Wombwell’s Menagerie founded in 1805

1805 Wombwell’s Menagerie was founded by George Wombwell (1777 – 1850) and it became the biggest menagerie in Britain.

By 1880 Wombwell’s merged with Bostock to form the new Royal Menagerie.

George Wombwell

In 1805 George Wombwell founded the Wombwell’s Travelling Menagerie which became the biggest in Britain.

By 1839 Wombwell’s had fifteen wagons in the travelling show. Wombwell began to tour the fairs of Britain first, and amongst his first acquisitions to start his menagerie were two Boa Constrictors that he bought for £75 from a ship arriving at London Docks.

The Traffic and Trade in Exotic Animals

Wombwell had begun to buy exotic animals from ships that came from Africa, Australia, and South America, and collected a whole menagerie and put them on display. He employed watchers at the ports to spot the ships as they came in and did deals with captains to ensure the animals were offered to him first.  He bought the first ever Giraffe to be imported into Britain for £1000 but sadly the animal died within three weeks.

His travelling menagerie eventually included elephants, giraffes, a gorilla, a hyena, kangaroo, leopards, six lions, llamas, monkeys, ocelots, onagers, ostriches, panthers, a rhino, tigers, wildcats and zebras.

However, many of the animals were from hotter climates so of course many of them died in the colder British climate. Sometimes Wombwell could profitably sell the body to a taxidermist or a medical school; other times he chose to exhibit the dead animal as a curiosity.

Multiple Menageries with Multiple Shows

In England, travelling menageries, such as Wombwell’s Royal, had three shows permanently on the road, and would travel from fair to carnival to festival.

There was more than one Menagerie in the Wombwell portfolio and between 1842-1850 George Wombwell founded the number 2 and 3 menageries.

The Immense Attraction of the Menagerie

Just like the fair, which often advertised its shows with hyperboles such as “Immense Attraction”, the animals in the menagerie were presented in the context of a spectacular display, with extraordinary claims being made about their mythical origins and their characteristics.

The elephants did not travel in the vans but walked inside a bottomless structure which concealed them from public view so that only their feet were visible. Imagine the sight!

Although “immense attraction” aptly describes this travelling menagerie sometimes it was for the wrong reason.

Wallace the Lion gets his revenge

Wallace the lion (born in Edinburgh in 1812), a long-term resident in Wombwell‘s menagerie became notorious during the 1820s and 1830s for his litany of maulings. In 1827 and 1828 alone he tore the hands and limbs off three people, including his keeper.

Wombwell‘s menagerie animals caused other problems too including a leopard that tore at the breast of a woman, and lacerated a young boy who approached the chained animal too closely. In 1835 in one incident Wallace and a tiger killed four people, two of them children, after they escaped from their caravan. This “melancholy accident” was given the verdict of “accidental death” (!).