Liquidation

Days of Glory

Francis Bostock was a son of Henry Bostock who in turn was a brother of James Bostock.  It was this Francis – little Frank – who oversaw the final days of the menagerie. 

Edward Henry Bostock had already unsuccessfully tried to offer the menagerie animals to Glasgow Corporation in 1930 to no avail and eventually decided he could wait no longer. The menagerie was to be liquidated and its final show was slated in for the last week of November, 1931, in Newcastle with all the menagerie contents and accessories to be auctioned off on the final day. 

Little Frank Bostock was there, but not Edward Henry who had left for an extended vacation in Cape Town at the beginning of the month, perhaps keen to absent himself from the emotional rollercoaster of the final denouement.