does not appear to have been many changes in the programme of this establishment, which in the following year presented 'a new and picturesque exhibition, called the Pastimes of Pekin, or Kien Quang's Family Tree; in which will be displayed, by a group of ten capital performers, under the direction of the Great Kien Quang, a variety of entertainments and active manoeuvres, a la Chinois, with banners, garlands, and umbrellas;' and 'the pleasing and varied exertions of Messrs Bologna and La Belle Espagnole.'
Astley's Amphitheatre was destroyed by fire in 1794, to the serious loss of the proprietor, who was not insured; but such was his indomitable energy and enterprise that it was rebuilt in time to be opened on Easter Monday, in the following year. In the mean while, in order to keep his company and stud employed, he had converted the Lyceum into a circus, in conjunction with a partner named Handy, Benjamin Thomas Handy aka Ben Handy
The Royal Circus was far from prosperous. The load of debt upon it kept the lessees in a position of constant difficulty and embarrassment, and in 1795 Mrs West levied an execution on the premises. It was then opened by Jones and Cross, the latter a writer of spectacles and pantomimes forCovent Garden; and in their hands it remained until it was destroyed by fire in 1805.
Benjamin Thomas Handy aka Ben Handy was still Astley's partner in 1796, when the advertisements announce 'thirty-five new acts by Astley's and Benjamin Thomas aka Ben Handy's riders, and two surprising females,’ in addition to pony races, the performances of a clever little pony, only thirty inches in height, a performance on two ropes, and a novel act by a performer named Carr, who stood on his head in the centre of a globe, and ascended thirty feet 'turning round in a most surprising manner, like a boy's top.' Later advertisements of this year describe the Amphitheatre as 'under the patronage of the Duke of York,' and announce the special engagement of two Catawba Indians - both chiefs, of course, as American Indians and Arabs who appear in the arena always are represented to be. These copper-coloured gentlemen gave their war dance and tomahawk exercise, and performed feats of dexterity with bows and arrows. The only mention of equestrianism at this time is, that 'various equestrian and other exercises' will be given 'by pupils of both the Astleys.'
Sadler's Wells gave this year 'various elegant and admired exercises on the tight-rope, by the inimitable Mr Richer and La Belle Espagnole, particularly Richer's astonishing leap over the two garters, with various feats of agility and comic accompaniment by Dubois.' This establishment and the Royalty gradually abandoned entertainments of this kind, and were at length converted into theatres; and the like change was effected at the Royal Circus, or rather at the building which rose upon the ruins made by the conflagration of 1805.
Astley's was burned again in 1803, when Mrs Woodhams, the mother of Mrs Astley, perished in the flames. Astley was again a heavy sufferer, the insurance not covering more than a fourth of the damage; but once more the building rose from its ruins, and it was again re-opened in 1804. Astley being occupied at the tune with the construction of a circus in Paris, since known as Franconi's, the new Amphitheatre was leased by him to his son, John Astley, with whom William Davis soon became associated as a partner.
In 1805, the Royal Circus having been destroyed by fire, Philip Astley leased the site of the Olympic Theatre from Lord Craven for a term of sixty-one years, at a yearly rental of one hundred pounds, with the stipulation that two thousand five hundred pounds should be expended in the erection of a theatre. It was an odd-shaped piece of ground, and required some contrivance to adapt it to the purpose; but Astley, who was his own architect and surveyor, and indeed his own builder, for he is said to have employed the workmen ge required without the intervention of a master, overcame all difficulties with his usual energy and fertility of resource.
He bought the timbers of an old man-of-war, captured from the French, and with these built the framework of the theatre, a portion of which could, it was said, be seen at the rear of the boxes of the old Olympic Theatre before it was destroyed by fire. There was very little brickwork, the frame being covered externally with sheet iron. and internally with canvas. The arrangements of the auditorium were very similar to those of the provincial circuses of the present day; there was a single tier of boxes, a pit running round the circle, and a gallery behind, separated from the pit by a grating, which caused the ‘gods' to be likened to the wild beasts in Cross's menagerie, Exeter Change. There was no orchestra, but a few musicians sat in a stage box on each side. The chandelier was a present from the king. The building was licensed for music, dancing, and equestrian performances, and called the Olympic.Pavilion. It passed in 1812 into the possession of Elliston, who purchased it, with the remaining term of the lease, for two thousand eight hundred pounds and an annuity of twenty pounds contingent on the continuance of the license. The annuity soon ceased to be payable, for Elliston opened the theatre for burlettas and musical farces in 1813, and it was closed a few weeks afterwards by order of the Lord Chamberlain, on the ground that the license had been granted on the supposition that the theatre was to be used for the same kind of entertainment as had been given by Astley, and only during the same portion of the year.
