Ashton Circus

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The first successful circus in Australia actually originated from Hobart by an Englishman Robert Avis Radford in 1847. He used acts such as equestrianism, acrobats, and clowning, which mimicked the Astley circus in England. It was from this circus that James Henry Ashton, of the Ashton dynasty later established his own circus. The Ashton circus is the oldest continuing circus in Australian history. 

References

Trove newspapers – https://trove.nla.gov.au

Newspaper Article

https://www.smh.com.au/national/circuss-backbone-thrilled-with-his-feats-20111106-1n1wp.html

Fulford Family

https://sites.rootsweb.com/~jray/gordon/fullford/frederick.htm

Ashton’s Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circus_Joseph_Ashton#:~:text=The%20circus%20was%20founded%20in,times%20of%20the%20nineteenth%20century.

PDF - HORSEMAN OR NO HORSEMAN: CIRCUS IN VAN DIEMEN’S LAND, 1847 TO 1851 by Mark St Leon

https://www.pennygaff.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/ielapa.545898401156495.pdf

Music

Lone Harvest, Waltz of the Carnies, Super Circus by Kevin McLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Circus Music – Classic (no copyright)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pctluEhAqBQ

Facebook Group - Morpeth Moments

email: marleneduncan@bigpond.com