Circus Lion Tamer (Newsome/Cardona)

[JanetM]

I've done a lot of research on an apparently true story that my ? x G Grandfather was a lion tamer who was killed by a lion! Either during a show or training he, without fear, put his head in the lion's mouth and his head was bitten off. Completely crazy, but fascinating! The name Cardona/Cordoni/Cardownie has been mentioned, but I think this is a red herring as I have lists of names of travellers/circus folk and there are a lot of Newsomes as well, which was my G Grandmother's name and she was married to a Lamont. If there is anyone who knows anything about the death of the lion tamer and Newsomes, etc who are related to Stewarts who are mainly from Glasgow but come from Ireland originally, I would love to know. The Newsomes and Cardonas were around at the same time. One Newsome brother was a circus proprieter and the other brother was a lion tamer, but I have nothing more to go on. My G Grandmother was Harriet Newsome and her Father was Timothy Newsome, Musician. I'm pretty sure my Dad thought it was my GGG Grandfather, who was the lion tamer. We may still have distant relatives in Stirling and I believe my Dad used to visit travelling folk (relatives?) in Hurlford. Can anyone help?

[nelmit]

Hello and welcome to Talking Scot Janet.

There are a few stories from 19th century newspapers with reports of the death of Timothy Newsome, the lion tamer who died in 1890 age 77 (so born about 1813) and buried at Preston Cemetery. His death was natural but the reports stated that hardly an inch of his body was without scars from the beasts he worked with throughout the years. Have you seen these?

Harriet's father, Timothy was born around 1823 according to census records except the 1881 where he states he was born in 1814.

There is a huge flaw in my theory that they are one and the same and that is ........in one newspaper story it states that Timothy's wife was also a lion tamer and died 16 years before him. The only Selina Newsome I can find about the right age died in 1880.

Have you got the death record of Harriet's father?

regards,
Annette

[nelmit]

I've been reading over your post again and noticed that you say Harriet's father was a musician. Where did you get that info?

Was Harriet's mother called Selina?

Regards,
Annette

[JanetM]

Hi Annette

Thanks for replying. Haven't much time to look into this just now, but Timothy Newsome is recorded as a musician on the marriage cert for Francis Lamont, tailor, and Herriot (sic) Newsome, power loom weaver. Harriet was illiterate and couldn't see they'd wrongly spelled her name, but I have already cross-referenced other documents and it is definitely her. Timothy's wife is listed as Sicilla, but it is likely this is wrong as well, as we do have another Selina in the family (now that you mention it, it's obvious), in fact, her granddaughter, Harriet's daughter and my gandmother's sister. Following tradition, looks like my great aunt, as the eldest daughter, was named after her grandmother. Does that make sense. Sounds like you know more ! I will look into the newspaper articles later on, but feeling guilty as I've just spent 2 1/2 days shoehorning other things inbetween family research ......

Janet

[nelmit]

Hi Janet,

I hate it when life gets in the way of Family History!

Here is the marriage index of Timothy and Selina.

groom's name: Timothy Gilman Newsome
bride's name: Selina Bridgman Macallum
marriage date: 15 Feb 1846
marriage place: Edinburgh Parish,Edinburgh,Midlothian,Scotland

Here is Harriet with her mum and grandmother, Joanna Douglas, in 1851 at Glasgow -

Joanna Mccollum 52
Selina Mccathern 25 daughter, born Glasgow, Traveller
Ann Mccathern 23
Susan Mccathern 10
Harriet Newsome 5 born Glasgow (her age agrees with Harriet Lamont in 1871)
George Woonbwill Newsome 3 born Edinburgh
Ann Newsome 1
William Buchanan 3 Mo
Mary Stonie 23

Here is Timothy, Selina and George at Manchester in 1861-

John Bloomfield 35
Emma Bloomfield 30
Timothy Newsome 38 Traveller
Selina Newsome 36 born Scotland
George Newsome 13 born Scotland
Pauline Newsome 7 born Scotland
Rosina Newsome 4 born Ireland

Another child Alice was born in August 1861.

