Fairground strollers and showfolk
(Book)

Includes bibliographical references and index.

This book explores the lives of travelling performers in the world of the British 'fairground'. It "begins in the early nineteenth century with the emergence of Henry Freeman-Biddall who, having allegedly escaped from a cannibal-infested island in the South Seas, turned to wizardry to make his fortune. Once established on the fairground, his children and grandchildren intermarried with a core group of performers to create a dynasty which reads like a who's who in the history of travelling shows -- Baker, [Biddel/Biddall, Chapman,] Codona, Cody, [Freeman-Biddall,] Hanneford, Manders, Mayne, Meers, Miller, Newsome, Ohmy, Ridley, Sanger, Scott, Sedgwick, [and] Testo . . . " [Dust jacket].

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