Travelling Photographers, Ghost Shows & Other Optical Exhibitions(Cinematographs used by Travelling Showmen) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Photographic
booths, ghost illusion shows and
other visual exhibitions all play a role in the history of the
fairgrounds. From the mid 1800s, photographic booths were popular
attractions at many local fairs (there were a dozen photographic
booths
at
Lincoln Easter Fair in 1896) and many travelling
photographers were from traditional
fairground
families.
Ghost illusion shows and other optical entertainments were popular
before the bioscope shows took over the fairgrounds in the late
1890s.
Bailey's Ghost Show:
Hunslett Feast, 1897 (Merry Go Round,
Vol. IX, No. 6, Oct, 1956) Baker's Ghost Illusion Show,
London, 1886 Beach and Humphrey's Great Ghost Illusion, at Peckham Rye, London, 1884 (poster) [showman William Beach ??] Beard, John: photographer:
at Fair
in Market Place, Cricklade, Old Swindon, Wiltshire, 1871 (census) Bell, Charles
(born
Bath): traveller with Panorama:
at Swansea,
Glamorgan, 1851 (census) Bennett,
Richard: 'Peppers Ghost'
at
Kidderminster Foreign, Worcester, 1881 (census) Biddall, Henry: showman and ghost show proprietor: at Shadwell, Middlesex with show, 1851 (census) Biddall, George (1848-1909) (son of Henry): ghost show proprietor: G. Biddall's Ghost Show, Glasgow, 1870s (Merry Go Round, Vol. XII, No. 4, June 1959); Phantospectra Ghostodrama, Alloa Fair, 1890; at Newcastle, Co. Durham, 1891; Jarrow, 1901 (census); Biddall's Ghost Show: at Alloa, Scotland, September 1907 (Merry Go Round, Special Issue: Feb-May-Aug, 1967) Biddall, William: menagerie and ghost show priorietor; travelled a bioscope as early as 1900: at Hammersmith, 1901 (census) Birchall's Ghost Show then bioscope: at Glasgow Christmas Fair, 1896 (Merry Go Round, Vol. IX, No. 1, Dec 1955) Bishop,
Alfred: photographer;
at Lawford, Essex, 1881 (census) Bishop,
James: Fine
Art Exhibition (Merry Go Round) Blandy,
James: ghost
show; Blandy's Ghost Illusions,
St. Giles Fair, 1889
(Oxford Chronicle, 24 Sept 1889):
at Jarrow, Co. Durham, 1881: St. Helens, 1891 (census) Brewer, Francis: photographic
artist: photographic huts at Bradford,
Lancashire, 1871 (census) Butterworth,
William: photographic
artist: at Catrine, Ayrshire, Scotland,
1861 (census): opened Birmingham
Photographic Gallery
(with Smith) at Stewarton, Ayrshire, 25 December 1858 Butterworth,
Joseph: photographic
artist:
at Castleton, 1881: Manchester,
1891 (census) Caddick, B: travelling photographer: Caddick's Royal Studio at Green's Old Barrick Carnival, Glasgow, 1900c; Caddick’s Photo Studio: at Aberdeen, 1903; at Edinburgh 1906 (Christmas); at Birmingham Onion Fair, 1912 (Merry Go Round) Chapman,
Henry: photographer
and showman; panaroma exhibitor,
Bath, 1861 (census); at
Tottenham, 1871 (with Sanger's horses); Lambeth Surrey, 1881 (census) Chapman, William: traveller and photographer: at Manchester, 1861; Manchester, 1871 (with Sanger's Circus); Lambeth, 1891 (census) Chappel, William
(associated with John Radford): Chappell's cinematographe & phantographe,
Ashton-under-Lyne, 1897 (Barnes, J. Vol.2:
1897); Radford
and Chapel's Ghost Show, Nottingham Goose Fair,1898 Clark,
Joseph (Colonel Clarke): born 1820c: ghost show
proprietor: J. Clark’s Ghost Show,
Birmingham,
1879 (Aston Chronicle); Clark’s Ghost Pavillion,
1882 (poster); Clark's A1. Ghost
Illusion, 1890; Colonel
