Just recently I've been roped-in to give a number of illustrated talks (OHP) to various social groups and I'm amazed by the number of these groups looking for speakers, some weekly!.  One could be busy talking several nights a week in this area!  The favourite title so far is my "Queen Victoria Was a Circus Fan"  which seems to go down well in Merseyside.  I base it on the story of Hengler's circus, which some elderly people still remember hearing about (it closed in 1900!).  There are always lots of questions, from people of a certain age, and I answer then as accurately and as dispassionately as possible.  Quite a number of people in the audiece tell me that the next time a circus come to town they will visit it with their grandchildren.  Every little helps, I tell myself, and if we can encourage people to take younsters along so much the better.  I would encourage other circus enthusiasts to do the same.  Visit your local library and give the librarian a copy of your talks (different aspects of just the circus if you like), and some poor programme secretary will almost certainly come along and book you!  Choose the titles of your talks carefully and don't foget the funny anecdotes!  Best of luck and don't be shy of helping circus back to popularity!  The usual fee by the way is £30 including expenses (I don't venture far!).

Don wrote to me on 5th January commenting on some serious errors in my article in the then latest issue of World's Fair, concerning the 'Billy Russsell's Great Yarmouth Hippodrome Circus' family.  I replied that I had not written for the World's Fair for some years and that perhaps someone had stolen my identity!  My database does contain an entry for Billy Russell which, for the record, reads as follows; -

RUSSELL, Billy.  Circus proprietor.  William Alfred Russell, born in 1905, at Belton, Gt. Yarmouth, the son of William Russell.  Brother of Oliver.  Nephew of Jenny O'Brien (married George Gilbert) and John O'Brien (married Jeanette Lush, later Mrs Power).  In 1934 his father turned over his Brittania Pier business to Billy, who thus became an amusement caterer of Gt. Yarmouth.  Married Eva in 1938.  A member of the Showmen's Guild until 1939.  Before and after the war he had a dodgem track, next to the Hippodrome.  Purchased the by then dilapidated Hippodrome circus, in March 1951, from T.C. Read, and ran "Billy Russell's Family Circus" for its first season in the summer of 1951.  The dodgem park was converted to a miniature zoo, more in keeping with his new interest.  Chris Christian was zoo manager.  Mr Russell in a very short time established himself as a man dedicated to the circus as well as a generous and thoghtful employer.  Billy Russell together with his lifelong friend Ben Dean, working full-time from 1954, and Roberto Germains, guided the destiny of the circus until his death.  Died in June 1957, at Norwich, aged 51 years after a short illness.  The funeral was held at St. Peter's church, Gt. Yarmouth, on 18th June.  Survived by his widow Eva and son John, brother Oliver and his wife Molly.  Remembered as a stickler for perfection, insisting on "nothing but the best" in his programmes.  His brother Oliver and Ben Dean, later his son John ran 'Russell's Hippodrome circus for some years after his death, under the terms of the executors.  The directors later were Oliver Russell, Harry Nutkins, Ben Dean, Walter Marius, Roberto Germains and Bert Galey.  Not to be confused with the character comedian Billy Russell (Albert George Brown).

I can, as usual supply the sources of my information, which include Don Stacey's own excellent book  "The Hippodrome Great Yarmouth; a Pictorial History" (Jay UK Ltd., Great Yarmouth, 2003).  Perhaps whoever wrote the World's Fair article had seen an earlier draft of my entry, not the current one, and passed it off as his own work.  A little mystery!  Incidentally, Don pointed out that Oliver Russell was Billy's brother and not his son (John) and that Mrs Eva Russell was specifically barred from managing the show by the terms of her husband's will!  I wonder if Don Stacey would care to look over the 12,000 odd other entries in my database to detect possible errors.  I'm sure there are many but these are continually corrrected as soon as I become aware of them.  All my published work is prefaced by the warning that the information is only as accurate as my sources and invites additions and corrections.  But thanks for your interest anyway Don., whover wrote the article it was certainly not me!  John.   

After a threat of absolute closure, David Page has been persuaded to renew and revamp his website!  A Phoenix risen from the ashes!  Test it out at <www.fairground-heritage.org.uk/forum>  Welcome back Dave!  

David Page, the webmaster of <www.thegalloper.com>, has announced that his website will cease to opperate at the end of December this year!  This is a very sad day for many of us interested not only in circus people and shows but also in travelling entertainment in general.  A community of people with shared interests had evolved and I felt that I knew many of them almost personally.  The decision to close David's website was caused by a fall in traffic, following a revamp due to the necessity of finding a new server, the loss of various 'contributors' for reasons unlknown and the problem of 'spam' which involved the webmaster in a lot of maintenance work!  Whatever the reasons, David's decision is his own and cannot be due to the lack of appreciation of most of the website's users.  I know from personal experience that some users accept help, in the form of intellectual property given freely, without giving acknowlegement or thanks.  The belief seems to exist that "information is out there on the internet" for those clever enough to capture it.  People appear to forget that the information was provided by a living person as the result of research involving time and hard work!  So we should not forget to thank David Page for all his hard work in the past.  As a final note, I hope that www.circusbiography.co.uk will be able to provide an alternative 'Forum' for researchers interested in circus history.  I shall do my best to maintain the high standards set by David Page who I now regard as a personal friend.  John.

