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such as ‘amusement caterer’,‘roundabout proprietor’ or‘travelling entertainer’. Familiesthat may have had links withthe travelling communityinclude horse dealers andmarket stall keepers. Forinstance, Martha Hall, wife ofAlfred Stock, met her husbandwhen she was selling sweets onher family’s market stall.
The routes that families tookinto the business were quitediverse, but there has alwaysbeen one thing in common inpeople who decided to take uptravelling with the fairs: awillingness to take a chance andwork hard for a better life. To apoor man in the 1800s, stuckwith backbreaking labour in theconfines of a mill or a mine, or afarm labourer, out of work forpart of the year, the idea ofbeing your own master, seeingthe country and working withyour family beside you musthave been very attractive. It iseasy, nowadays, for people tohave a romanticized view of thetravelling life, but in those daysit really could be an adventure,an escape from poverty, and awelcome into a new, close-knitcommunity – much more thanjust a business.
It wasn’t altogether an easylife, though, especially in thedays before we used motorizedpower. My great grandfatherBert Stock (son of Alfred Stock)remembered, as a young boy inthe early 1900s, going out inthunderstorms to look after the
horses. In the days of horse-drawn wagons, sons wouldusually sleep underneath, witha tarpaulin to keep the weatherout. Bert and his brothers, beingrelatively successful, had theirown living wagons as boys –but this didn’t stop them fromhaving to look after the horsesin rough weather! As yourmeans of transport, horses wereinvaluable, and if the thundermade them bolt you could findyourself stranded. Horses wereso important to the way of lifethat my great great grand auntwas known her whole life asTuppence Hedges because, as alittle girl, she was paid atuppence to take care of thehorses, and the nickname stuck!
Whilst horses could beunreliable, steam power was notwithout its problems either. In1912, George Hedges,Tuppence’s father, saw hisGallopers – or carousel, to theuninitiated – tip over onMaldon Hill, Essex, when thesteam engine he had hired totake them up the hill failed.John Barker, a relative on theStocks side of my family, hadhis own set of four-abreastGallopers – a grand carouselwith four rings of horses on it,and a very impressive ride toown. There were not many likeit in the country at the time, andhe displayed typical travellertenacity when he came overfrom Ireland in the 1840s withbarely a penny to his name andworked hard enough to afford
them. Sadly, in 1897, he wascrushed between two tractionengines on Norwich MarketHill, Norfolk – a tragic death fora hard-working and dynamicman, who left behind 15children. He is buried at theRosary Cemetery in Norwich,where his impressivemonument is a testament to amuch-loved and respected man.
The travelling showpeople’scommunity is filled with suchcolourful and inspirationalcharacters. Men who weren’tafraid to get their hands dirty,or take a financial risk, and whocombined hard and heavy workwith the flair, indeed,showmanship, needed to makethe arrival of a fair the localevent of the year. CharlesThurston was the uncle of mygreat grandmother, andarguably, at the time of hisdeath in 1928, was the best-known showman in the country.An entrepreneur, he made hisname with travelling Bioscopeshows at the turn of the century.These shows were theforerunners of modern cinemaand the first exposure that manypeople had to moving pictures.Charles made a point of alwaysgiving a free show to the peopleof the local workhouse in everytown he visited. This thoughtfulgesture must have given thesepoor people a welcome escapefrom their hard daily lives.
A patriotic man, he not onlynamed one of his engines afterKing Edward VII, but exhibiteda film of his funeral and gavethe workhouse audience free
SOCIAL HISTORY... Fairground Forebears
Funfairs are a familiarsight in the summer, yettheir history issomething that rarely
crosses people’s minds. Indeed,most don’t realize that funfairsare much more than a businessto those who run them – theyare a way of life. Travellingshowmen, as we call ourselves,are very aware of our historyand heritage. As we travelaround the country, you mightimagine that our family historywould be very difficult to track
– but you would be wrong. As ayoungster, I was delighted byhearing my grandfather tellstories about his childhood andmy ancestors, and this oralhistory really makes the pastcome alive in a way that dry,dusty documents cannot. Thesememories have provedinvaluable to the research of myfamily history.
