From sawdust to Windsor Castle

My father and mother. My mother dies and my father marries again. A bad time with stepmother. When nine years old I run away. My first “engagement.” Odd experiences. I try to be...

I tramp from Bristol to London with my properties. A one-day show with the “Retort” Circus at the Crystal Palace. The seats collapse. I join Croueste and Nella’s Circus. A “doub...

Am engaged at Astley’s. The curious history of the theatre. Sanger’s odd expedient against fire. I am a soldier for one night in “Fair Rosamond.” Recreation at the “Bower Saloon...

A turning point in my career. I accept an offer to go to America and travel with John H. Murray’s Railroad Circus. The discomforts of crossing the Atlantic. The adventures of a...

My second visit to America. A caravan journey across the prairies and the Rockies from New York to San Francisco. My experiences with Red Indians. A novel treatment of fever. Pe...

“Jumbo” shipped. The Baroness Burdett-Coutts gives him his last bun. Arrives safely at New York. A duty of £450 demanded. My awkward encounter with the Customs officer. Fatal ac...

I join Hengler’s Circus at Liverpool. Mr. Charles Hengler’s peculiarities. A black or red nose? An unlucky ride in the early morning after a late night. I break my ankle. Incapa...

The doings of my donkeys “Tom” and “Jerry.” How I educated them. The training of animals. A Hull doctor hoaxed. My misadventure on the opening night at Hull. How “Tom” was taugh...

I experiment with geese. A goose race in tubs. A fiasco. Sarony, the showman artist-photographer of Scarborough. I begin the training of geese. Their erratic behaviour. They dev...

I am engaged to appear at Madrid. Something about my wonderful game-cock. Cock-fighting in London in the ’eighties! The secret of an Endell Street cellar. How I obtained the bir...

Odds and ends of circus life. The “peep show” cooking stoves. How I “had” Lord Randolph Churchill in Dublin. I distinguish myself at a sham fight. An unscrupulous practical joke...

More odds and ends. How I was rescued from “drowning” at Douglas. The mock medals. A night sensation at sea. I act as a race-course steward at the Manx “Derby.” A good old “gag....

American notes. A bogus boxing match. Dispersed by hose-pipe. Jem Mace and Joe Goss. I second Mace and get the worst of it. Queer American law. Washed away on Coney Island. An i...

My second visit to Australia. I train a performing horse on board. Am engaged by Harry Rickards for a twenty-seven weeks’ tour. I play for five nights only. Summoned to London b...

Managers and actors I have known. P. T. Barnum. A wonderful organiser. How a big circus travels. Barnum’s consideration for his company. His little speeches. General Tom Thumb....

My first engagement at Covent Garden. My performing pig. Its ultimate end. Some dog yarns. Animal trainers not cruel. “Verdun,” the wonderful performing horse. How E. T. Smith s...

Pantomimes at old “Drury.” A pantomime mishap. “Spoofing” a Hebe of the old Gaiety buffet. E. J. Odell’s rebuke. Sitting on a corpse! Drury Lane memories. Lady Dunlo and the ham...

American comic films an imitation of the English harlequinade. Charlie Chaplin’s “method.” The modern pantomime not produced for children. The clown’s “business” spoilt by the o...

The films. A new experience. The humours of rehearsals. Chasing a hat. An embarrassing encounter with bees. How “little Nell” was buried. Blowing up “old Peggotty.” The “Startin...

My father and mother. My mother dies and my father marries again. A bad time with stepmother. When nine years old I run away. My first “engagement.” Odd experiences. I try to be...

I tramp from Bristol to London with my properties. A one-day show with the “Retort” Circus at the Crystal Palace. The seats collapse. I join Croueste and Nella’s Circus. A “doub...

Am engaged at Astley’s. The curious history of the theatre. Sanger’s odd expedient against fire. I am a soldier for one night in “Fair Rosamond.” Recreation at the “Bower Saloon...

A turning point in my career. I accept an offer to go to America and travel with John H. Murray’s Railroad Circus. The discomforts of crossing the Atlantic. The adventures of a...

My second visit to America. A caravan journey across the prairies and the Rockies from New York to San Francisco. My experiences with Red Indians. A novel treatment of fever. Pe...

“Jumbo” shipped. The Baroness Burdett-Coutts gives him his last bun. Arrives safely at New York. A duty of £450 demanded. My awkward encounter with the Customs officer. Fatal ac...

I join Hengler’s Circus at Liverpool. Mr. Charles Hengler’s peculiarities. A black or red nose? An unlucky ride in the early morning after a late night. I break my ankle. Incapa...

The doings of my donkeys “Tom” and “Jerry.” How I educated them. The training of animals. A Hull doctor hoaxed. My misadventure on the opening night at Hull. How “Tom” was taugh...

I experiment with geese. A goose race in tubs. A fiasco. Sarony, the showman artist-photographer of Scarborough. I begin the training of geese. Their erratic behaviour. They dev...

I am engaged to appear at Madrid. Something about my wonderful game-cock. Cock-fighting in London in the ’eighties! The secret of an Endell Street cellar. How I obtained the bir...

Odds and ends of circus life. The “peep show” cooking stoves. How I “had” Lord Randolph Churchill in Dublin. I distinguish myself at a sham fight. An unscrupulous practical joke...

More odds and ends. How I was rescued from “drowning” at Douglas. The mock medals. A night sensation at sea. I act as a race-course steward at the Manx “Derby.” A good old “gag....

American notes. A bogus boxing match. Dispersed by hose-pipe. Jem Mace and Joe Goss. I second Mace and get the worst of it. Queer American law. Washed away on Coney Island. An i...

My second visit to Australia. I train a performing horse on board. Am engaged by Harry Rickards for a twenty-seven weeks’ tour. I play for five nights only. Summoned to London b...

Managers and actors I have known. P. T. Barnum. A wonderful organiser. How a big circus travels. Barnum’s consideration for his company. His little speeches. General Tom Thumb....

My first engagement at Covent Garden. My performing pig. Its ultimate end. Some dog yarns. Animal trainers not cruel. “Verdun,” the wonderful performing horse. How E. T. Smith s...

Pantomimes at old “Drury.” A pantomime mishap. “Spoofing” a Hebe of the old Gaiety buffet. E. J. Odell’s rebuke. Sitting on a corpse! Drury Lane memories. Lady Dunlo and the ham...

American comic films an imitation of the English harlequinade. Charlie Chaplin’s “method.” The modern pantomime not produced for children. The clown’s “business” spoilt by the o...

The films. A new experience. The humours of rehearsals. Chasing a hat. An embarrassing encounter with bees. How “little Nell” was buried. Blowing up “old Peggotty.” The “Startin...