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Mary Rose Cawley ( Chipperfield, 26 November 1937 – 30 November 2014) was a 1970s British
circus
A circus is a company of performers who put on diverse entertainment shows that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, dancers, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, magicians, ventriloquists, and unicyclist ...
entertainer
An entertainer is someone who provides entertainment in various different forms.
Types of entertainers
* Acrobat
* Actor
* Archimime
* Athlete
* Barker
* Beatboxer
* Benshi
* Bouffon
* Circus performer
* Clown
* Club Hostess/Host
* Comed ...
who specialised in a
chimpanzee
The chimpanzee (''Pan troglodytes''), also known as simply the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forest and savannah of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed subspecies. When its close relative th ...
act. She was also known as an animal trainer, providing numerous animals for various BBC productions and the 1967 movie
''Doctor Dolittle''.
She was later convicted on several counts of animal cruelty.
Early life
She was born on 26 November 1937 in a circus caravan in
Kentish Town
Kentish Town is an area of northwest London, England in the London Borough of Camden, immediately north of Camden Town. Less than four miles north of central London, Kentish Town has good transport connections and is situated close to the ope ...
, London.
[ Her father was Jimmy Chipperfield and his wife Rose (née Purchase; 1912–2006). The Purchase family had a long history of travelling menageries, and Rose had a lion act herself. The two shows amalgamated about two years after the couple married in 1935. ]Chipperfield's Circus
]
Chipperfield's Circus is a British family touring show, continuing a 300-year-old family business.
Chipperfield's Circus originates with James Chipperfield with his performing animals at the River Thames frost fairs, Thames Frost Fair of 1 ...
was managed by Jimmy's father at the time and control later passed to his older brother.
Career
In 1955 her father broke away from the family circus and, after a brief spell at farming and managing other shows, he and Mary began providing animals for film work.
Southampton Zoo
In 1961 Jimmy founded Southampton Zoological Gardens on Southampton Common
Southampton Common is a large open space to the north of the city centre of Southampton, England. It is bounded by the districts of Shirley, Bassett, Highfield and Portswood. The area supports a large variety of wildlife, including one of th ...
and Mary used this as a base for taming a variety of wild animals for roles in films and Chipperfield's Circus.
Longleat
In the 1960s her father began to develop drive-through safari parks. Mary and her husband Richard Cawley were actively involved in the creation of the Longleat Safari Park
Longleat Safari and Adventure Park in Wiltshire, England, was opened in 1966 as the world's first drive-through safari park outside Africa.
History
The park is situated in the grounds of Longleat House, an English stately home which is open t ...
. Mary wrote about its creation and first year of public operation in ''Lions on the Lawn'' (1971).
Christmas shows in the 1970s
Just as the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
showed
Billy Smart's Circus
Billy Smart Jr. (born Stanley Smart, 15 October 1934 – 23 May 2005) was a British circus performer and impresario.
Biography
Smart, whose real name was Stanley, was the tenth child and third son of Billy Smart Sr. His father was a showman ...
shows on Christmas Day for several years during the 1970s,
ITV
ITV or iTV may refer to:
ITV
*Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of:
** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
would show
Chipperfield's Circus
]
Chipperfield's Circus is a British family touring show, continuing a 300-year-old family business.
Chipperfield's Circus originates with James Chipperfield with his performing animals at the River Thames frost fairs, Thames Frost Fair of 1 ...
in competition. This brought Mary even more into the public eye and she was featured in magazine articles and features such as a photospread in ''
Princess Tina
''Princess Tina'' (at times known as ''Princess Tina and Penelope'' and then simply ''Tina'') was a weekly British girls' comic published from autumn 1967 to summer 1973 by the International Publishing Company, initially under the Fleetway Pu ...
Annual 1971''.
The Beast of Bodmin Moor
In 1978 the
Plymouth Zoo
Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west.
Plymouth ...
, then owned by Chipperfield, was forced to close due to economic difficulties, and she arranged to transfer five of her pumas to the nearby
Dartmoor Wildlife Park
Dartmoor Zoological Park (originally Dartmoor Wildlife Park) is a zoo just north of the village of Sparkwell, on the south-west edge of Dartmoor, in the county of Devon in the South West of England. It was opened in 1968 by Ellis Daw who ran ...
, now
Dartmoor Zoo
Dartmoor is an upland area in southern Devon, England. The moorland and surrounding land has been protected by National Park status since 1951. Dartmoor National Park covers .
The granite which forms the uplands dates from the Carboniferou ...
.
However three of them, which included a breeding pair, were very dear to her, and when the cage arrived it was found to contain only two pumas, together with the tags of the other three.
Chipperfield said that the three had escaped, but she later broke down and said she had released the three onto the moor, rather than give them up to another home.
However 38 years later, and two years after her death, Roger Cawley, her widower, denied these claims.
Nevertheless, the famous legend of the
Beast of Bodmin
Beast most often refers to:
* Non-human animal
* Monster
Beast or Beasts may also refer to:
Bible
* Beast (Revelation), two beasts described in the Book of Revelation
Computing and gaming
* Beast (card game), English name of historical Fre ...
began almost at once after the alleged release in 1978, and has persisted with occasional reported sightings ever since.
Conviction for animal cruelty
In 1999, Mary Chipperfield was accused of cruel treatment of some animals in her circus. In April 1998 an infant chimpanzee named Trudy had been seized by police and taken to the '
Monkey World
The Monkey World Ape Rescue Centre is a ape and monkey sanctuary and rescue centre near Wool, Dorset, England.
History
Set up in 1987 by Jim Cronin with assistance from both Jeremy Keeling and later operated by both Cronin and his wife A ...
' sanctuary after being repeatedly kicked, beaten and made to sleep in a tiny box.
Chipperfield was found guilty of twelve counts of cruelty to animals and fined £8,500.
Many campaigners - including Animal Defenders, who brought her mistreatment of animals to the High Court - believed that the sentence was far too lenient and that Chipperfield should have been banned from keeping animals for life.
Personal life and death
Chipperfield was married to Roger Cawley. She died on 30 November 2014, at the age of 77.
Probate Search: Cawley, Mary Rose
/ref>
References
External links
*British Pathé
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
Newsreel
Mary Chipperfield - Animal Trainer aka Woman… 1964'
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chipperfield
1937 births
2014 deaths
British circus performers