FATHER OF MODERN CIRCUS

Wairarapa Times-Age, 22 April 1941, Page 6

FATHER OF MODERN CIRCUS

PHILIP ASTLEY’S CAREER. Let us look at a man who liked the noise of trumpets above all other noises. Mounted on a white charger and dressed in military uniform, Philip Astley was to be seen near Westminster Bridge distributing bills, and pointing with his sword the way to his riding school. This form of advertisement. was not allowed, but as he had the. good fortune to quieten George the Third’s mount one day when, it took fright, he was permitted a licence. His amphitheatre in which he held his first performances was a failure in winter, but setting up a covered building with the capital he received by selling a diamond ring he had found, he soon began to prosper. Calling his circus the Amphitheatre of Arts he enjoyed the patronage of Royalty, 'rhe outbreak of war in the Low Countries recalled him to military duties, and while away his buildings were destroyed, though he returned to rebuild them. Born at Newcastle-undor-Lyne in 1742, Astley presented a line type of English vigour, being upwards of six feet. with extraordinary muscular power, and possessing all that love for, and dexterity in managing, the horse so eminently characteristic of his countrymen. His writings on horsemanship and his descriptive account of the war in the Netherlands are conspicuous for industry and good sense, if not showing high literary merit. Ho died in Paris, where he was associated with the establishment of the Cirque Olympique, in 1814.