1881 Northumberland -

Timothy Newsom 67 Exhibition Proprietor
George Newsom 32 born Edinburgh
Losetta Newsom 9
Polly Newsom 4
Arthur Newsom 2

..........and the news article on Timothy's death.

http://talkingscot.com/gallery/albums/u ... _28829.pdf

As I said there are a few conflicting facts but the one consistent is George (who named one of his daughters Harriet).

What an interesting family.

Regards,
Annett

[JanetM]

Dear Annette

I am blown away. I was hoping for someone with a common ancestor to provide information, but you have done so much and it's not your own family. Thank you so much. I did come across the 1861 Newsome listings. On that, you will also see many Cardownies (Codona) and I initially wondered if those two families had intermarried, as my first cousin once removed told me the name was, she thought, Kidona! We have come a fair way from Kidona to Newsome ! Printed out some articles from a search I did before I went out to my son's prizegiving this afternoon and still to read those and the link you have given me. I am delighted to have received so much info - I was struggling to find some of this. I'll get back to you later.

Thank you again
Janet

[Montrose Budie]

This sounds to me like archetypical speculation down the generations that then becomes set in stone as being the truth !, except it wasn't !!

In other words, here, the ancestor being a lion tamer, and such folk often having stuck their head in a lion's mouth as part of their act; someone later speculated that a lion bit their head off, as the cause of death.

That speculation then comes down the generations as the actual cause of death..........

Instead, as can be clearly shown here, while the person concerned was indeed a lion tamer in a circus, their death was much more mundane.


Incidentaly CODONA is a long-term and well-known fairground name in the West of Scotland.

mb

[LesleyB]

There is also the Codona Amusement Park in Aberdeen...
http://www.codonas.com/

[nelmit]

Hi Janet,

Here is Harriet in 1861at Adelphi Street, Hutchesontown. Ancestry isn't making it easy to find them! Looks like she is indexed as Heriot Newsome at SP.

Archd Mcneil 29
Ann Mcneil 29
Joanna Mcneil 7
Janes Mcneil 5
Ann Mcneil 2
Archibald Mcneil 3 Mo
Heriot Newrome 17 boarder
Ann Newrome 19 boarder (I wonder if this is her younger sister whose age is mis-transcribed although SP has the same)

Since you were at prize giving today (hope your family made you proud) I'm going to assume you live in Glasgow or thereabouts. I would definitely check the poorhouse index for Harriet at The Mitchell Library in case she made an application and it should tell you more about her family.

Strange that, if she was the daughter of Timothy the lion tamer, she didn't travel with them.

Regards,
Annette

[Currie]

While Annette was doing some serious research, I was searching for any instance of where a lion had actually bitten off a lion tamer’s head. I haven’t found a single one, although there have been quite a few who ended up with heads somewhat lacerated like Mademoiselle Senide in 1888. http://www.paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cg ... +street%22

It’s probably just a story dreamed up to impress a youngster and carried down through the generations, maybe to discourage them from taking up the profession. Lion tamers put their heads in lion’s mouths in order to generate a hope or fear in the audience’s minds that it will be bitten off, but in reality, although maybe not impossible, it’s probably just one of those urban myths.

Here’s some more to add to the soup.

The Era (London), Saturday, September 17, 1898.
Part of a long article headed “The Showman World”
“In our visit to some of the homes on wheels we came across, in one instance, a remarkable family, a branch of the celebrated Newsome family to the third generation—grandfather William Newsome, father George Wombwell Newsome, and several Newsomes of the third generation. The old veteran of the road, William Newsome, is eighty-two, and still hale and hearty. "We turned o'er many books together," and enriched ourselves in the pleasant memories of a glorious past, what time the famous lion-tamer Tim Newsome ruled supreme as lion king, when James Newsome, of circus fame, and the octogenarian of my story were boys together.”

Western Mail (Cardiff, Wales), Monday, September 15, 1879.
Article about visit of Bostock and Wombwell’s Menagerie to Cardiff, with a reference to “great American lion tamer Cardono”.

Captain Cardono’s name was Thomas Bridgman, he died 1891 at Gunnislade, age 44. He had a brother, Robert Thomas E Bridgman living at Camberwell. Read all about it in this New Zealand newspaper. http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/cgi-bi ... 10904.2.15

Alan