Williams Circus

[allenkj]

My great great grandfather Henry Williams was described as a Circus proprietor.

They toured overseas because his daughter Sophie claims to have been born in Wien.

Alfred Prince married Sophie Agnes Wliiams in Buenos Aires in 1875 so presumably they were working in Brazil where my grandfather George Alfred Prince was born. They were missing from the 1881 census.

I think that Henry Williams died in Rio between 1876-1880.

Can anyone help with the Williams part of my family? I can't find any census records.
 

[chempat]

Could you give us a few dates and places of birth for the family - if you know them?

Thank-you.

[chempat]

Presumably this is them in 1891, for reference:

1891 England Census
Alfred Prince  Age:    36  Estimated Birth Year:    abt 1855
Relation:    Head       Spouse's Name:    Agnes J Prince
Gender:    Male  Where born:    Hackney, London, England
Civil Parish:    Lambeth  Ecclesiastical parish:    Holy Trinity  Town:    Lambeth  County/Island:    London  Country:    England
Occupation: Music Hall Artist
Registration district:    Lambeth  Sub registration district:    Lambeth Church First
ED, institution, or vessel:    7  Piece:    391  Folio:    179  Page Number:    41
Alfred Prince    36
Agnes J Prince    34 Wien Germany  (Vienna is now Austria)
George A Prince    14  South America
Alfred H Prince    12  Southampton
John Prince    11   London
Agnes E Prince    8   Lambeth
Lilly Prince    4  Liverpool

[allenkj]

Presumably this is them in 1891, for reference:

1891 England Census
Alfred Prince  Age:    36  Estimated Birth Year:    abt 1855
Relation:    Head       Spouse's Name:    Agnes J Prince
Gender:    Male  Where born:    Hackney, London, England
Civil Parish:    Lambeth  Ecclesiastical parish:    Holy Trinity  Town:    Lambeth  County/Island:    London  Country:    England
Occupation: Music Hall Artist
Registration district:    Lambeth  Sub registration district:    Lambeth Church First
ED, institution, or vessel:    7  Piece:    391  Folio:    179  Page Number:    41
Alfred Prince    36
Agnes J Prince    34 Wien Germany  (Vienna is now Austria)
George A Prince    14  South America
Alfred H Prince    12  Southampton
John Prince    11   London
Agnes E Prince    8   Lambeth
Lilly Prince    4  Liverpool

Yes that's the Princes back from Brazil.

Sophie, as you can see, was a woman of mystery who also called herself Agnes J and, on a photograph, Agnes Victorine.

[allenkj]

Could you give us a few dates and places of birth for the family - if you know them?

Thank-you.

Henry Williams was born in 1825. That's what my family tree says but I can't find the source. I might have got it from my nephew's files.

Sophie Agnes was born in Wien. Her marriage was at the British consulate in Buenos Aires on 31 December 1875 and her age is 22, making her birth date 1853. On census returns it's 1857, 1858 or 1859. Henry Williams, her father was a 'Circus proprietor'.

I think that Alfred and Agnes moved into music halls when they came back to Britain. I have a german contract for Alfred and a contract for both of them at the Granville theatre of varieties in 1901.

That's all I have for the Williams's.

[chempat]

Were you aware of the Circus Historical Society, possibly American biased but there may be European equivalents, or it may also cover Europe.

http://www.circushistory.org/index.htm

Looking for Sophia Agnes (or other names?) with father Henry in censuses is not showing anything obvious.

This person has pulled together various miscellaneous people with occupations linked to travelling shows - how much google searching have you done?

http://members.shaw.ca/pauline777/Misc.html

(I think their Henry is born about 1830)

[allenkj]

Were you aware of the Circus Historical Society, possibly American biased but there may be European equivalents, or it may also cover Europe.

http://www.circushistory.org/index.htm

Looking for Sophia Agnes (or other names?) with father Henry in censuses is not showing anything obvious.

This person has pulled together various miscellaneous people with occupations linked to travelling shows - how much google searching have you done?

http://members.shaw.ca/pauline777/Misc.html

(I think their Henry is born about 1830)

I've tried various circus and showman sites such as the Galloper and general searching for Williams Circus with no luck.

Thanks for the links, I'll have a trawl.