The Amphitheatre continued to be conducted in the same manner as it had been when in the hands of the proprietor, and brought before the public a succession of clever equestrians, tumblers, and rope-dancers. In a bill of 1807 we first meet with the name of Hengler, its then owner being a performer of some celebrity on the tight-rope. The travelling circuses which were springing into existence at this time, both in England and on the continent, furnished the lessees with a constant succession of artistes; and the admirably trained horses fairly divided the attention of the public with the biped performers.
Philip Astley was the best breaker and trainer of horses then living. He bought his horses in Smithfield, seldom giving more than five pounds for one, and selecting them for their docility, without regard to symmetry or colour. He seems to have been the first equestrian who taught horses to dance, the animals going through the figure, and stepping in time to the music. One of his horses, called Billy, would lift a kettle off a fire, and arrange the tea equipage for company, in a manner which elicited rounds of applause. He was a very playful animal, and would play with Astley and the grooms like a kitten. His owner was once induced to lend him for a week or two to Abraham Saunders, who had been brought up by Astley, and was at that time, as well as at many other times, involved in pecuniary difficulties. While Billy was in the possession of Saunders, he was seized for debt, with the borrower's own stud, and sold before his owner could be communicated with. Two of Astley's company, happening shortly afterwards to be perambulating the streets of the metropolis, were surprised to see Billy harnessed to a cart. They could scarcely believe their eyes, but could doubt no longer when the animal, on receiving a signal to which he was accustomed, pricked up his ears, and began to caper and curvet in a manner seldom seen out of the circle. His new owner was found in a public-house, and was not unwilling to part with him, as Billy, 'though a main good-tempered creature,' as he told the equestrians, ‘is so full o' all manner of tricks that we calls him the Mountebank.'
Saunders, at this time a prisoner for debt in the now demolished Fleet Prison, was well known as a showman and equestrian for three quarters of a century. Many who remember him as the proprietor of a travelling circus, visiting the fairs throughout the south of England, are not aware that he once had a lease of the old Royalty Theatre, and that in 1808 he opened, as a circus, the concert-rooms afterwards known as the Queen's Theatre, now the Prince of Wales's. After experiencing many vicissitudes, he fell in his old age into poverty, owing to two heavy losses, namely, by the burning of the Royalty Theatre, and by the drowning of fifteen horses at sea, the vessel in which they were being transported being wrecked in a storm. In his latter years, he was the proprietor of a penny 'gaff' at Haggerstone, and, being prosecuted for keeping it, drove to Worship Street police-court in a box on wheels, drawn by a Shetland pony, and presented himself before the magistrate in a garment made of a bearskin. He was then in his ninetieth year, and died two years afterwards, in a miserable lodging in Mill Street, Lambeth Walk.
There is a story told of Astley, by way of illustration of his ignorance of music, which, if true, would show that the Amphitheatre boasted an orchestra even in these early years of its existence. The nature of the story requires us to suppose that the orchestral performers were then engaged for the first time; and, as we are told by Fitzball that the occasion was the rehearsal of a hippo-dramatic spectacle, it seems probable that there is some mistake, and that the anecdote should be associated with Ducrow, instead of with his precursor, no performances of that kind having been given at the Amphitheatre in Astley's time. But Fitzball may have been in error as to the occasion. As the story goes, Astley, on some of the musicians suspending their performances, demanded the reason.
'It is a rest,’ returned the leader.
'Let them go on, then,' said the equestrian. ‘I pay them to play, not to rest.'
Presently a chromatic passage occurred.
'What do you call that?' demanded Astley. 'Have you all got the stomach-ache?'
'It is a, chromatic passage,' rejoined the leader, with a smile.
'Rheumatic passage?' said Astley, not comprehending the term. 'It is in your arm, I suppose; but I hope you'll get rid of it before you play with the people in front.'
'You misunderstand me, Mr Astley,' returned the leader. 'It is a chromatic passage; all the instruments have to run up the passage.'
‘The devil they do!' exclaimed Astley. ‘Then I hope they'll soon run back again, or the audience will think they are running away.'
Hitherto the quadrupeds whose docility and intelligence rendered them available for the entertainment of the public had been limited to the circle; but in 1811 the example was set at Covent Garden of introducing horses, elephants, and camels on the stage. This was done in the grand cavalcade in Bluebeard, the first representation of which was attended with a singular accident. A trap gave way under the camel ridden by an actor named Gallot, who saved his own neck or limbs from dislocation or fracture, by throwing himself off as the animal sank down. He was unhurt, but the camel was so much injured by the fall that it died before it could be extricated. The elephant, though docile enough, could not be induced to go upon the stage until one of the ladies of the ballet, who had become familiar with the animal during the rehearsals, led it on by one of its ears. This went so well with the audience. that the young lady repeated the performance at every representation of the spectacle.
