British Imperialism and its Legacies: Menageries and circuses
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Glasgow Museums has a large collection of animals from, or relating to, menageries and circuses. Menageries, also known as travelling zoos, were collections of animals kept for display and entertainment, and they would often travel as part of a circus. In the 1700s and 1800s these shows would tour Britain, visiting cities, towns and villages across the country.
Colonial expansion brought a steady supply of new animals to Europe, from lions and tigers to tropical birds and elephants. Menageries relied on these imperial networks, and businesses specialising in the trade and exhibition of foreign animals flourished. The Cross family of Liverpool ran one of the largest wild animal shops in England, and also owned a menagerie. William Cross (1840–1900) established the business around 1879 and it was continued by his son, William Simpson Cross (1873–1920). It was based in a huge warehouse by the Liverpool docks, close to the ships that brought in new animals, birds and reptiles. Not all the animals survived their long and distressing journeys. Unwilling to lose money, many importers and shops sold these dead animals to museums. Glasgow Museums bought a Sumatran rhino and a western lowland gorilla from William S. Cross in the early 1900s.
Menageries needed exciting and novel animals from across the world to stay popular, and emphasised this ‘newness’ and ‘exoticness’ in their advertising. This drew heavily on the public’s interest in the Empire’s newly colonised overseas territories. By the mid-1800s audiences had become accustomed to seeing foreign animals, and the entertainment had to change to stay exciting. Instead of seeing a lion or an elephant in a cage, the audience might see a lion performing with a keeper, or be able to ride an elephant.
In 1805 George Wombwell (1777–1850) established the first large-scale travelling menagerie in Britain. ‘Wombwell's Grand Collection of Beasts’ can be seen in the background of Glasgow Fair by John Knox, painted around the 1820s. His menagerie eventually split into three separate businesses. One of these was Bostock & Wombwell's Menagerie, which by the end of the 1900s was run by Edward H. Bostock (1858–1940). Bostock also opened The Scottish Zoo in Glasgow in 1897. When animals in the zoo died their bodies were often donated to, or bought by, Glasgow Museums. This includes Sir Roger, an Asian elephant who toured with Bostock & Wombwell's Menagerie from about 1885 until 1897, and then lived at the Scottish Zoo until 1900.
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