Clarke’s Ghost Show, Gorton
Wakes, 1898 (Merry Go Round); Bishopwearmouth,
Sunderland, Durham, 1891 (census) Clarke: William (son of Joseph Clark): ghost show then bioscope: Phantom Spectre Ghost Illusion: at Bishopwearmouth, Sunderland, Durham, 1891: at Pendlebury, 1901 (census) Codona, William: equestrian, showman and ghost show proprietor: Codona's Ghost Show, Glasgow Christmas Fair, 1896; Glasgow Fair, 1904 (Merry Go Round, Vol. XV, No. 6, Easter 1963): at Wigan, 1871 (census) Codona,
Thomas:
showman and ghost show:
Codona's
Ghost Show, Newcastle Festival, 1927 (Merry Go Round, Vol. X, No. 4,
June,
1957) Codman, Rebecca: photographist:
Elmham Fair, Norfolk, 1871 (census) Crouch,
Herbert: wax
works proprietor (Glasgow); exhibited a Kinetoscope
at Dunfermline Scientific
Exhibition in March 1897 Cutler,
Thomas: travelling photographer:
at Kidderminster Borough, Worcester, 1881 (census);
Caravan on May Day Green, Barnsley, 1891 (census) Crecraft, James:
travelling photographer;
at Beast Market, Wrexham,
1871 (census) Dobson, Henry:
travelling photographer;
at St. Austell, 1891 (census) Duggan, Charles (born Manchester): travelling photographer and chemist in caravan at Chipping Barnet, 1861 (census) assisted by James Mare (born Walcott, Surrey) Dyer, Thomas J.: marionettes;
travelling theatre and ghost show,
later bioscope Dyson's
Diorama Ebly,
William: travelling photographer
and portable theatre:
at
Ystradyfodwg, Clydach, Rhondda, Wales, 1891;
Bedwelty, 1901 (census) Fossett,
John: travelling photographer:
at Fair in
Market Place,
Cricklade, Old Swindon, Wilts, 1871: Wrexham,
1891 (census) Gilley, Robert: ghost show (Merry Go Round) Gotthiermer,
Jacob: travelling photographer:
at Pool, Montgomery, Wales, 1881;
round- about proprietor at Denbighshire, 1901 (census) Gwynn,
Mabbett: photographic
artist: at
Madeley, Shropshire, 1881 (census) Hamilton: William,
Joseph,
Alfred and Harry: Hamilton's
Dioramas toured until 1911 Hammersley,
Henry (1842-1906)
(associated with George Wall) : ghost show
proprietor: Wall and Hammersley's
Ghost Show; traveller with Phantascope, Heap, Lancashire,
1881 (census); the show
was later
converted into
a travelling cinema (taken over by Pat Collins in 1899-1900) Harrison, Stanley: Panorama
showman; at Brighton, 1891 (census) Hitchcock, James:
travelling photographer,
at Houslow, Middlesex 1891 (census) Holden, Israel: Fine
Art Exhibition,
Manchester, 1891 (census) Holloway, Horace: ghost show proprietor and travelling theatre (Merry Go Round) Horton,
Henry:
travelling photographer:
at Fair in Market Place,
Cricklade, Old
Swindon, Wilts, 1871 (census) Howard's Ghost Show (Merry Go Round) King, George:
actor
and advance man for Randall Williams: with ghost
show at Stamford, Northampton, 1881 (census) Lamb's Ghost
Show: at Preston Whit Fair, 1874 (Merry Go Round) Lawrence, Edward: ghost show which went to John Parker, later a bioscope show: Lawrence’s Ghost Illusion, Aston, 1885 (Aston Chronicle) Lewis,
John Henry: photographer
and showman: used one
of the first
"instant photo" cameras on the fairgrounds (early 1900s) McIndoe, J: ghost show: Glasgow Christmas Fair, 1896 (Merry Go Round, Vol. IX, No. 1, Dec 1955) Mackney,
Mrs. Margaret: ghost show: Mackney’s Ghost Show,
Houghton-Le-Spring, 1898 (Merry Go
Round, Vol XI, No. 6, Oct/Nov 1958) Mackney, Alfred: ghost
show and
bioscope: “Mackney's Ghost Illusion
and Bioscope”, Newcastle
Town Moor Fair (Vol.
