Lord George Sanger Circus (Established c1880)
Dates
- Existence: Established c1880
Biography
Lord George Sanger Circus was founded by George Sanger after disolving his business partnership with his brother John Sanger.
George and John were the founders of the Sanger Allied Circus in 1854, which they operated with a few family members and friends. The business grew from strength to strength and by 1858 Sanger’s circus could boast of presenting the largest stud of horses ever seen in the European continent. By the 1860s the Sanger emporium owned ten permanent circuses between Plymouth and Aberdeen.
The Sanger brother’s acquired two of the most famous and reputable circus venues in London; the Royal Agricultural Hall at Islington in 1870 and Astley’s New Royal Amphitheatre in 1871.
George and John eventually decided to go their separate ways and split their various business ventures amicably.
During his career as a circus proprietor George Sanger presented two Royal performances before Queen Victoria, the first at Sandringham on 8 January 1885 and the second at Balmoral Castle on 17 June 1898.
George Sanger was a respected member of the showland community and although he spent most of his later life in the circus, he maintained a strong link to his fairground roots and was elected the first President of the Showmen's Guild of Great Britain in 1890, a post he held until 1909.
George Sanger was murdered on 28 November 1911, at Park Farm by one of his employees for unknown reasons. His circus and effects were auctioned off by showman Tom Norman aka ‘The Silver King’.
Found in 20 Collections and/or Records:
Aerial Performer Photograph, c1880 - 1899
Photograph of a female aerial performer from Sanger Circus.
Aerial Performers Photograph, c1880 - 1899
Photograph of two aerial performers from Sanger Circus.
Aerial Performers Photograph, c1920 - 1939
Photograph of aerial performers combining poses together whilst suspended from ropes. The photograph is stamped Fielding Albion Place Leeds in the bottom left corner.
Circus Friends Association Collection
This collection consists of a large library of books and journals, as well as archival material including posters, programmes, photographs, films, handbills, research material, scrapbooks, original artwork and many other items of ephemera relating to British, Irish and European circuses
Cyril Critchlow Collection
Early Circus Programmes, c1800 - 1999
Early British circus and variety programmes including Astley's, Batty's and Lord George Sanger's circus.
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.
Florence Austin Photograph, c1920 - 1939
Photograph of Florence Austin hanging from a trapeze outdoors.
Handbills, c1786 - 1968
Handbills for travelling shows, fairs, exhibitions and performances in London.
John Bramwell Taylor Collection
Lord George Sanger's Great Hippodramatic and Spectacular Circus Programme, c1800 - 1899
Newspaper Cuttings and Scapbooks, 1838 - 2007
A collection of newspaper cuttings on circus, circus proprietors and performers and scrapbooks containing newspaper cuttings, posters, programmes and other items of ephemera, covering mainly British circuses and venues such as Belle Vue and also some international circuses.
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.
Portrait of Yetta Schultz Photograph, c1880 - 1899
Full body portrait of Yetta Schultz in aerial performance costume. Yetta was a tightrope or wire walker with Lord George Sanger Circus.
Posters, c1800 - 2011
A wide range of British and international circus and menagerie posters ranging from the 19th to the 21st century including Astley's Amphitheatre, Pablo Fanque, Polito, Bostock and Wombwell, Ducrow, Cooke, Hengler, Sanger, Smart, Gerry Cottle, Bertram Mills, Chipperfield's, Robert Brothers, Fossett, Blackpool Tower, Billy Russell, Belle Vue, Great Yarmouth Hippodrome, Austen Brothers and many more.
Programmes, c1800 - 2019
A collection of mainly British and international circus programmes and some variety and music hall programmes containing circus acts.
Sanger Circus Collection
Black and white and some colour photographs, negatives, handbills, programmes and other items of ephemera relating to George Sanger's circus and the Hall by the Sea.
Victorian, Edwardian and Georgian Circus Posters, c1800 - 1930
Early circus and menagerie posters including Polito's menagerie, Astley's Amphitheatre and Pablo Fanque's, Sanger's, Powell's, Ducrow's, Cooke's and Hengler's circuses among others.
Yetta Schultz Photograph, c1880 - 1899
Three quater portrait of tightrope performer Yetta Schultz.
Yetta Schultz Photograph , c1880 - 1899
Photograph of Yetta Schultz in her aerial performance costume. Yetta was a tightrope or wire walker with Lord George Sangers Circus.