My mother’s family, theStocks, have run funfairs sinceat least 1882, when CharlesStock, father of Alfred Stock and
my 3x great grandfather, isdescribed on his son’s weddingcertificate as a ‘steam circusowner’. Despite the fact that theShowmen’s Guild, thegoverning body for fairs in thiscountry, has been known by thatname since the very early 1900s,the term ‘travelling showman’has taken a long time to entercommon usage. It is importantto bear in mind, when searchingfor evidence of showmen inyour own family tree, thatdifferent terms may be used,
SHOWMEN’SGUILDThe Van DwellersProtectionAssociation wasformed in 1889 inresponse to theMoveable DwellingsBill, which wasperceived as unfairlegislation bytravellingshowpeople. It wasa decisive event inthe history of thecommunity, asshowpeople fromaround the countryjoined together forthe first time toprotect their rights.The Association wassoon renamed theShowmen’s Guild ofGreat Britain, andnow has 10 regionaloffices.
Zoah Hedges-Stocks grew up with the circus and can trace hershowmen ancestors back to the 1820s. She shares her family’s heritagewith Your Family History
11990011 CCEENNSSUUSS showing Alfred Stock, a ‘traveller at fair’ living with his wife Martha and sevenchildren, including Bert Stock, ‘in caravans’ in Norwich Cattle Market. TNA, RG 13/1838 f53 p44
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tobacco and sweets in hishonour. He was not just a goodman, but a canny one too. Asstatic cinemas started tothreaten his business, Charlesdecided that if he couldn’t beatthem, he would join them. Hebuilt three of the country’searliest cinemas, in Harwich,Norwich and Biggleswade. TheElectric Palace at Harwich hasbeen restored to its former gloryand is once more a workingpicture-house, complete with aplaque commemorating MrThurston outside.
The biggest character in myrecent family history, however,is my great grandfather, the
aforementioned Bert Stock. Hewas responsible for changingthe family name to Stocks. Afterhis father died, he and hisbrothers took over the businessand found that ‘Stocks BrothersFunfair’ sounded betterthan ‘Stock Brothers’.Again, he was anastute businessmanwho always keptenough money inhis pocket to takean opportunity.My grandmothersays that ‘Youcould send Bert toBuckingham Palace,and he’d talk theQueen round toletting him open in the gardens.’An old-fashioned gent, healways wore a shirt and tie, anda waistcoat with a gold chain.The staff had great respect for‘the governor’, as they alwayscalled him, and my grandfatherrecalls one of the workershitting another for not callingCharlotte Stocks, his mother,‘Ma’am’. An over-the-topreaction, but symbolic of thehigh esteem in which Bert andhis wife were held, and not justby their workers – there are stillpeople in the small Suffolktowns we visit who speakfondly of ‘Old Bert Stocks’.
People may be surprised toknow the role that funfairsplayed in the war effort. Thegovernment saw the value infunfairs for keeping up thespirits of the nation, and
encouraged them with their‘Stay At Home’ holidayscampaign. Opening hours werecompletely changed, with fairsoperating during the day, thenshutting down as darkness fell,so as not to break the blackout.The Showmen’s Guild raised£5,000 to buy a new Spitfire forthe RAF. It was named ‘All TheFun Of The Fair’ as thanks tothe community, butunfortunately it was shot downover France.
The family celebrated Victoryin Japan and the end of the warin 1945 by giving free rides to theschoolchildren of Southwold, asmall town on the Suffolk coast.Southwold has a special place inmy family history. Once a fishingvillage, a fair has been held inthe picturesque town to celebratethe feast of the Holy Trinity sinceKing Henry VII granted a royal
charter in 1489. The datemight surprise people
who do not realizehow ancient manyfairs are, but it isby no means theoldest in thecountry. St Giles’fair in Oxford has
been held everyyear since 1200.The Midsummer
Fair at Cambridge,for a long time the
highlight of the showman’ssocial calendar and theinspiration for my choice ofuniversity, is not much younger,having been founded by KingJohn in 1211. The heritage andtradition of such fairs is wellrespected by showmen, althoughsadly not always by localauthorities. My grandfatherremembers a year in which theMayor of Southwold took adislike to the fair and built abarricade of barrels from thelocal brewery. His uncle Sidney,brother to Bert, crushed thebarrier with his traction engineand pointed out that as the fairhad been granted by royalcharter, he was going against theKing and essentially committingtreason! However, the Mayorstill refused to hold the formalceremony that would allow the
fair to open. The townsfolk werenot pleased by this.
