Sanger's Circus
Preserved but no longer current.
This is one of the oldest — and at one time the best known — of the circuses on the road. It was formed from nothing by "Lord" George Sanger (1827-1911) who in 1871 pur- chased Astley's amphitheatre and menagerie, and about the same time leased the Agricultural Hall, Islington. He carried his big circus or sent subsidiary ones throughout the provinces and into Scotland, and "Sanger's Circus" became an established institution.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “Sanger's Circus” mean?
This is one of the oldest — and at one time the best known — of the circuses on the road. It was formed from nothing by "Lord" George Sanger (1827-1911) who in 1871 pur- chased Astley's amphitheatre and menagerie, and about the same time leased the Agricultural Hall, Islington. He carried his big circus or sent subsidiary ones throughout the provinces and into Scotland, and "Sanger's Circus" became an established institution.
Is “Sanger's Circus” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.