The Menagerie

The Bengal Lion the tower of London Menagerie

The Victorian Menagerie was run by the likes of Polito, Wombwell, Bostock and Cross. They grew from the trade in animals during the long 18th century

The Early Menagerie

1100’s – 1800’s

The menagerie was born in Roman times, but historically only wealthy or titled people had the means to keep animals for pleasure. These menageries served as status symbols and denoted power and excess. Henry 1st in 1110 created the first menagerie zoo in England at his palace in Oxfordshire which contained lions, tigers and bears – a throwback to the Roman Empire – but at that time it was only for the eyes of nobility.

Seven hundred years later, by the early 1800s in Britain, a public fascination for the menagerie developed, spurred on by the arrival of even more exotic animals. These were coming into the docks in places like London, Belfast and Liverpool. These animals were pouring in from trips made by the elites to far-flung places. They were being sold to dealers like Jamrach and Cross and gentlemen collectors who were taking advantage of new economic opportunities, including the introduction of travelling menageries.

An Exhibition of Wild Beasts. 1774. The British Museum

An engraving 1829 of the Menagerie of Edward Cross

The Earliest Menageries

1700’s – The Early London Menageries

In London during the mid – 1700’s there were a growing number of places for the trade and viewing of exotic animals and the set-up in coffee shops and taverns was based on what was seen in the coffee shops and inns of Amsterdam.

There were many sellers of small birds in London at this time. Many of whom sold canaries. In the early 1700’s a trading post called “The Bird Cage” was one of the earliest shops to buy birds, rather than in the less formal taverns or coffee houses.

Foreign birds and beasts that were brought to Britain were imported from Africa, the Americas, Asia and later from Australia.

Exotic species were imported and shipped to Britain with the idea that they would be both profitable and serve as entertainment as well as proving themselves as the test for classification and recording of their anatomy.

Reptiles like boa constrictors, crocodiles and rattlesnakes found their way into the earliest Menageries only because they could control their metabolism and go without food for many months, otherwise they would almost certainly have died during the journey and would never have been seen by the public in Britain.

Animal Merchants after the 1750s

After the mid 1700’s the number of ships returning from overseas territories and foreign ports multiplied according to the rate of the expansion of the British Empire and the result was the trafficking of exotic animals in much increased varieties and quantities.

It was at this point in the mid 1700’s that animal dealers now started to refer to their business as “Menagerie”. These new Menageries were dealing in much more exotic species, like wolves, crocodiles, and camels, and now London was starting to see Parrots as the basic fare of the Animal Dealers, rather than the earlier favoured ubiquitous Canary.

In the 1760s the Strand, Piccadilly, and St James‘s were the main high streets of the animal trade. By the time 1800 arrived it was possible to walk through West London and see all the important new species of animals, some of which did not live long and all which were exploited for profit.

Menageries were dangerous places

Those who went to witness the Menageries wanted to touch the animals and get close enough to feed them, but Menageries were dangerous places and accidents were not uncommon in the 18th century. However, these accidents seemed to be accepted and people continued to pay to see the sights, and this suggests the public’s acceptance of the danger, and almost a deliberate tempting of the risk in exchange for what was considered to be a thrilling spectacle.

THE NEW TRAVELLING MENAGERIE OF THE 19TH CENTURY

Polito, Wombwell, Bostock and Cross

In the 19th century, travelling menageries, set up by the likes of Polito, Wombwell, Bostock and Cross featured animals ranging from elephants and lions to monkeys and birds, and they drew big crowds.

People were keen to see all these new wonders of the natural world and going to see a Menagerie show was a distinct form of entertainment, just like it had been in Roman times.

Menageries were now available to working people

By the mid-1800s all social classes now had the opportunity to view these amazing animals, and for the working-classes these travelling menagerie shows were a means of escape from the drudgery of daily life. In exchange for a small admission fee the working classes could add a little bit of fascination and excitement to their grinding lives.

The visual show of the Travelling Menagerie

The menageries travelled with horses during the era of steam. They arrived in a town or a village almost like magic, set up their shows, and were mostly gone in a couple of days.

Imagine the bands, the big tents, the fantasy, all the lights and the exotic animals; it must have been quite show and a thing of great excitement for the populations of Britain.

The Delight of a Menagerie Seen in the South of France

I remember my own delight and excitement when, quite unexpectedly, I came across a small travelling menagerie-cum-circus in France about twenty five years ago sometime around 2000.

In deep and rural Southwest France absolutely nothing happens, and I do mean nothing, except sometimes the movement of cows from one field to another, or the arrival of a group of Egrets descending to pick off the insects from the cattle.

Imagine my surprise and delight when I drove down a very small track to the next hamlet and was suddenly confronted with a group of Llamas in the middle of the road (they may have been Alpacas, I don’t know the difference!).

As I drove further towards the group, I saw the tents being set up and heard a band in rehearsal. I still think of this over twenty five years later, because it was a complete surprise and such a departure from an ordinary day in rural France.

So just like during the 19th century when people were much less able to travel around and relied upon horses, and were therefore more or less anchored to their local place, it was a huge event for any entertainment to come to the village. Everybody would have been engaged with occasion. The music was loud, there were strangers in their midst, there’d be people stopping to find food and supplies – it would have been the talk of the town (or village!).

Simulation of exotic nature or exploitation?

Whilst the travelling menagerie brought entertainment and education, exploitation of animals ran deep. The excuse that it was a simulation of “nature” was far from the truth since animals were trundled from one location to another and were caged, often in very unsuitably small spaces, without correct food. There was no veterinary care at all. Many of them died, and I can only imagine that many of them experienced severe stress in travelling in these alien environments.

It’s quite true that some exotic animals on display could be dangerous; keepers might be mauled, spectators maimed and animals could and did escape the confines of their cages. Escaped menagerie animals attacking horses or mail coaches on toll roads, and the story of a leopard strolling down Piccadilly were two real examples.

Menagerie ultimately becomes the Zoo

Ultimately the Zoos became the new cultural institutions that took the place of Menageries and their exotic animals with the opening of the ZSL in London, and new zoos also emerged in Dublin (1831), Liverpool (1832), Manchester (1836) Belle Vue, and the Manchester Zoological Gardens (1838) as well as Edinburgh Zoological Garden (1839).

The Liverpool Mercury 1822 shows that Wombwell is advertising his menagerie and that he has a contemporary rival in “Drake and Gillmans” also bringing their menagerie to Liverpool which has “never before been seen in the Kingdom”

An advertisement for Wombwell’s Menagerie in 1865 in the relatively isolated North West towns of Barrow in Furness and nearby Dalton Village in England. Imagine such places being visited by Zebras, Tigers and Panthers?