Pablo Fanque

Pablo Fanque (actually William Darby, * 1796 in Norwich, † May 4, 1871 in Stockport ) was the first black ringmaster in the UK.

Life

Fanque, who had become orphaned in childhood, was trained by William Batty, the director of a traveling circus. He was an accomplished equestrian, tightrope walker and acrobat and joined the famous circus troupe at the time of Andrew Ducrow.

In 1834 he returned to Batty returned, but left again in 1841 Battys troops and established in Wakefield own circus, which became known in the next six years for his outstanding dressage horses with particularly exquisite animals.

In 1847 Fanque made ​​her first appearance in London; his ideas were extremely successful and have been described by the London Illustrated News as saying:

Mr. Pablo Fanque is a colored artist, and no other horse surpasses his horse or is the same. Mr. Pablo Fanque was the sensation of the evening.

After his successes in London Fanque settled with his circus in Manchester, where he always appeared before a packed house. He also undertook numerous tours, where he worked together with his children with the most famous circus performers of his time.

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The text of a 1843 printed promotional poster for Fanques circus inspired John Lennon to the song Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! , Which was published in 1967 on the Beatles LP Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.