During 1968, the 200th anniversary of the invention of circus, writers in the circus press speculated on the exact date of Astley's first performance.  At that time, there was evidence that it had been the "early Spring" of 1768.  I now note that the 'Wikipedia' section on Circus states that the date was 9th January 1768.  Does anyone know the evidence for this date?  Put a note in our diaries to celebrate 9th January 2018?  See you then!  John.

Kevin Sterling, who is researching his "STELLING" family of circus artists, including acrobats, clowns and aerialists, discovered evidence that various family members tried their luck in the USA.  He has just introduced me to the 'Ellis Island Records' of people entering the USA between the late 19th and early 20th centuries.  And what a treasure trove it turns out to be!  He has sent me fourteen records, including, for example, the entry for Frederick William Stelling, who arrived in the USA on 4th March 1903, from Southampton by the ship 'Minneapolis'.  He was aged 34 years and 3 months, was bound for Barnum and Bailey's Circus, and was listed as a Circus Clown!  Kevin tells me that his researches show that Fred Stelling "Later became one of the two principal clowns of the Great Barnum Show, in the USA.  A good-looking young man with curly black hair.  He took up vaulting, studying the methods of Johnny Watson and Eggie Madigan.  With  Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey's circus, for many years.  In 1926 he was famous as 'Butterfly' Fred Stelling, who performed with a fox-terrier called 'Dan'.  Previously his boon companion was a dog called 'Bob', who died of old age.  Still with the Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey circus, in 1928.  Fred Stelling died on 27th February 1929, Philadelphia General Hospital, with no one to claim his body.  He had been picked up in the snow, starved and clutching his little dog to his breast to keep it warm".  A sad story indeed but how revealing!  Another Stelling included in the Ellis Island records was Harry Stelling, with Florence, who arrived on 26th November 1909, from Southampton, sailing on the 'Mauretania' (!) aged 39, an actor/artist (Florence was an artist aged 22) bound for 'Keith's Circus, Memphis, Texas.  The records show that Harry and Florence Louise Stelling returened to the USA on 14th February 1914, bound for the the Orpheum Circus, New York.  My appetite whetted, I looked-up the name Hengler in the Ellis Island records and discovered members of the British circus Henglers included!  All new to me!  So, if you have a circus artist in your family tree, remember that the circus profession was international and that the USA was a big attracation.  Let me know if you find this tip, from Kevin Sterling <kevinstirling@aol.com> useful and share your findings with us, please.  Reply here, or on the 'Forum' section.  Thanks, John Turner.   

I am told by Dr Vanessa Toulmin, of the National Fairground Archive (University of Sheffield, U.K.) that the most frequently consulted work in the Circus Library (over 900 volumes) is my "Twentieth Century Circus people, 1901-1950" (Lingdales Press, Formby, 2003).  The book is rarely on the shelf, in use virtually every day.  The next most popular books are my "Victorian Arena; The Performers", volumes 1 and 2 (1995 & 2000).  Used not only by circus researchers but also by family historians.  The books were written to fill a perceived gap and it is gratifying to learn that they are succeeding!  More volumes are on the way but meanwhile why not email me with your queries?  John Turner.

This American website gets a lot of queries about British circus history and people.  Even people from the UK.  I cannot understand why enquirers, often family historians, ask questions concerning British artistes of a mainly American 'readership'!  But there we are!  If you are seeking British artists it might be worth looking at the American website to see if anyone has already asked about them!  John. 

Visitors to this website will be aware of my interest in the history of Hengler's Circus.  Charles Hengler's sister Agnes Selina (1825-1879) married the famous equestrian John Henderson (1822-1867) in 1843. The story of John Henderson's career was told in 'King Pole', June 1986, pp.4-6.  The literature tells us that the Hendersons had only one child, a daughter, and that when John died unexpctedly and was buried in Ipswich, he was reburied in Highgate Cemetetry, London, respecting his wishes to be in the same grave as his beloved daughter!  But her name does not appear anywhere!  Until now!  Marie, a visitor to www.thegalloper.com website has discovered the family in the 1851 and 1861 censuses.  John and Agnes' daughter was Jane Martha, aged six in 1851, born Maidstone, still alive in 1861 (with her mother in Sheffield, where Hengler's Circus was open from 16th March until 4th May).  The clues contained in Marie's post on www.thegalloper.com website can now be followed up.  What a wonderful tool is the internet and doesn't this show how the community of circus historians can help each other!  God bless you Marie!  John Turner

Visitors to this website may be interested to know that, over the last hundred days, the average number of visitors has been 550 per month.  The highest month was May, with 640 visitors.  the busiest hour of the day is 10.00 to 11.00 pm, for 'circus night birds'!  The busiest day of the week is Monday! Most visitors are from the Continent (72%) with 61% from Britain which is not surprising when the website is devoted to circus artists and shows in Britain.  The most popular search engine used to find us was 'Google' and the most popular keyword used was 'circus'.  The website most frequently referring people to this website was www.thegalloper.com (thanks Dave Page!).  Keep on visiting.  Use the 'Guest Book' button on the left side of the home page to make your comments and keep in touch with me!  Thanks,  John Turner.