Davies Circus

Jun 13

13 min read

by J.P. Browne

Davies Circus was founded by Robert Davies and was a popular circus in Lancashire and Yorkshire during the early 1880’s. Robert Davies was born in Bolton, Lancashire (20). His family were circus folk, although his birth certificate listed his father as a forge laborer, which was common as many circus men took on other jobs to support the business. Robert met Mathilda Hall, whose family worked with the Davies Family Circus in England. The couple eloped to Belfast, where they are believed to have married. Robert continued in the circus trade, holding onto the Davies family name for the circus he ran in Ireland.

In 1889 Davies Circus came to Ireland bringing their company and children including their eldest child Robert Jr. The tour seemed to have been a successful one with only one major incident happening with the arrest of an acrobat on the tour called Samuel Hudson. The charge was bigamy; the aggrieved was Robert Davies whose daughter Amelia he had married. Davies who doesn’t to have seemed to have approved of the marriage and making enquires after the wedding and found out that Hudson had already a wife called Francis Ellen Utty who was alive and well and living in Limerick. Hudson was arrested in Maghera after a show. (1) His defense when brought to trial was ‘that he thought his former wife was dead, not having heard from her for long time. Miss Davis (sic) had been kind to his children, and for this reason he had married her.” (2)

The Davies Circus next came to Ireland in 1894 touring the country where they received excellent reviews by papers such as the Connacht Telegraph who having watched the show in Ballaghaderren, Co. Roscommon, stated “the clowns were the leading feature, and if I offer my humble opinion far better than I ever saw before. The acting on the horizontal bars was surely good, and great was the surprise at the feats performed by the Spanish bull. They were both well patronised, and the clapping and peals of laughter that interrupted the scene, showed that their actions and ideas were fully appreciated.” (1) We don’t know if the Davies only meant to stay the one season in Ireland again or planned to settle here permanently, regardless of the motives Robert Davies died on the 16th March 1896, aged 65 leaving Elizabeth in sole possession of the Circus. The decision then was made to stay in Ireland with (presumably) a relation of Robert Sr. called William H. Davies (3) taking over the day to day running of the circus. Elizabeth herself seems to have taken a step back after Robert Sr.’s death and settled in Irvinestown in Co. Tyrone. The Davies Circus soon became a staple of the Irish Circus World mostly touring the North and West of the Island and being favourably looked upon by the Irish Circus Patrons.

As a circus they were one of the smaller operations with a tent holding roughly 500 people. G.W. Stevens a reporter for the Daily Mail who came to Ireland ‘looking for a famine’ came across Davies Circus in 1898 in Killala, Co. Mayo and gave the following account. “If my counting was right, there attended, exclusive of two boys who crawled in under the tent, 309 persons. With all allowance for those who came in from the country round, 309 is not bad, during a famine, for a population of 500. Of the 309, 57 paid a shilling, and 249 sixpence; three small girls attended at the expense of the “Daily Mail." The money taken at the door - I hope this is not giving away the Messrs. Davies's professional secrets-would thus work out at £2 17s plus £6 4s 6d; total, £9 1s 6d. Now, £9 ls 6d is not a vast sum. And I should I be the last creature in the world to regret that every man woman, and child in Ireland should attend circuses once a week for the whole of their lives. They have little enough to amuse them, I should say. Lord Salisbury has recommended the diversion, and it was an interesting testimonial to the wisdom of his famous indiscretion that while the nephew is labouring at local government Killala went with the uncle.” (4)

Davies Circus (courtesy of Deirdre O Brien McGivney)

By 1900 they had grown big enough that they were able to put on a full-blown Hippodrome acts showing such incidents as the Spion Kop Battle a major event in the Boer War that was being fought at the time. The Leitrim Advertiser which reviewed their show that season gave it a glowing review stating “every item on the programme was new, and the acting and performing marvelous under such unseasonable circumstances. The Transvaal War pictures and one depicting a Missionary saving his wife and child from Chinese brutality were really clear and interesting. Messrs Davies are certainly worthy of large patronage in the future, as their performance is more up-to-date for the public taste than that of any other circus that visited Mohill this year.” (5)