XIV, No. 2, May-June 1961) Moss,
James: Diorama
proprietor Nail,
John: ghost show,
converted into a bioscope about 1900:
ghost show: Wanstead Flats, 1899 (Merry
Go Round, Vol. XII, No. 2, Mar 1959): at West Ham, Essex, 1891;
at Battersea 1901 (census) Parker,
John: ghost
show
previously owned by Lawrence:
Parker’s Ghost Show, Aston, 1888 (Aston Chronicle); Colonel Parker's
Genii,
Ghost
and
Goblin Show: at St. Peters, Derby, 1891 (with ghost show) Parker,
William: photographer
At Wynbunbury, Cheshire, 1881 (census) Perkins,
James: ghost
show proprietor Payne, Thomas:
ghost
show proprietor, then bioscope show: Captain
Payne's Ghost Show: with a
travelling cinema at Bilston, 1898 Pepper, John H.:
a
professor of chemistry, lecturer and showman: creator of Pepper's
Ghost (a stage presentation of the ghost illusion effect
developed by John Dirck in 1860): private exhibition by "Dr. Pepper"
and "Professor
Groves"
at the London Polytechnic (Daily News,
March 24, 1856): "Pepper's Ghost" at Polytechnic, 1862: on tour in
Manchester in 1863: at Mapledurham,
Oxfordshire, 1871 (census): died 1900 (News
of the World, April 1, 1900) Poole
Brothers: Walter, Charles, George
and Joseph: associated with Anthony Young: travelled various visual
exhibitions:
Poole and Young's Panorama
at St. George's Hall, Bradford, Merthyr, 1873; Poole and Young's Phantoscope,
March, 1876; Poole's
Grand Pictorial Tour, at Royal Victorian Hall, Lambeth, 1885 (poster); Poole's New Myriorama,
at Sanger's Grand
National Amphiteatre,
Lambeth,1889 (poster); Harry Poole's Picturesque Myriorama,
at Hastings,1891 (poster); Charles
W. Poole's Diorama,
at Folkestone,
December 1894; Joseph
Poole's Myriorama at Exeter,
November 1896. Porri, Austin: travelling photographer;
at Radford, 1861; Grantham, 1871; Nottingham, 1881 Powell's Fine Art Gallery:
at Peterbridge Bridge Fair, 1904 Rayner,
James: (son of Samuel Rayner): marionette
show, portable theatre and ghost
show: at Sneinton, 1871; see James
Rayner Radford
and Chappell (John Radford and
William Chappell):
marionettes, ghost
show,
then bioscope: “Radford and
Chappell’s Phantoscope”, Boston May Fair, 1897 (Boston Guardian
& Lincolnshire Independent, May 8, 1897); Radford
and
Chapel's Ghost Show,
Nottingham Goose Fair,1898 Richardson's ghostly
melodrama (theatre), at Greenwich Fair, 1830s Roberts, James:
travelling photographic
saloon at Ardwick, Lancashire, 1871 (census) Sandell,
William: photographer:
at
Grantham
Fair, Lincoln, 1871, 1881 (census) Shaw, Arthur: photographer:
at Cheshunt, 1881; at Biggleswade, travelling with Harris' steam
circus, 1891 (census) Tyler, Charles: travelling photographer: at Grantham Fair,1871, 1881; at Morledge, Derby, 1891 (census) Turner, Thomas:
travelling photographic
booth; often attended Hull Fair Wadbrook,
Henry: ghost
show
then bioscope: Wadrook's ghost illusion show at Broseley Pleaure
Fair, Shropshire, 1894;
Wadbrook’s Ghost
& Electric Cinematograph, Birmingham Onion Fair, 1897 (The Era) Walbrook, Alfred: ghost show Wall,
George: ghost show:
"phantascope
illusionist" at Clitheroe,
1871 (census); Grand Phantascope
at World's Fair, London,1874/5; Wall
and Hammersley's
Ghost Show; Wall's ghost
delusions,
living pictures and variety theatre, Gorton, 1897 (Barnes, J. Beginnings of
The Cinema in England: Vol.
