Bobby Robert's Super Circus (1993 - 2011)
Biography
Bobby Robert's Super Circus was established by Bobby Roberts Junior (b.1942) and his wife Moira (1937-2018) in 1993.
Bobby was the son of Bobby Roberts of the Robert Brothers Circus and joined his father' circus at the tender age of four, while Moira came from the Arthur Hancock fairground family in Glasgow.
Bobby and Moira continued working on the Robert Brothers family after their marriage in 1965. Bobby performed on the high wire, the trapeze, as a bareback rider and as an animal trainer, while Moira became a sharpshooter and had also an archery act. Bobby and Moira formed a double act at the Robert Brothers Circus called Bobby Ringo and Princess Moira and travelled their show around Glasgow, Blackpool, Brighton, Manchester, Great Yarmouth and London with the Billy Smart’s Circus.
In 1993 Bobby and Moira branched out from the family business to establish their own circus, which they called Bobby Robert's Super Circus.
Bobby Robert's Super Circus travelled until 2011, first under Bobby and Moira's management and in later years under their daughter Kitty and her husband Istvan as Cicus Sallai. They also had a son Bobby, who made a career as a circus clown.
Bobby Robert's Super Circus modelled itself on the traditional format of the Robert Brothers Circus with a heavy presence of wild animals, which met with public oposition and led to the decline of the business until its closure in 2011.
Found in 7 Collections and/or Records:
Bobby Robert's Super Circus at Nashleigh Hill, Chesham Film, 1995
Circusama, Yesterdays Circus Today. Super8. Amateur film, possibly by Noel Drewe. In Colour, silent. Exterior scenes only. Supplied by C. W. Cramp.
Bobby Robert's Super Circus Poster, c1980 - 1989
Trearddur Bay. Contains colour photograph of acts.
Cyril Critchlow Collection
Den Curtis' Photographic Albums, 1936 - 1969
Photographic albums put together by Den Curtis, containing black and white photographs of circuses, performers and animals with annotations, including Sanger, Chipprefields, Bertram Mills, Smarts, Hoxie Bros, Blackpool Tower, Belle Vue, Robert Bros, Fossett and Luckens Continental Circus and others, also some loose photographs removed from the albums.
Films, c1930 - 1990
Amateur and commercial films on multiple formats, focusing mainly on Circus but also including transport, fairs, fairground rides and other types of travelling entertainments.
Noel Drewe Collection
A large collection of films entitled Circusama containing amateur and professional films on the themes of circus, performing animals and zoos, and edited clips from commercial Western and comedy films. The films are in a variety of formats including 8mm, Super8, 9.5mm and 16mm and contain related correspondence and notes. This collection also contains some sound reels mainly of fairground music.
Posters, c1887 - 2010
Circus, variety, pantomime and magic posters including Argyle theatre, Liverpool Empire, Blackpool Tower Circus, Robert Brothers, Austen Brothers, Sorcar, Vesta Tilley, Ken Dodd, Dan Leno, Florrie Forde and others.