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Circus entertainers

People's Palace, Social History File

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Circus entertainers

Francis Robinson was a Glaswegian who joined Bostock's Circus in 1927, when he was 18 years old.

Bostock's Circus had a long association with Glasgow, with a permanent site on New City Road in Cowcaddens (the Scottish Zoo and Variety Circus) from 1897. This photograph was taken during a tour of the North of Scotland. Robinson is on the right. Sitting on the bonnet of the lorry is the Irish Tom Thumb, who was 36 inches high, although both his parents were over 6 feet tall. On the left is Frankie Quinn, who drove the lorry and worked with the Irish Tom Thumb. Tragically Quinn died when he was crushed between two wagons.

Reference: PP.1981.72.1 / SP.2000.67

Reproduced with the permission of Glasgow City Council, Glasgow Museums

Keywords:
Bostock's Circus, circus dwarves, circus performers, circuses, disability, lorries, people with disabilities, Scottish Zoo and Variety Circus, Tom Thumbs



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