William Batty
Encyclopedia
William Batty was an equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...

 performer, circus
Circus
A circus is commonly a travelling company of performers that may include clowns, acrobats, trained animals, trapeze acts, musicians, hoopers, tightrope walkers, jugglers, unicyclists and other stunt-oriented artists...

 proprietor, and longtime operator of Astley's Amphitheatre
Astley's Amphitheatre
Philip Astley opened Astley's Amphitheatre in London in 1773. * The structure was burned in 1794, then rebuilt. With increasing prosperity and rebuilding after successive fires, it grew to become Astley's Royal Amphitheatre and this was the home of the circus...

 in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

. Batty was one of the most successful circus proprietors in Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...

 England, and helped launch the careers of a number of leading Victorian circus personalities, such as Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque was the first black circus proprietor in Britain. His circus, in which he himself was a performer, was the most popular circus in Victorian Britain for 30 years, a period that is regarded as the golden age of the circus...

, the versatile performer and later circus proprietor (best known today from his mention in The Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...

 song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!
"Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!" is a song from the 1967 album by The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. It was composed by John Lennon...

"), and W.F. Wallett
W.F. Wallett
William Frederick "W.F." Wallett was a popular circus clown in Victorian England, who also enjoyed modest celebrity in the United States...

, one of most celebrated clowns of the era. Also, while in operation for only two years, Batty's most lasting legacy is probably Batty's Grand National Hippodrome, also known as Batty's Hippodrome, an open-air amphitheate he erected in 1851 in Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. It is shared between the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. The park covers an area of 111 hectares .The open spaces...

, London, to attract audiences from the Crystal Palace Exhibition nearby.

Batty was an equestrian performer as early as 1828, and by 1836 he was operating his own circus.
In that year, Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque was the first black circus proprietor in Britain. His circus, in which he himself was a performer, was the most popular circus in Victorian Britain for 30 years, a period that is regarded as the golden age of the circus...

 was performing with him in Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...

 as a "rope dancer." In the ensuing years, Batty's circus travelled throughout the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

; in 1838 he was at Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

 and Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...

, and in 1840 at Portsmouth
Portsmouth
Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

 and Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

. When Astley's Amphitheatre
Astley's Amphitheatre
Philip Astley opened Astley's Amphitheatre in London in 1773. * The structure was burned in 1794, then rebuilt. With increasing prosperity and rebuilding after successive fires, it grew to become Astley's Royal Amphitheatre and this was the home of the circus...

 suffered its third fire, Batty was in Dublin, and boarded the next steamer to London to arrange for its rebuilding in Westminster Street. Batty put W.F. Wallett
W.F. Wallett
William Frederick "W.F." Wallett was a popular circus clown in Victorian England, who also enjoyed modest celebrity in the United States...

 in charge of the management of his circus in Dublin, while Batty made plans for a temporary circus in Oxford
Oxford
The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 and until Astley's could be rebuilt. While Batty was at Oxford in 1841, Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque was the first black circus proprietor in Britain. His circus, in which he himself was a performer, was the most popular circus in Victorian Britain for 30 years, a period that is regarded as the golden age of the circus...

 left Batty to start his own circus. Wallett joined him. On occasion, business would reunite Batty and Fanque over the next twenty years.

Batty managed Astley's Amphitheatre
Astley's Amphitheatre
Philip Astley opened Astley's Amphitheatre in London in 1773. * The structure was burned in 1794, then rebuilt. With increasing prosperity and rebuilding after successive fires, it grew to become Astley's Royal Amphitheatre and this was the home of the circus...

 from 1842 to1853. All the major circus acts of the day performed at Astley's, including Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque
Pablo Fanque was the first black circus proprietor in Britain. His circus, in which he himself was a performer, was the most popular circus in Victorian Britain for 30 years, a period that is regarded as the golden age of the circus...

 who performed there for twelve nights in March 1847. Batty leased the building to William Cooke in 1853. Cooke would run Astley's until 1860.

While managing Astley's in the autumn of 1850, Batty acquired land in Kensington Gardens, London, to begin construction of an open-air arena for theatrical and equestrian events. Batty chose the site, which covered a large area at the end of the Broad Walk (now occupied by DeVere Gardens), in order to attract visitors to the Crystal Palace Exhibition, five minutes away. Architect George Ledwell Taylor
George Ledwell Taylor
George Ledwell Taylor was an architect and landowner who lived in London.-Life:George Ledwell Taylor was born on 31 March 1788 and educated at Rawes's academy, Bromley. He became a pupil of the architect James Burton, and on Burton's retirement, of Joseph Parkinson , who was then engaged in laying...

 designed the structure, which the firm Haward and Nixon constructed of iron and wood. The arena consisted of an eight-row grandstand, to seat 14,000 people, surrounding an oval space 360 feet by 260 feet. Named Batty's Grand National Hippodrome, or Batty's Hippodrome, the arena opened in May 1851, with a French troupe from the Hippodrome in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

. In addition to equestrian events, Batty staged camel and ostrich races, and balloon ascents. Batty's Hippodrome opened for a second season in 1852, during which a balloon launch went awry, causing serious injury to its occupants after the balloon averted a collision with the Crystal Palace Exhibition and crashed into a nearby mansion. Batty ceased performances at the Hippodrome after the 1852 season and the arena operated as a riding track for several years until its demolition. No trace of Batty's Hippodrome remains today.

When Batty died in 1868, he was reportedly worth a half a million pounds sterling.
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