Some Cynical Reporting

The sad ends of Ellen Blight and William Wombwell, not to mention the earlier death of Thomas Soaper to a rattlesnake bite, were not unfortunately the only incidents to be reported by the nineteenth century press. Indeed the New Sporting Magazine estimated that Wombwell menagerie ‘accidents’ seemed to occur on a half-yearly basis. 

The New Sporting Magazine, 1839. Note the cynicism.

They were not the only observers however to raise a quizzical eyebrow at the regularity of newsworthy events that seemed to spill out of the menagerie public relations office. George had long since learned that any publicity was good publicity, and when disasters were not forthcoming, they could always be either quietly manufactured, or, at a pinch, just invented. According to Shaun Everett, the term ‘Wombwellisms’ was even coined to describe these sleights of the marketing hand. 

What is even more interesting in this exploration of nineteenth century values is how George Wombwell seemed to glide almost untouched through crises that would have led to absolute ruin in our own day. Whatever the nature of the catastrophe, there was always someone more blameworthy than the menagerie hierarchy.