Rowe's Circus

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Eugene von Guerard, Old Ballarat as it was in the Summer of 1853-54, 1884, oil on canvas, mounted on board, Art Gallery of Ballarat Collection, Gift of James Oddie on Eureka Day, 1885.

Background

Also known as Rowe's American Circus. The proprietor was J.A. Rowe.

J.A. Rowe came to Australia with Chiarini's Circus, leaving his family in California.[1]


... J.A. Rowe, afterwards well-known in Melbourne, made a small fortune in San Francico. with his circus, during the Gold Fever. One of his performers was Young Raphael, still in the circus business in Australia. Rowe came to Melbourne, with his troupe, and opened in his tent on the site subsequently occupied by Coppin'e Olympic, the Iron Pot, opposite where Fryer's Equescurriculum shows to-nigbt. However, there was a circus in Melbourne before Rowe's, and this was Noble's, on the open space where the Imperial Hotel now stands, opposite Parliament House, the site being afterwards taken by the Salle de Valentino, where Madame Carandini sang as a star. ... [2]


THE CIRCUS.
To the Editor of the Argus.
Sir,-It was with a little astonishment I read the accompanying advertisement, which has appeared several times in your Journal, thinking that you, who were acquainted with the whole circumstances of the case, would not have allow such gross misepresentations to appear through the columns of your paper, even though paid for as an advertisement. I state to the enclosed which I have extracted from the Argus Tuesday last, and which appeared previously and subsequently to that date. I had really no power as you must be well aware, to grant he use of the Circus for the Diggers' Meeting, My license is granted for a specific purpose, and I am not at liberty to violate its provisions without the a sanction of the authorities. Had their consent being obtained I should then have been most happy is to accede to the request.
I am unacquainted with Mr Henry Lewis and confine myself to my legitimate avocations of providing the best possible entertainment for the very liberal patronage with I have been honoured. I view the other circus as no rival establishment, nor am I desirous of detrecting from its merits for the puroise of benefitting myself, although a different feeling appears to exist on the part of Mr Henry Lewis (if there be such a person) with regard to me. I have little doubt the public will continue their support where it is most merited, notwithstanding such liberial attacks. I have no wish to enter into a paper war, and shall consequently not again conderscend to the notice attacks founded on falsehood, continued as I am that a discriminating public will never award that share of support which is merited to
Your most obedient servant,
J.A. ROWE. American Circus,
19th Nov, 1852.
The notice Mr Rowe refers to slipped into our columns without our perceiving its drift and intention, but we quite agree with Mr Rowe, as to the desirability and bad taste by which it is characterised, and we will take care that it shall not appear again through our instrumentality. Ed A.[3]

Goldfields Involvement in 1854

Rowe's Circus was performed in a large, round tent and is prominent in Eugene Von Guerard's artwork Old Ballarat as it was in the Summer of 1853-54.


Post 1854 Activity

The performance last evening at the Theatre Royal was for the benefit of Mr. J.A. Rowe, who some twenty years ago, when circus proprietor, and in affluent circumstances, contributed liberally to our local institutions. He is about returning with his family to California, and his numerous friends thought it was only due to his old association with populor entertainments that he should be accorded a farewell benefit. This proved a most gratifying success. The house was filled in all parts; the dress circle not excepted. Mr. Geo. Coppin, the Leopold family, And other artists, assisted on the occasion. The programme included the well known but ever welcome comedy of To Oblige Benson, in which Mr. Coppin appeared as Mr. Trotter Southdown ; Daisy Farm, and some musical selections, and terpsichorean performances by the Leopold family. The entertainment was in every respect excellent. Daisy Farm will be re peated this evening.[4]

Notes

BALLARAT FINE ART PUBLIC GALLERY.
Four valuable pictures have just been added to the gallery. One, lent by the president, Mr James Oddie, apart from its intrinsic value as a work of art, will be deeply, interesting to the inhabitants of this district. lt is a representation of old Ballarat, by the well known artist, M. von Guerard, taken from the Commissioners’ Hill, near the site now occupied by Craig’s hotel. It was lately, exhibited in Melbourne, at Mr Fletcher’s Art Gallery, and we subjoin the excellent criticism published in the Argus of 12th January last:— “ All the sketches for it were made on the spot upwards of 80 years ago, and its accuracy in every detail will no doubt be recognised by many old inhabitants of that goldfield. The scene embraces the whole of the flat, with Rowe’s Circus pitched pretty near the centre of it, and numerous stores, restaurants, and places of public entertainment, each a faithful copy of the original, and each filling the position in which it then stood. There is the first Catholic church, dedicated to St. Alipius, with a cross above its canvas gable; the first Protestant church, the primitive post-office, the Yarrowee winding through the valley, the road to Buninyong, the gravel-pit lead, still populous with diggers; and on the ‘high ground beyond ‘the forest primeval,’ with the bulky form of Mount Warrenheip rising up behind it. And in one portion of the picture the artist has introduced a characteristic incident of the period—a number of diggers being - escorted to the lookup at the Commissioners’ Camp by the police for having been found working without a license. M. von Guerard has aimed at literal fidelity and topographical accuracy, and in this respect the picture possesses the highest value, and in duces the wish that we could obtain equally trustworthy pictorial transcripts of each of our Victorian cities in their infancy. As a work of art, we prefer it to any picture from the same easel we have seen for a long time past. It is warmer in tone and better in colour. The vegetation is beginning to yellow beneath the hot sun of the early summer, and the distance is cleverly managed. Mr Oddie is to be congratulated upon the happy thought of commissioning such a work, which is not unlikely to find its way into some public institution in Ballarat at some future day; and as time removes the inhabitants of that city still farther away from the epoch at which the sketches were made, the picture is sure to be regarded with increasing interest and curiosity.” ... [5]


ROWE and MARSHALL'S HIPPODROME -
As will be seen by an advertisement which has appeared in our advertising columns for the past week, Messrs Rowe and Marshall, late of the Hippodrome at Tattersall's, in Melbourne, open a similar establishment at the back of the Royal Mail Hotel, Main Road, this evening. Of an entertainment we have never seen we can say little, but that the programme is a most inviting one, and contains the names of a large number of performers of considerable Colonial if not English celebrity. We can readily assert Mr Rowe is the same who some six years back was the proprietor of Rowe's Circus in Melbourne, where the Olympic Theatre now stands, and whose character stood peculiarly high both in his profession and as a citizen. We cordially wish that his Ballarat enterprise may prove a successful one.[6]


Also See

California

George Coppin

References

  1. The Australasian 21 June 1873.
  2. Melbourne Herald, 05 December 1885.
  3. Argus, 20 November 1852.
  4. The Age, 12 July 1873.
  5. Ballarat Star, 17 February 1885.
  6. The Star, 23 October 1858.