The Old Showmen and the Old London FairsFrost, Thomas
History
The Old Showmen and the Old London Fairs
Frost, Thomas
Fairs -- England -- London; London (England) -- Social life and customs
Miss Chapman, who had the honour of appearing before the royal family at
Windsor Castle, had not long been before the public when a third "lion
queen" appeared in Wombwell's menagerie in the person of Helen Blight, the
daughter of a musician in the band. The career of this poor girl was as
brief as its termination was shocking. She was performing with the animals
at Greenwich Fair, when a tiger exhibited some sullenness or waywardness,
for which she very imprudently struck it with a riding-whip which she
carried. With a terrible roar, the infuriated beast sprang upon her,
seized her by the throat, and killed her before she could be rescued. This
melancholy affair led to the prohibition of such performances by women;
but the leading menageries have continued to have "lion kings" attached to
them to the present day.
It was in this year that the war against the shows was renewed by the
authorities of the City of London, who doubled the charges hitherto made
for space in Smithfield, Wombwell, for instance, having his rent raised
from forty to eighty pounds, Clarke's from twenty-five to fifty, and
others in the same proportion. After the fair, the London City Missions
Society presented a memorial to the Corporation, praying for the
suppression of the fair, and the City Lands Committee was instructed by
the Court of Aldermen to consider whether, and by what means, its
suppression could be legally accomplished. The committee referred the
question to the solicitor of the City, who was requested to report to the
Markets Committee "as to the right of the Corporation of London to
suppress Bartholomew Fair, or otherwise to remove the nuisances and
obstructions to trade to which it gives rise."
The solicitor accordingly examined the archives in the town-clerk's
office, as well as books in the City Library and the British Museum, for
the purpose of tracing the history of the fair, and of other fairs which
formerly existed in the metropolis, and the right to hold which was
likewise founded upon charters, and which had been abolished or fallen
into disuse. His researches led him to the conclusion that "the right to
hold both fairs having been granted for the purpose of promoting the
interests of trade, it is quite clear that no prescriptive right can be
set up to commit any nuisance incompatible with the purposes for which
they were established; if, therefore, the Corporation should be satisfied
that the interests of the public can be no otherwise protected than by
confining the fair to its original objects and purposes, they may
undoubtedly do so, and this would in fact, be equivalent to its entire
suppression."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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