Ohmy Circus (c1867 - 1920)
Dates
- Existence: c1867 - 1920
Biography
The Ohmy Circus was founded by Joseph Smith (c.1852-1931) aka The Great Ohmy in c1867, when he inherited his father's circus. Still an inexperience teenager, Ohmy took a partner to run the circus but the partnership did not last long. It took thirteen years of hard work to make the Ohmy Circus succeed, when he opened his first show at Southport in 1880. During this time, he also bought a circus in Accrington and erected around 80 circus buildings in cities across England including; Rochdale, Oldham, Preston, Blackpool and Leeds as he travelled his show with his wife and children, Ada, Lily and Claude, who performed as The Ohmy Sisters, an equestrian act in which son Claude pretended to be a woman.
During the First World War, the family was dispersed with Ohmy being recruited by the armed forced and his children being interned in a German prisoner of war camp, while travelling a show in Germany at the outbreak of the war. Although his daughters were allowed to return to England shortly after, his son Claude remained imprisoned for the duration of the war. Daughter Ada died in 1918 reputedly unable to recover from the trauma.
Found in 21 Collections and/or Records:
Scrapbook on Ohmy Circus, 1872 - 1875
Scrapbook on Ohmy Circus. Contains newspaper cuttings, two items loose, 22p.p.