Silvester The Charmed Monster

Identified verso as 'Silvester the Charmed Monster', this is possibly John Silvester, a 'travelling theatrical performer' who appears on the 1861 census lodging at the Railway Tavern in Bedford. The 1871 census shows him living with his wife Phyllis and their family at 1 Sun Court, St Georges in the East, Tower Hamlets [East London]. Aged 37 at the time of the census, he was born in Birmingham and gave 'gymnastic' as his profession. In 1873 his sister Ann married into the Duffy family, an Irish dynasty of circus performers and circus proprietors. By the time of the 1881 census, John Silvester was living in a caravan in Radford, an area of Nottingham. He now gave 'bazaar keeper' as his profession.

Photographed by W. S. Laroche of Birmingham.