The Trinity fair was animportant aspect of localtradition: the schools wouldhave a half-day holiday, andevery child would be givensixpence. In the end, the youngboys of the town visited theMayor’s house and begged himto change his mind. Theysucceeded, and the Trinity haslived on ever since. The Mayorstill opens the fair, and apartfrom that one incident, the fairenjoys a very good relationshipwith the town, no doubt becausewe both admire the other’ssense of heritage and tradition.
The Swan Hotel at Southwoldhas on permanent display a setof paintings (known as ‘thescrolls’) of the Stocks family fairthat were painted in the 1930s.They feature ‘the mark of masterHenry Stocks’ – my grandfather,
aged three, not yet able to write –as well as the signatures of manymore of my relations. Moreexciting to the fairgroundenthusiast are the old posters thatadvertise wonderful steamorgans and boast that they playso loudly and so clearly that ‘themusic can be heard in Hollandon a fine day’. Wildly overblownclaims aside, it was often atfairgrounds that people,especially in the countryside, hadtheir first experience with suchmachines, adding to the magic ofthe fair-going experience.
George Cushing MBE,founder of the Thursford SteamMuseum and champion offairground history, recalledwalking across the field to visitthe funfair one summer’sevening, and, seeing a brightglow on the horizon, thought itwas on fire! When he ran there tohelp put out the blaze, he
discovered that the unnaturalglow was not a fire at all, but thefirst time he had ever seenelectrical lights.
People sometimes claim thattravelling funfairs are dying out,and whilst it is true that we nowface competition from themeparks, the business is still goingstrong, if changing. Someshowmen are supplementingtheir summer season bytravelling as far afield asIceland, Hong Kong and Dubaiin the winter months. Others,such as my father’s family, arediversifying. He runs shops inthe winter, whilst my unclebuilds beautiful bespokecaravans, taught by my paternalgrandfather. In a way, thisechoes the present state offairgrounds and showmen – weare adapting and reacting tomodern times but not forgettingour heritage and traditions.
SOCIAL HISTORY... Fairground Forebears
National Fairground ArchiveTHE NFA IS HELD at Sheffield University and comprisesextensive collections of documents, family papers,photos, posters and ephemera donated by showpeople,as well as a complete set of the World’s Fair newspaperdating back to 1904 and The Showman from 1900 to1912. Books and journals about fairground heritage canalso be consulted in the reading room. If you areresearching fairground ancestors, read the advice atwww.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/intro/family.html to helpyou assess whether a visit to the NFA will beworthwhile. The NFA advises that it holds little materialconcerning employees of showmen, though there maybe material about the history of the fair at which theyworked, if this is known. An appointment should bemade to visit the reading room, which is open fromMonday to Thursday between 9.30am and 4.30pm.
ContactNational Fairground ArchiveWestern Bank Library, University of SheffieldWestern BankSheffieldS10 2TNTel: 0114 2227231E-mail: [email protected]: www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk
The Fairground Heritage TrustTHE DINGLES FAIRGROUND Heritage Centre in Lifton,Devon, is an indoor museum where visitors can enjoythe National Fairground Collection of vintage rides andfunfair memorabilia. The museum explores the darkerside of funfairs past, such as freak shows andmenageries, alongside the delights of mechanical music,cinematography and the re-invention of the big wheel.Don’t miss the Autumn Fairground Weekend on 25–26September 2010, when visiting fairground organs willjoin the usual collection along with special displays andphoto exhibitions. Take a ride on the 1889 RodeoSwitchback and a 1940s Ghost Train, and visit the Hall ofMirrors and Vintage Penny Arcade.
InformationThe Fairground Heritage CentreMilfordLiftonDevonPL16 0ATTel: 01566 783425Web: www.fairground-heritage.org.uk
ZOAH OUTSIDE THE Electric Palace inHarwich.
BERT STOCK’S traction engine.
ZOAH’S FAMILY owned the ‘Ark Ride’ from at least the 1940s until it was soldin the 1970s. Jack Leeson Collection, National Fairground Archive, Uni of Sheffield
Bert Stocks.
St Giles’ fair in Oxfordhas been held every yearsince 1200...