In fact that Davies was becoming successful occasionally caused it trouble. W.H. Davies was stabbed several times by a Traveller called John Quillagan after demanding twice the amount agreed upon to fix a lamp as to quote his motivation “the circus was doing well” (2). Another employee a labourer named Thomas Keogh sued Davies Circus for extra money he said he was due with the case being thrown out. (6) The Circus seemed to have been doing well under William H. Davies, who was also an excellent equestrian performer in his own right who seemed to have being well liked by most who knew him. There are numerous letters of thank you in local newspapers from councils thanking him for letting in the children from the poorhouses for free. This was a charitable act which was looked upon favourably by the public in general while also being good publicity for a circus as the local newspapers invariably printed the ‘open letter’ to let the poor children have a day of fun.

Unfortunately not everyone was as charitable as William Davies. During the 1901 season the Longford Journal publicly condemned Davies Circus in an editorial for vulgarity getting the local Church of Ireland involved who also censored them. Apparently they committed the cardinal crime of singing funny songs. The act who committed this grievous error were called ‘The Warlock’s” two comic fiddlers who according to the Longford Journal imported ‘music hall trash’ into the ring. The editors was equally put out with one of the clowns too who sang a vulgar comedy song called “Umts-um-te”. (7) The whole thing came to a head with the Senior Reverend of the Church of Ireland the Most Rev. Dr. Hoare in Longford denouncing them from the pulpit. Thankfully no harm seems to have been done with reparations given the next year with ‘a guarantee of purity’ made by Davies Circus. (8)

The 1902 season started with a new name ‘Davies Paragon Circus’ (9) which by August had changed to ‘W.H. Davies Paragon Circus’ (10). What the other members of the Davies Family thought about this was unknown. Davies Circus seems to have been one of the pioneers of early cinema in Ireland. With picture being taken of local sights and then presented on a screen for the amusement of all. An advertisement in the Derry Journal (11) tells there unique selling point that year. “A feature of the coming show will the biographe display which arouses great applause in the various towns where shown mainly on account the fidelity with which local views and people are pourtrayed (sic). It is learned that to-day Mr. Davies’s expert will take views at about one p.m. at Carlisle Bridge which will be shown at the performances on 23rd inst. In addition to the biographe exhibition at Davies’s circus there also appears many clever acrobats, trapezists, jugglers, riders, and six comical clowns, the whole forming excellent entertainment.” This would have attracted numerous crowds in interested to see the new machinery and by saying when and where Davies obviously would have made a point of filming anyone who went by explaining that they might be able to see themselves on the silver screen if they bought a ticket when the circus came in. The Derry Journal again gives a summary of their success with this method. “Scenes in Shipquay street, on Carlisle Bridge, other local views were cast on screen, and afforded considerable merriment, especially where familiar figures in the city were recognised.” (12)

That same season W.H. Davies Circus made legal history also when a man called Thomas Sinnott was arrested in their tent in Killaveny, Co. Wicklow, for being drunk and disorderly. The arresting Sergeant stated the defendant was creating a disturbance with Sinnot pleading guilty. During the trial the point was raised as to whether circus was a public place or not, with the defendant’s solicitor a Mr. Otter stating he did not think it could be considered a public place. As Mr. Otter stated “The definition of a public place was a place to which the public had a right of access without payment, and of course a circus would not come under that head.” (13) The case was subsequently adjourned as legal clarification was then required.

Sometime after 1902 though things seem to have taken a turn for the worse and a lot of this seems to have happened when Robert Davies Jr. came of age and took over the running of the circus. We don’t know when exactly W.H. Davies left or under what circumstances it could have being anything for a falling out with the family to simple retirement but by 1904 Robert Davies Jr was in charge of the circus along with two of his sisters. We also don’t know how much money W.H. Davies took out of the circus as the 1904 season seems to have being a large disappointment with the Leitrim Observer reviewing their 1904 show stating that the show was “one of the poorest seen in this town for many years, and these who paid for admission came away thoroughly disgusted.” (14) The circus seems to shrunk too, at one stage in 1901 it was able to hold 4,000 people (15) but by 1904 it they had a tent whose maximum capacity was 500 people.

