HOME
*



picture info

Chunee
Chunee (or Chuny) was an Indian elephant who was brought to Regency London in 1811. Three elephants were brought to England in East India Company ships between 1809 and 1811. The third of these was Chunee. He travelled on the East Indiaman, , from Bengal, arriving in England in July 1811.Grigson, Caroline, ''Menagerie: The History of Exotic Animals in England'', Oxford University Press, 2016. The other two elephants, also owned by Stephani Polito at some point, arrived in England in September 1809, and June 1810. "Mr Polito ... has obtained possession of a remarkably fine Elephant, brought to England in the Hon. East India Company's ship, Winchelsea, Capt. William Moffat, which will be exhibited at Rumsey icfair on Monday; and it is expected he will be offered for public inspection for a day or two, in this town , on his way to the Exeter 'Change London." The second elephant was brought to England from Sri Lanka on the East India Company ship in June 1810. Chunee was ori ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Winchelsea (1803 EIC Ship)
''Winchelsea'' was launched in 1803 as an East Indiaman for the British East India Company (EIC). She made 11 voyages for the EIC before she was broken up in 1834. Career EIC voyage #1 (1804–1805) Captain Walter Campbell acquired a letter of marque on 22 December 1803. He sailed from Portsmouth on 13 February 1804, bound for Mumbai, Bombay and China. ''Winchelsea'' arrived at Bombay on 26 May, and left on 6 August. She reached Malacca on 13 September and arrived at Whampoa anchorage on 15 October. Homeward bound, she crossed the Pearl River (China), Second Bar on 4 January 1805, reached Penang on 20 January and Saint Helena, St Helena 28 March. She left St Helena on 11 July, and arrived at The Downs (ship anchorage), The Downs on 10 September. EIC voyage #2 (1806–1807) Captain William Moffat (MP)#Captain William Moffat (1774–1850), William Moffat acquired a letter of marque on 19 December 1805. He sailed from Portsmouth on 4 March 1806, bound for Bombay and China. ''Winc ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Edward Cross (zoo Proprietor)
Edward Cross (''baptised'' 3 February 1774 – 26 September 1854) was an English zoo proprietor and dealer in animals. Cross was born in London and baptised at St Andrew's, Holborn, presumably within days of his birth. Apart from the names of his parents, Walter Cross and Jane (née Callow), his early life remains obscure. Cross worked for Stephen Polito, the owner of the menagerie at Exeter Exchange in the Strand. Cross's daughter married Polito's brother, and Cross bought the menagerie after Polito's death in 1814. The menagerie had been operated at that site from 1773 in competition with the Royal Menagerie at the Tower of London with lions, tigers, monkeys, and other exotic species, all confined in iron cages in small rooms. The menagerie was primarily a visitor attraction open to the general public. It was visited by Wordsworth and Byron - who records watching the "tigers sup", being amused by a hyena's affection for its keeper, and the tricks played by an elephan ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Strand, London
Strand (or the Strand) is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster, Central London. It runs just over from Trafalgar Square eastwards to Temple Bar, where the road becomes Fleet Street in the City of London, and is part of the A4, a main road running west from inner London. The road's name comes from the Old English ''strond'', meaning the edge of a river, as it historically ran alongside the north bank of the River Thames. The street was much identified with the British upper classes between the 12th and 17th centuries, with many historically important mansions being built between the Strand and the river. These included Essex House, Arundel House, Somerset House, Savoy Palace, Durham House and Cecil House. The aristocracy moved to the West End during the 17th century, and the Strand became known for its coffee shops, restaurants and taverns. The street was a centre point for theatre and music hall during the 19th century, and several venues remain on the St ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Exeter Exchange
The Exeter Exchange (signed and popularly known as Exeter Change) was a building on the north side of the Strand in London, with an arcade extending partway across the carriageway. It is most famous for the menagerie that occupied its upper floors for over fifty years, from 1773 until the building was demolished in 1829. Its first century Exeter Exchange was built in 1676, on the site of the demolished Exeter House (also known as Burghley House and Cecil House, following the naming conventions of British aristocracy), London residence of the Earls of Exeter. Around the same time, the nearby Burleigh Street and Exeter Street were laid out. The Exeter Exchange originally housed small shops (milliners, drapers, hosiers) on the ground floor, and rooms above which were let to the Land Bank. Over time, the traders on the ground floor were replaced by offices, and the upper rooms were used for storage. The management began to re-purpose the upper rooms. In April 1770, Giovanni ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Stephani Polito
Stephen Polito (also known as Stephano, Stephani and Stephanus Polito) (1763/4–1814) was a menagerie owner of Italian descent in Georgian England. Polito was born in Italy. He owned a menagerie which he toured around England in the late 18th century. He went into partnership with another menagerist named Miles in 1798, and "Miles and Polito's Menagerie" exhibited at St Bartholomew's Fair in 1799. Polito's menagerie also attended Nottingham Goose Fair in 1807. Polito acquired the permanent menagerie at Exeter Exchange in the Strand in London from the Pidcock family in 1810, and renamed it the Royal Menagerie. He continued to tour in the summer, and exhibited his animals at Exeter Exchange in the winter. The menagerie at Exeter Exchange was very popular during Polito's short period of ownership. It was visited by William Wordsworth and Lord Byron, and animals in his collection were painted by Edwin Landseer and Jacques-Laurent Agasse. The menagerie lions, tigers, hyenas, ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae and the order Proboscidea. The order was formerly much more diverse during the Pleistocene, but most species became extinct during the Late Pleistocene epoch. Distinctive features of elephants include a long proboscis called a trunk, tusks, large ear flaps, pillar-like legs, and tough but sensitive skin. The trunk is used for breathing, bringing food and water to the mouth, and grasping objects. Tusks, which are derived from the incisor teeth, serve both as weapons and as tools for moving objects and digging. The large ear flaps assist in maintaining a constant body temperature as well as in communication. African elephants have larger ears and concave backs, whereas Asian elephants have smaller ears, and convex or level backs. Elephants ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Pantomime
Pantomime (; informally panto) is a type of musical comedy stage production designed for family entertainment. It was developed in England and is performed throughout the United Kingdom, Ireland and (to a lesser extent) in other English-speaking countries, especially during the Christmas and New Year season. Modern pantomime includes songs, gags, slapstick comedy and dancing. It employs gender-crossing actors and combines topical humour with a story more or less based on a well-known fairy tale, fable or folk tale.Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline. "Pantomime", ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'', Jack Zipes (ed.), Oxford University Press (2006), Pantomime is a participatory form of theatre, in which the audience is encouraged and expected to sing along with certain parts of the music and shout out phrases to the performers. Pantomime has a long theatrical history in Western culture dating back to the era of classical theatre. It developed partly from the 16th century c ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drury Lane. The building is the most recent in a line of four theatres which were built at the same location, the earliest of which dated back to 1663, making it the oldest theatre site in London still in use. According to the author Peter Thomson, for its first two centuries, Drury Lane could "reasonably have claimed to be London's leading theatre". For most of that time, it was one of a handful of patent theatres, granted monopoly rights to the production of "legitimate" drama in London (meaning spoken plays, rather than opera, dance, concerts, or plays with music). The first theatre on the site was built at the behest of Thomas Killigrew in the early 1660s, when theatres were allowed to reopen during the English Restoration. Initially ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

