James Howard  & The Search For Travelling Theatre Stories

By  Tickhill & District Local History Society

Unlike troupes of actors who travelled to theatre buildings around the country and stayed in digs, travelling theatres had their own portable premises, scenery and props conveyed in wagons with actors travelling and living in caravans. They established themselves on vacant land but needed a licence to perform in front of paying customers. A licence was not always granted as a Mr Payne found out when he applied to Doncaster Borough Petty Sessions in 1871. A solicitor representing the town’s Theatre Royal objected to a licence being issued on the grounds that there was ‘already ample accommodation in the town for those who patronised the drama’. The Bench refused to grant a licence. Another travelling theatre which tried to operate for more days than their licence allowed saw the police invade the stage in mid performance and arrest the actors to the outrage of the audience.

Travelling theatres which operated in this region included the Paragon which wintered in Mexborough for many years, Denville’s which had long stays at Wombwell, Newell’s reputed to have visited Bawtry and Holloway’s and Somerville’s both of which toured Lincolnshire. In addition, Old Wild’s toured many towns in Lancashire and Yorkshire. It is not known to which travelling theatre James Howard’s family was attached.

Some idea of a mid-19^th century travelling theatre was given in the Birmingham Mail, 29 April 1911, page 2, describing the visit of Bennett and Patch’s travelling theatre 50 years earlier when the Mayor, Corporation and gentry attended the opening night. There was a change of programme each evening with the theatre staying for a week at more important towns. The theatre’s arrival was heralded by a band driven round the town in a coach and four. A leading actor in costume went from house to house distributing handbills. Performances ranged from Shakespeare’s plays to melodramas, pantomimes and farces.

An example of what a large travelling theatre consisted of comes in an advertisement for the sale of one called the Royal Albert Theatre in 1849 with overall dimensions of 70 feet by 40 feet: 5 scenes on rollers with ropes and pulleys, large cover about 300 feet, gas piping, 2 gas stars, 8 side wings, 2 jet flats, duckboard, 2 rocks, stage front, frame, props and flaps, about 40 feet of shutters, wagon etc. In all likelihood the owner of this travelling theatre had gone out of business following the country’s severe depression in trade in 1848 with the resulting unemployment leaving people without the means to pay for admission to this entertainment which cost from 1/- to 3d depending on where the spectators sat. (This could be compared with tickets for permanent theatres where prices ranged from 3/- to 1/-.) 

The travelling theatres faced various hazards apart from economic slumps. Rhodes’ Travelling Theatre erected on a fairground in Halifax in 1874 saw the whole of the temporary gallery structure fall down with a crash carrying hundreds of spectators with it. Fortunately, no very serious injuries were recorded. (The proprietor ‘Jemmy’ Rhodes died in 1906 after nearly 70 years taking his travelling theatre to every important feast and fair in Yorkshire.) Another similar theatre set up in Hull in 1836 was damaged during a gale ‘the scenery and properties being dispersed among the audience’. In 1908 Mr Kelso’s Travelling Theatre in a yard opposite the Plough Hotel at Catcliffe caught fire during a rehearsal (the likely cause was sparks from a passing train) leaving the company of twelve out of work. In 1911 Dalbert’s Travelling Theatre erected at Selby burned down with a loss of the structure, scenery and ‘theatrical adjuncts’. Mr Dalbert was not insured.

No doubt owing to the many risks faced by travelling theatres a Travelling Theatre Managers’ Association was formed early in the 20^th century. For a monthly subscription of 5/- members received reduced insurance rates, free legal advice, contracts for cheap printing of posters and handbills advertising performances, the use of 250 copyrighted plays at a nominal fee and free medical attention in some parts of the country. 

The onset of WW1 saw the demise of most travelling theatres. However, there was a revival of this form of entertainment in the inter war years under the auspices of ‘The Arts League of Service’ in existence from 1919 to 1937. This organisation aimed to bring the arts to the masses through lectures on art, literature, dance, music and crafts, an exhibition space in London and a theatrical touring company that staged repertory shows. Their touring vehicle from 1922, above, had room for actors, costumes and some props and they performed in a range of buildings. For example, they appeared in a church hall at Swinton and school assembly halls at Barnsley and Castleford, some proceeds going to charitable causes.

