2-888-586 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late Mr. Wombwell, 1850. Portrait of British menagerist George Wombwell who founded Wombwell's Travelling Menagerie, was a '...very active provider of amusement - who, perhaps, occupied a more prominent position before the existence of Zoological Societies...At the London Docks he saw some of the first boa constrictors imported into England...Mr. Wombwell at length ventured to offer £75 for a pair...From this time he became a regular "showman"..and subsequently exhibited with great success his boa constrictors in Piccadilly'. He was '...very successful in breeding, and possessed at the time of his death more than twenty lions and five elephants, in addition to an unrivalled collection of other wild animals.'. From "Illustrated London News", 1850.