The 1904 season in general seems to have being a failure for Davies Circus. A performance in Derry City in 1904 ended in total disaster which turned out to be a foreshadowing of things to come under Davies Jr. The show which was oversold ended with the circus tent collapsing in on top of people with Davies stating that a group of ‘Gallery Boys’ had done it on purpose while trashing the circus equipment and slashing the Circus tent (16). Much sympathy was given initially to the disaster with Elizabeth Davies (who was still the legal owner) declaring she was suing for damages of £140. The case went to court on the 23rd of September the same year with Davies losing. Not only did they lose but they were quite lucky not to have had charges brought against them for fraud and perjury.

The facts of the case were the following. Davies Circus stated that ‘the claim was for injury and damage to the circus tent, bell ropes, screen, lamps, cinematograph, musical instruments, Ac. It appeared that on the 18th of August last the circus set their hypodromme in the field on the Strand Road. One of the ladies was going through a performance when the crowd rushed in, cut the ropes, and wrecked the entire place. There was a lamp attached the centre pole in the tent but they managed to remove it in time. There was a cinematograph, with gas cylinders, inside the tent, but they were removed in time. The cinematograph machine was turned over. The crowd cut the ropes, and brought down the tent, on themselves. They then broke up the instruments.’ (17) A Mr. Patrick Maxwell appeared for Davies Circus, with a Sir Henry Miller, the Town Clerk, opposing on behalf of the Corporation.

From the beginning it was obvious that the two testimonies were totally different. Here is the testimony of Michael Fitzgerald, a musical clown working for Davies. “l was at the door seeing about the tickets. For every one who passed in with a ticket two others got in without tickets. It was impossible to keep them out. It was my duty to help the young lady on the wire rope, but owing the crush I could not get near her. When she was leaving the rope I was round at the back, and I saw her assaulted by some of the crowd. Two boys then went into the ring with a carpet to give an aerobatic or contortionist turn, but the crowd rolled them up in the carpet and trundled them outside the tent. (Laughter.) I believe I am the only representative Irishman in the company, by name any rate. (Laughter.) I went into the ring with my basket of musical instruments. The ring was crowded. The people took the musical instruments and smashed them. They would not listen to me at all. (Laughter.) I then tried a song, and the crowd allowed me to get through it. A young lady afterwards came in with a cinematograph, but the screen was pulled down, and shortly afterwards the tent fell in.” (17)

And here is the testimony of a Sergeant Quinlivan who was on duty at the tent that night. “I was standing at the entrance to the tent, mid, so far I saw, everyone who made that crowd had presented a ticket. The tent was filled with a crowd far beyond its holding capacity, yet the circus company sold tickets to everyone who came, and tried get them inside the tent. The result was that the tent became very much overcrowded, even to the ring, so that there was room for the performers at all. He heard the seats creaking and breaking, and noticed that the crowd became slightly excited. He saw several respectable people leave the tent, but did not notice them receiving their money back. When the cinematograph was about to be shown the lights were lowered and taken away, so that the place was left in darkness. The people got uneasy, and the tent began to fall in. The crowd rushed out. Davies made no complaint to him about the cinematograph being smashed. A member of the company named Burns was yelling that his leg was broken. Davies splintered and bandaged the man’s leg, and called for the ambulance, this man was conveyed to the infirmary where it was found there was nothing the matter with him, and he walked back again (Laughter.) The Recorder —You do not believe the man being cured by a miracle (Laughter.) Witness – No. 1 Cross-examined by Mr. Maxwell—What do you think brought the root of the tent down. I think the support ropes were cut. I By whom? l am not certain, but have my own opinion. Do you think it was done by the circus people? At the time the tent came down I was positive that the circus people had done that in order get rid of the crowd, whom they were unable to accommodate and entertain. Do you believe that now? Certainly.”