British Sixpence Coin
The British sixpence () piece, sometimes known as a tanner or sixpenny bit, was a denomination of sterling coinage worth of one pound or half of one shilling. It was first minted in 1551, during the reign of Edward VI, and circulated until 1980. The coin was made from silver from its introduction in 1551 until 1947, and thereafter in cupronickel. Before Decimal Day in 1971, sterling used the Carolingian monetary system (£sd), under which the largest unit was a pound (£), divisible into 20 shillings (s), each of 12 pence (d). Following decimalisation, it had a value of new pence (£0.025). In 2016, new decimal sixpences began being minted by the Royal Mint as commemorative issues to celebrate Christmas; these coins have been produced for each year since, and are minted in sterling silver. History The first sixpences were minted in 1551, during the reign of Edward VI. They came about as a result of the debasement of silver coinage in the 1540s, in particular the silver te ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  




Killing The Elephant
Killing, Killings, or The Killing may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Killing'' (film), a 2018 Japanese film * ''The Killing'' (film), a 1956 film noir directed by Stanley Kubrick Television * ''The Killing'' (Danish TV series), a police procedural drama first broadcast in 2007 * ''The Killing'' (U.S. TV series), a crime drama based on the Danish television series, first broadcast in 2011 Literature * ''Killing'' (comics), Italian photo comic series about a vicious vigilante-criminal * ''Killing'', a series of historical nonfiction books by Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard * "Killings" (short story), a short story by Andre Dubus * ''The Killing'' (Muchamore novel), a CHERUB series installment by Robert Muchamore * ''The Killing'', a 2012 novelization of the Danish TV series by David Hewson Music * "Killing", a song on the album '' Echoes'' by The Rapture * "Killing", a song from an untitled Korn album released in 2007 * ''The Killing'' (EP), by Hatesp ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron
George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron (22 January 1788 – 19 April 1824), known simply as Lord Byron, was an English romantic poet and peer. He was one of the leading figures of the Romantic movement, and has been regarded as among the greatest of English poets. Among his best-known works are the lengthy narratives ''Don Juan'' and ''Childe Harold's Pilgrimage''; many of his shorter lyrics in ''Hebrew Melodies'' also became popular. Byron was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, later traveling extensively across Europe to places such as Italy, where he lived for seven years in Venice, Ravenna, and Pisa after he was forced to flee England due to lynching threats. During his stay in Italy, he frequently visited his friend and fellow poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. Later in life Byron joined the Greek War of Independence fighting the Ottoman Empire and died leading a campaign during that war, for which Greeks revere him as a folk hero. He died in 1824 at the age of 36 from ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Edmund Kean
Edmund Kean (4 November 178715 May 1833) was a celebrated British Shakespearean stage actor born in England, who performed, among other places, in London, Belfast, New York, Quebec, and Paris.  He was known for his short stature, tumultuous personal life, and controversial divorce. Biography Early life Kean was born in Westminster, London. His father was probably Edmund Kean, an architect's clerk, and his mother was an actress, Anne Carey, daughter of the 18th-century composer and playwright Henry Carey. Kean made his first appearance on the stage, aged four, as Cupid in Jean-Georges Noverre's ballet of ''Cymon''. As a child his vivacity, cleverness and ready affection made him a universal favorite, but his harsh circumstances and lack of discipline, both helped develop self-reliance and fostered wayward tendencies. About 1794 a few benevolent persons paid for him to go to school, where he did well; but finding the restraint intolerable, he shipped as a cabin boy at Po ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]