The circus was originally founded in
Hobart,
Tasmania, in 1847 by Thomas Mollor, and acquired in 1850 by James Henry Ashton, then using his birth name Golden Ashton. The circus originally operated as the Royal Amphitheatre or Royal Circus. James Henry Ashton was born in
Rochford, Essex, England, in 1820, and by his teen years had been arrested and jailed several times for theft and disorderly conduct. In 1836 he was condemned to 14 years
transportation to the penal colony in Australia. He was ultimately placed on the
convict ship Frances Charlotte in January 1837, and five months later arrived in
Van Diemen's Land (Tasmania). Ashton was granted a
ticket of leave in 1844 after serving his sentence in Australia, and in 1848 he was granted a conditional pardon which forbade him from returning to England. Various newspapers, such as the
Hobarton Guardian and
The Tasmanian, document that Ashton began performing stunts at circuses in October 1848. He then acquired Mollor's circus in 1850 and ultimately renamed it as Ashton's Circus, and he remained involved in the circus's operations until his death in 1889. Ashton's Circus, at its height, had more than 180 personnel, 80 animals, and thousands of dollars' worth of equipment, and toured internationally in New Zealand and Papua New Guinea. The company employed
Tommy Hanlon Jr., after his career in television. and Circus Xsavia. ==See also==