Excuses and More Excuses

As noted, there were always excuses for Menagerie accidents.

The attack on a Wombwell keeper in 1823 by a Bengal tiger that mangled his arm was, for example, blamed on spectators who ‘irritated’ the animal. 

The fate of Andrew Broadfoot in 1826, whose clothes and flesh were torn apart by a leopard, was similarly ascribed to his own carelessness, in resting his elbow in front of the den. The media report of the day concluded that ‘…This ought to serve as a caution to those who go to view these deceitful animals to be on their guard.’ , thus finding a character fault in the caged animals themselves.

‘Escape of a young Tiger from Mr. Wombwell’s Caravan.’
(engraving: Pickering, London, 1827)
See: Footlight Notes for the Story

When in 1829, the residents around Tredegar Terrace just off the Commercial Road, had had their fill of the roaring, trumpeting, screeching, and all-round sonic chaos of the menagerie, and applied to the courts for action, the principle of private property came into play. The courts did not want to interfere with George’s rights to exercise his individual freedoms on his own property.

The 1839 excursion of a Bengal Tiger down the Ratcliffe Road was due to one of George’s servants, who was fired for his negligence, and as for the Irish coal-whipper who had his cheek torn open, and belly lacerated by this docile beast, this was really his own fault for getting ‘too near’ the animal.

In 1842, in Staffordshire, a Mr. John Martin ended up having an arm amputated after putting his hand into the den of the tigress. The report summarised the event as follows: ‘The dreadful occurrence is solely attributable to his own madness, the keepers are quite blameless.’

As can be seen, health and safety regulations were not very high on the agenda of the time, and accidents and mishaps seemed to be attributed to the immediate source, allowing the proprietor to walk away unscarred, and even with useful accolades and free publicity in hand. Rarely indeed did the buck stop at the top. And George Wombwell seemed to get away with everything.