As the case went on it became various obvious to everyone in the courthouse that the police were telling one story and the Davies Circus troupe another. The verdict in the end probably surprised no one with the judge refusing the application with costs. And while he was kindly in his summing up of the events it was still a very public embarrassment for Davies Circus as well as a financial blow.

The show seems to have stumbled on for the next few years with the only notable event being the death of Elizabeth Davies in 1912. (18) Davies circus seems to have stumbled on until 1922 where it ended in unusual circumstances. Piecing the different reports together it seems the following events happened.

It all started with a burglary of 'Messrs Lockington Stores' in Carrickmacross, Co. Monaghan. A member of the Inniskeen Volunteers, Captain Duffy (Ireland was in the middle of a civil war at the time) was alerted of the robbery and after checking out the premises and filing a report he began a preliminary sweep of the area where he came across a man holding a bag on the Carrickmacross road. The man seeing him coming panicked and threw the bag over a ditch whereby Captain Duffy stopped and searched him. The man who gave his name as 'William Boyle' was found on his person to have the following small items numerous pairs of shoe laces, connections for bicycle pumps and shaving brushes to name a few. The bag which was retrieved from the field was found to have “a large quantity of goods consisting of several pairs of boots, a suit length, ready-made suits, several pairs of socks, shirts collars and gloves” (19) After being cautioned William Boyle (whose real name was actually Boyd) admitted that he had broken into Lockington's Stores and had robbed the place with the help of an accomplice. The accomplice’s' name? Robert Davies Jr. of Davies Circus which was playing nearby. Captain Duffy then with several men went to the circus where they found Robert Davies Jr. in his caravan. Having being informed of the charges that were brought against him Davies denied the charges and tried to leave (or escape) where he was physically apprehended by a member of the Inniskeen Volunteers called Peter Finegun. A charge of resisting arrest was also then brought against Davies. A search of his self and his caravan was then began with “a couple of new pocket handkerchiefs and a shaving brush” (5) being found. Boyle/Boyd and Robert Davies were then both remanded in custody for 8 days to stand trial.

At the special court held in Carrickmacross seven days later Davies Jr. was charged with receiving stolen goods and Boyd with the larceny of a quantity of shop goods from the stores of Messrs Lockington. Boyd confessed to the robbery and stated “that Davies wanted him to take all responsibility for the robbery and to swear that he Davies was no way connected with it. Boyd also said they were both at the carrying away of the goods, and that they intended to raffle them, at the next place they moved to.” (6) Both men were then given two months in prison without hard labour.

It seems Boyd and Davies were both suspected of several other robberies in the area particularly of a jewellers were several pocket watches were stolen but these couldn't be proven with William Boyle only admitting the one burglary. As for the reasons why they did it? These have being lost in the mists of time. Maybe the circus was doing badly and by raffling the goods they were guaranteed a bumper crowd maybe it was greed. Unfortunately it seems we won't know.

As for Davies Circus kept going until 1936 when it ended with Robert Davies decided to sell the assets rather than let the circus going under the next generation. (20)

Bibliography:

1. Northern Whig - Wednesday 20 February 1889 page 3

2. Dublin Daily Express - Thursday 14 March 1889 Page 7

3. Derry Journal - Monday 09 October 1899 page 6

4. Stevens, G.W. - In search of a famine - Belfast News-Letter - Tuesday 31 May 1898 page 6

5. Leitrim Advertiser - Thursday 09 August 1900 page 2

6. Derry Journal - Monday 09 October 1899 page 6.

7. Longford Journal - Saturday 20 April 1901 page 1.

8. Longford Journal - Saturday 05 April 1902 page 1

9. Waterford Chronicle - Saturday 07 June 1902 page 3

10. Donegal Independent - Friday 29 August 1902 page 4.

11. Derry Journal - Wednesday 17 September 1902 page 5