Planet Wombwell

The 1850 obituary in the Times for George Wombwell concluded that:

Mr Wombwell, from being a planet, had always satellites revolving around him in the shape of minor shows. With these he would have very willingly dispensed; but, though potent in inclination, lacked the necessary power. Go where he might, they watched his motions, and profited by the fair the menagerie created. To a certain extent his own idea of the matter was, “that he beat the bush, and they caught the bird.”

Windsor. From: http://vichist.blogspot.com.cy/2012/03/travelling-menageries.html

Stirring stuff indeed from the Times, though full of hints that George latterly felt that too many people were creaming off profits from what was his labour. The running expenses of the business were unsurprisingly massive, which must have meant that attracting large crowds was essential for survival. The success of the menagerie indeed can only have been founded on huge levels of public enthusiasm. And thus other smaller-time entrepreneurs must then have sensed the opportunity to make easy pickings of their own as the Wombwell menagerie rode into town. George, it seems, had engineered the 'trickle down' effect much beloved of modern capitalism and liberal economic ideology. In contemporary terms, he was a job creator and wealth generator.  George himself didn't quite see it this way by the look of it. What he apparently saw were parasitic engorgements, making good on his own individual entrepreneurial efforts and creative energies, but giving absolutely nothing back.