Pablo Fanque Blue Plaque Unveiling in Lands Lane, Leeds.

At lunchtime on 26th May, 1967 a group of us sent our friend David to Valances Record and Electrical Shop in what is now Dortmund Square. We were at Park Lane College, which had just changed its name from Leeds College of Commerce, and we had entrusted him with our spending money as he had ‘volunteered’ to go and purchase half a dozen copies of Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band LP on our behalf. The problem then was that, being unable to play it, we had to stare at the cover all afternoon and try to work out who all of the people were. As it was a Friday, we were counting down to 4.00pm anyway.

I relate this piece of history as on Saturday, 16th September, 2023, I was present at the unveiling of a Leeds Civic Trust Blue Plaque in honour of Pablo Fanque, the first black circus owner in he UK, and probably the world. The final track on side one of the famous Beatles’ LP was called, Being For The Benefit of Mr Kite. Actually it was also the first track on side one, as this was one of the first pop albums where the individual songs ran straight into one another so you couldn’t tell where each one finish and the next began. The aforementioned tune begins, ‘For the benefit of Mr Kite, there will be a show tonight on trampoline. The Hendersons will all be there, late of Pablo Fanque’s Fair, what a scene.’

The unveiling party.

I must have sung that song hundreds of time in my bedroom, and, although I had read that John Lennon wrote it after buying an old poster in an antique shop, I had no idea it had a Leeds connection. Coincidentally, from where I was standing to witness the ceremony on Saturday, I could see the premises from which my LP was purchased. It still sells electrical gizmos but now they are of the computer game variety.

The blue plaque is affixed to The Core Shopping Centre at the top of Lands Lane, because behind the new facade there used to be a large wooden building which acted as the circus’s permanent home. Sadly it was the scene of a tragedy on Saturday, 18th March, 1848 when a section of the building collapsed resulting in many injuries, but only one death, that of Susannah Darby, aged 47, the wife of the circus owner, William Darby, who went by the name Pablo Fanque.

Being from Leeds, Susannah Darby was buried in the city at Leeds General Cemetery in St George’s Field, now within the campus of Leeds University. On her husband’s death on 4th May, 1871, at his request, and even though remarried, he was buried along side her and their daughter, who died in infancy. It is reported that thousands lined the streets to pay their respects as the cortege passed by. One reason for this was his generosity towards the poor of Leeds to whom he made regular charitable donations, put on free performances for orphans and workhouse children, and, on one occasion in 1846, he gave away ‘bread, cheese and ale to any member of the Leeds public who would partake of his generosity.’ Sadly it had run out by the time I arrived, but the cheese would have probably been a bit high after 173 years anyway.

The very modest gravestone of Pablo Fanque at the foot of the larger one of his wife and daughter.

The unveiling was performed by Actor and Ring Master Chris Barltrop, who, after a short break regaled us with a performance of his one-man play, The Audacious Mr Astley, which tells the tale of the inventor of the modern circus, Philip Astley, who also gave equestrian performances at the premises in King Charles’ Croft where Pablo Fanque would later set up shop.

I never need much of an excuse to visit the fabulous Leeds City Varieties Music Hall and it seemed such a fitting place for Mr Barltrop, or should that be Mr Astley, to relate many episodes of his life.

Leeds City Varieties and Music Hall

Philip Astley took to the stage of this grand old theatre to tell us how he had come to invent the modern circus in 1764 in London. I must say, he is looking very well for his age. This could have been more of a lecture than a play but the combination of humour and anecdotes made it very entertaining. The only gravitas introduced was when Mr Astley made it very plain that he abhors the term ‘circus’ referring to what he did in the early days as being the Astley Academy of Equestrian Arts.

He ran away from home in Newcastle-under-Lyme when he was 17 years of age and joined the army in an equestrian regiment where he learned to look after, and ride the horses. The soldiers would practise trick riding as they felt it would be helpful in the heat of battle if they could improvise, giving them more scope to concentrate on using their weapons.

On leaving the army he started his career by setting up a site where he could entertain passers by on Lambeth Green in London. There was a short-cut along the green, so useful that some enterprising chap had set up a ‘Ha’penny Hatch’ which was a sort of toll booth charging a half-penny to pass. Astley established his site and added his own turnstile for those who wanted to see the show.

Chris Barltrop as Philip Astley, in full flow

There were a couple of false starts due to the inclement weather and so he decided to build a permanent structure near Euston which eventually expanded to seat 2,500 customers paying one shilling to stand on the ground floor and two shillings to be seated in the gallery. He employed army veterans to show off their riding skills and demonstrate their prowess with a sabre whilst in full flight. He engaged actors from the Garrick Theatre to entertain the customers between the acts and also ‘merry men’ later to be called clowns.

His fame spread and he opened a second premises in Paris which was patronised by the King of France who bestowed many honours on him.

I freely admit that I have never been a big fan of circus but recognise that it was, and, in modified form, still is, a valid form of entertainment enjoyed by many. The day’s events made me appreciate it a little more and enriched my knowledge of yet another major contribution Leeds has made to British life.

There was one big downside to the day, the elephant in the tent, you might say, which was that the shopping centre to which the plaque is affixed, is due for demolition in the very near future, so the disc will need to be removed and the new developer convinced to allow Leeds Civic Trust to rehang it. Either that or they could erect a blue plaque to mark the spot where the blue plaque used to be.