The programmes for this travelling theatre generally started with a one act play which was followed by a mixture of mime, poetry, dance and folk songs with a piano accompaniment. Some pianos at the venues used were better tuned than others. Not all venues had changing rooms leaving the actors to change in nearby buildings. At least they usually had decent overnight accommodation provided by the generosity of local people who were theatre enthusiasts.

Britain's showmen: All the fun of the fair?

Showmen did not view themselves as an ethnic group but a cultural one united by the TRAVELLING roadshow and the fun fair industry. For John Silcock's grandfather Edward, the choice to become a showman came about as a way of avoiding a life down the mines.

Edward, along with his four brothers, operated a games stall in Wigan in the early 1900s. They then branched out with a set of swing boats, a barrel organ, a children's ride and a carousel which they took all over Lancashire. "My family were coal miners," says John Silcock, the owner of JE Silcock Amusements. "My great grandfather died from lung cancer and my grandfather was 16 and he decided he wasn't going to go down there into those pits." Mr Silcock gained his own experience of the show while still at boarding school - his parents travelled with the show sites and venues on a weekly basis and he spent his weekends working with them. His two eldest children were already active in the business and he believed it was a great culture to grow up in. "It was very good as a child. You saw a different location every week and you're were never bored of what you did but the downside was that whatever the weather you've had to do the job. "The schedule had got to be kept - if you lost your pitch you lost your reputation and you lost your site."

A good site was crucial to a showman - they had be close to areas like town centres where people congregated to ensure high footfall with space for the caravans many showmen stayed in when they were on the road. Mr Silcock's passion for the industry which has given his family a living was obvious: "The beauty of what we were doing is we were fetching the theme park to people's houses. "We did carnivals where you had people who lived in the same street who didn't really talk to each other   ........   but on carnival day they all met."

Someone else with a passion for the business is Lawrence Appleton.

His family began in the industry by producing live shows which used to involve dancing, comedy and other forms of entertainment alongside the fairground rides and stalls. But his experience of growing up in a showpeople family was different from Mr Silcock's, with education hard to come by and a life on the road meaning going without everyday conveniences like hot water for washing clothes and cooking utensils. "We never had the quality of life that you have today but it was a way of life and we accepted it and we enjoyed it," he says. And despite meeting the public as part of their work he does not feel those they entertain know who they are. "A lot of people don't really know us and how we tick," he says. "They don't know the complications we have to go through to maintain this age old history." John Thurston, the chairman of the Norwich and Eastern Counties section of the Showmen's Guild, is also frustrated by misconceptions people hold about the traditional view of the showman. Mr Thurston, who is the fifth generation in his family to work on the travelling fairs, says: "We spend millions of pounds on equipment and yet the showmen are always portrayed as Gypsies." Images that portray showmen wearing scarves, trilby hats and earrings and with tattoos do not represent any showmen he knows. Another misconception he is keen to deny is concerns over fairground safety: "Our record on safety is second to none. If there's an accident on the fairground it always makes headline news because it's very rare. It's a very safe industry to work in." A spokeswoman for the HSE said fairgrounds are "relatively safe" compared to driving a car or riding a bicycle although there have been a "small number" of serious incidents involving employees and members of the public. Mr Appleton says the public also do not understand the modern pressures the industry is facing as councils increasingly sell off sites used for fairs to developers who build housing on them. "We're a traditional people. We want to maintain these sites and this old way of life for our people and our future generations," he says.

According to the National Fairground Archive the first recorded charter was granted to King's Lynn in 1204. A charter marking a Valentine's Day fair was granted by Henry VIII in 1537. He says: "These fairs (with a long history) are special, there's your run-of-the-mill fairs in towns and villages that we attend throughout the year but some of these fairs are very precious to the showmen and I don't think some people realise how much high esteem we hold these fairs in.

"We cherish these fairs and it's our history."

Charles Alfred Bickerdike