2: 1897); Wall's
ghost illusion and living pictures, Stockport Fair, 1897 (Barnes, J.: Vol. 2);
the show was later
converted into bioscope Wallis,
George: travelling photographer;
at Liverpool, 1881; Gateshead, 1891 (census) Wallis, Henry James
(born London): photographer/photographic
artist, Liverpool,
1861, 1871, 1881 (census) Wallser, John: ghost show Walton: photo booth converted into a cinematograph exhibition, Ilkley Feast, 1897 (Barnes, J. Beginnings of The Cinema in England: Vol. 2: 1897) S. Watson's Ghost Illusions, Uxbridge Fair, 1878 (poster) Westrop,
John: travelling photographer
and showman:
at
Grantham Fair, Lincoln, 1881: Much Hadham,
Hertfordshire, 1891 (census): "Westrop's
Peep Show" attended St. Giles Fair, Oxford; Westrop's bioscope at Hull
Fair, 1900 Whayman,
Lawrence (born Norfolk): photographer:
at Aberdare, 1971: Upper
Llanvrechva, Monmouth, Wales, 1881 (census)
(William Hasting and Henry Whayman's Bioscope was at Wormwood Scrubs,
1905) Whiting's Fine Art Exhibition, World's Fair, London, 1874, 1879, 1881 (poster) Wiglesworth, Edward: Diorama
showman:
at Neath, 1851 (census) Wilden,
Alfred: master photographer:
at
Liverpool, 1881 (census) Wildman, Frederick: photographer: at Fair in Market Place, Cricklade, Old Swindon, Wilts, 1871 (census) Williams, Alfred: ghost show then bioscope: with ghost show at Gorton Wakes, 1900 (Merry Go Round, Vol. VII, No. 12, May, 1953): at Oldham, Lancashire, 1891 (census) Williams, Randall: optical illusionist and ghost show proprietor (Pepper's Ghost): Great Ghost Show; Great Hobgoblinscope; Grand Phantascopical Exhibition; converted his show into a bioscope 1896-97 Williams, Randall (nephew of Randall Williams): ghost show: at Elland, Yorkshire, 1901 (census) Williams,
Robert (uncle of Randall): photographer
and travelling showman; Picture Gallery and Fine Art
Exhibition: at
Ashton,
Lancashire, 1868; Radcliffe, 1869: at Great
Yarmouth Fair, 1891 (census) Williams, Robert H. (son of Robert, cousin to Randall),
various enterprises, including photography booth and cinematograph. Williams,
Thomas (father of Randall): photographic
artist and travelling showman: at St.
Helens, 1861 (census):
Runcorn, Cheshire, 1862 Wilson,
William: 1829-1893: photographer
and travelling showman:
at Great
Yarmouth Fair, 1861; Burrough Hills, Leicestershire,
1871; Grantham Fair, 1881; swings proprietor at
West Ham, Essex, 1891(census) Professor Wood: dioramic and cinematograph lectures, Douglas, Isle of Man, 1897 (Barnes, J. Beginnings of The Cinema in England: Vol.2: 1897)
|