Forgotten Fame III: Captain Herbert Clarke

Thanks to cousin, Jim Stockley, I have been able to read yet more "forgotten fame". Anyone who has read my blog for a decent period of time will know I am a particular fan of this stuff. This is why I enjoy reading work from historians like Heather Vallance and Cathy Barrett (who seek out hard to find primary source material in order to reconstruct periods from the past. It is also why I actively ferret out and oppose pseudohistory, alternative history and crackpot conspiracy theories (see my blog www.beelzebubsbroker.blogspot.com for more on this). There is more than enough fascinating data and lost information that can be uncovered through legitimate research.

My book "The Legend of Salt and Sauce" focuses on two elephants and their trainers that became legendary almost mythical in the circus world, a community I grew up in, but were virtually forgotten by the outside world. It made me consider other examples of even more famous events and people who also became stuck in time. This was my first post on the subject http://jamieclubb.blogspot.com/2009/03/forgotten-fame-salt-and-sauce-meet.html

Prompted by a response from cousin Jim again, I posted a piece on one of his favourite examples of forgotten fame http://jamieclubb.blogspot.com/2009/04/forgotten-fame-ii-incredible-abernathy.html

Now Jim has found an excellent blog that details a piece of history seemingly forgotten by our own community, the life and times of "Captain" Herbert Clarke. Clarke is a character not found in any of the circus encyclopaedias or anywhere else on the net, which is what prompted the author of the historical blog to write about him. What is even more amazing is that my father is an avid researcher into the history of Bostock and Wombwelle's Menagerie, the very show that booked Clarke, and this was the first time he had heard about the trainer. It just goes to show how easily the past can be forgotten even within the microcosm of the circus. Enjoy! http://www.thebloxidgetallygraph.com/patcollinsliontamer.htm

Dick Chipperfield Jnr – The Last Man to Work the Bouncing Lions?

This is another post dictated by my father on the subject of the Bouncing Lions. This time it features my uncle, Dicki Chipperfield both when he first presented the act, at only age 15, and when he last presented it, when Chipperfield's Circus famously toured South Africa. - Jamie Clubb

The first picture shows Dick “Dicki” Chipperfield Jnr in 1958 presenting three lionesses in the wagon cage. Dicki would have only been barely 15 years old. This was for a television show. He was stopped working by the authorities after this performance. His uncle, John Chipperfield, took the act over. Dick Snr told me they took one lioness out because the act was too slow. This shows a similar pyramid to Tommy Kayes’ act. You will notice this was in the real wagon with the correct measurements – 16’ long x 6’6” wide x 6’6” tall. The height varied from trainer to trainer, some preferred 7’ tall inside. These measurements were crucial for the “bounce” to be achieved correctly. That is the measurements of the length and the width. The height didn’t matter and, in fact, as in the case with Tommy Kayes’ this was an advantage and made a better show. These three animals didn’t bounce very much, in fact, hardly at all. When John Chipperfield took over and later Terry Duggan they really went up the side of the cage.

The second picture shows Dicki in South Africa in 1965 with a very simply built cage. These lions really did bounce up the side and in the same fashion as Kayes and Dicki’s father, Dick Chipperfield Snr. Unfortunately I have no photographs of Dicki’s father in his early days working the bouncing act, only entering the cage with “Old Vic”, Tommy Purchase’s lioness. I have one of him when he originally trained the act for his son, but it only shows the two lionesses sat in the corner and Dicki’s father knelt down. I will post it when I find it. - Jim Clubb