Philip Astley died in Paris, at the ripe age of seventy-two, in 1814, - the year in which the celebrated Ducrow made his first appearance on the stage as Eloi, the dumb boy, in the The Forest of Bondy. The Amphitheatre was conducted, after the death of its founder, by his son, John Astley, in conjunction with Davis; but not without opposition. The Surrey had ceased to present equestrian performances under the management of Elliston; but in 1815, on his lease expiring, it was taken by Dunn, Heywood, and Branscomb, who were encouraged by the success of Astley to convert it into a circus. The experiment was not, however, a successful one.
In the following year, Vauxhall Gardens assumed the form and character by which they were known to the present generation; and the celebrated Madame Saqui was engaged for a tight-rope performance, in which she had long been famous in Paris. She was then in her thirty-second year, and even then far from prepossessing, her masculine cast of countenance and development of muscle giving her the appearance of a little man, rather than of the attractive young women we are accustomed to see on the corde elastique in this country. Her performance created a great sensation, however, and she was re-engaged for the two following seasons. She mounted the rope at midnight, in a dress glistening with tinsel and spangles, and wearing a nodding plume of ostrich feathers on her head; and became the centre of attraction for the thousands who congregated to behold her ascent from the gallery, under the brilliant illumination of the fireworks that rained their myriads of sparks around her.
Andrew Ducrow, who now came into notice, was born in Southwark, in 1793, in which year his father, Peter Ducrow who was a native of Bruges, appeared at Astley's as the Flemish Hercules, in a performance of feats, of strength. Andrew was as famous in his youthful days as a pantomimist as be subsequently became as an equestrian, and was the originator of the poses plastiques, the performance in which he first attracted attention, and which was at that time a novel feature of circus entertainments, being a series of studies of classical statuary on the back of a horse. He appeared at the Amphitheatre during only one season, however, leaving England shortly afterwards, accompanied by several members of his family, to fulfil engagements on the continent. The first of these was with Blondin's Cirque Olympique, then in Holland. He had at this time only one horse; but, as his gains increased with his fame, he was soon enabled to procure others, until he had as many as six. After performing at several of the principal towns in Belgium and France, he was engaged, with his family and stud, for Franconi's Cirque, where he was the first to introduce the equestrian pageant termed anentree. There he exhibited his double acts of Cupid and Zephyr, Red Riding Hood, &c., in which he was accompanied by his sister, a child of three or four years old, whose performances were at that time unequalled.
Simultaneously with the rise of Ducrow, the well-known names of Clarke and Bradbury appear in circus records. When Barrymore, the lessee of the Coburg Theatre (now the Victoria), opened Astley's in the autumn of 1819 for a limited winter season, his company was joined by John Clarke, fresh from saw-dust triumphs at Liverpool, and Bradbury, who was the first representative on the equestrian stage of Dick Turpin, the renowned highwayman, whose famous ride to York had not then been related by Ainsworth, but was preserved in the sixpenny books, with folding coloured plates, which constituted the favourite reading of boys fifty years ago. Clarke's little daughter, only five years of age, made her appearance on the tight-rope in the following year, when Madame Saqui re-appeared at Vauxhall, and was one of the principal attractions of that season.
John Astley survived his father only a few years, dying in 1821, on the same day of the year, in the same house, and in the same room, as his more famous progenitor. After his death the Amphitheatre was conducted for a few years by Davis alone; and by him hippo-dramatic spectacles, the production of which afterwards made Ducrow so famous, and which greatly extended the popularity of Astley's, were first introduced there. Davis also signalized his management by the introduction of a camel on the stage for the first time in a circus, the occasion being the production of the romantic spectacle of Alexander the Great and Thalestris the Amazon.

In the circle a constant variety of attractive, and often novel, feats of horsemans hip and gymnastics continued to be presented. All through the season of 1821 the great attraction in the circle was the graceful riding of a young lady named Bannister - probably the daughter of the circus proprietor of that name, whose name we shall presently meet with, and who had, shortly before that time, fallen into difficulties.

During the following season the public were attracted by the novel and sensational performance of Jean Bellinck on the flying rope, stretched across the pit at an altitude of nearly a hundred feet, according to the bills,
in which a little exaggeration was probably indulged.

The great attraction of 1823 was Longuemare's ascent of a rope from the stage to the gallery, amidst fireworks,
which had been the sensation of the preceding season at Vauxhall Gardens, where, at the same time,
Ramo Samee, the renowned Indian juggler, made his first appearance in this country.

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