Circus Advertisements Featuring Mr Kite and his Ancestors plus Sources on Pablo Fanque and the Hendersons

 The involvement of the Kite family in the circus in Yorkshire, Lancashire and Lincolnshire can be traced to 1805 or earlier and suggest that there were at least two generations of Kites whose specialisms were horse mastery, high-wire tightrope and acrobatics. This article focuses on newspaper advertisements but also introduces information concerning births, deaths and baptisms.

In 1805, Mr. Kite's "Troop from London" appeared in Leeds, partnered with Mr Harris and Mr Moritz. His horsemanship is emphasized (The Leeds Intelligencer and Yorkshire General Advertiser, 9.9.1805).

In 1809, Mr and Mrs W Kite performed together in Leeds:

In 1810, he appeared in Hull, advertised as being from "London, Liverpool and Manchester."

He also performed again with his wife in Leeds:

Mr. Kite had at least two daughters whose records are preserved via Ancestry.com. Margaret was born in 1810 but died in 1815. Ann was Christened in Bradford on July 22, 1812. The record of this event is valuable because it lists William Kite's occupation as "Travelling Riding Master"

Mr Kite appears to have died in 1813, and his wife then merged the company with that of a Mr Samwell:

The generation of Mr. Kite immortalized by The Beatles seems to have originally performed as Master Kite, shown in this source:

Kite first appears in the sources with Pablo Fanque in 1841:

In 1843, Kite appears in Ashton

Pablo Fanque had a violent side so being a bill poster could be a dangerous trade:

Fanque's wife died in an accident in 1848:

Mr. John Henderson, mentioned in the song, was reported as doing "Somerset leaps" in September 1842:

However, the title of "first somerset thrower in the world" seems to belong to a man called Price, who performed the feat of 21 somersets without the aid of a trampoline (i.e. "on solid ground") in Brighton in 1836:

Somersets had previously been performed by a man called Wilkinson using a springboard, as in this source from 1834:

John Henderson was born in Lambeth in 1822 (according to the funeral article below). He married Agnes Selina Hengler (born Canterbury around 1825; baptised September 11, 1825) in Canterbury in the last quarter of 1843 and subsequently became an Equestrian Director. He died on May 10, 1867:

Agnes died on October 10, 1879, aged 54, in Low Hill and is buried in Toxteth Park Cemetery, Section N, Grave 471. Her grave is on unconsecrated ground (see map), indicating that she was not considered to belong to the Church of England. Her brother Charles Hengler (pictured), was a circus proprietor (Hengler's Grande Cirque).