Exhibiting the six Africans

By Jeffrey Green

“The curtain rose upon a scene which represented a tropical forest, in the midst of which there is an opening, containing four wigwams of small dimensions. Outside were the group of little people who will for some time be objects of curiosity to amusement-seeking Londoners. Three of the males are armed with miniature spears, or bows and arrows, while the fourth had charge of a tom-tom. The two women of the party were seated, and, together with their male companions, stolidly regarded the audience, who were informed that the scene represented a fairly exact picture of the pigmies’ homes in the Ituri Forest of Central Africa. The chief and two of his male companions were then persuaded by signs to come forward into the ring, and in the same manner invited to perform their native dance, which, when completely given, is divided into three parts. For some time the men made no response; possibly they were shy in the presence of the large audience; but they appeared to gain confidence by taking a long whiff from a cane pipe, and the leader began a low, dirge-like chant, which was an accompaniment to a dancing movement, the tom-tom player also beating time. As the performers warmed to their work, the audience applauded; but the effect was contrary to that intended, for the pigmies at once ceased their dancing, and retired to the rear.”

“Stranger performance has seldom been seen at a place of entertainment. The point of it was that there is no performance at all, or, rather, that no one can tell whether there will be a performance or not, and if there is one what it will be.’ The Africans if inclined to do nothing, did nothing. ‘This is very interesting and a piquant change from the stereotyped programme. Will the pygmies do anything or not, and if they do anything, what will it be? Last night they did very little, and just when they were getting into their stride they stopped abruptly for the strangest reason; some foolish person began to applaud them… Performers who stop at the first sound of applause are truly a novelty and worth seeing”.

The Graphic’s review shows further examples of voyeurism; on 10 June advising that ‘the exhibition of these primitive dwarfs seated at the doors of their tents in native costume is exceedingly interesting’. The reviewers lacked a vocabulary to describe what they were seeing. They were small huts, not tents, but in using kraals, a word associated with the Zulu people of South Africa, and wigwams – used to describe buffalo hide tents of the Native American or Red Indians of America – there was an attempt to keep an exotic feel.

In June 1905 they were taken to the Houses of Parliament and received by mainly Members of Parliament and peers with Yorkshire connections, an occasion captured by the politician photographer Sir (John) Benjamin Stone with the details of those present.

Publicity handouts explained aspects of the six and lengthy reviews in the British press relied on these. When the six ceased touring British cities by the end of 1905, reviewers were less generous – and the Africans appeared in small halls. When there were no bookings they lived at the Hall in Brandesburton, Yorkshire. After the Hippodrome season ended the Africans went by train to Beverley in Yorkshire, and then by a private bus to Harrison’s home at Brandesburton Hall by the end of July.

They appeared at Londesborough Park. What impressed the people of Yorkshire were the hunting skills of their visitors. Rabbits had been let out of sacks, and their arrows found their mark. ‘One pygmy killed two running rabbits with his bow and arrow’. The stuffed animals and recollections of their skills, much admired in a farming community where rabbit pie and rabbit stew were welcome, remained in the village of Londesborough into the 1970s.

The six, assisted by interpreter William Hoffman and his wife, went on tour in October–December 1905. They were in Driffield 16 October, York 17 October, in Lincoln at the central hall on 18 October and then onto the substantial Moss-Stoll theatre circuit, starting in Manchester at the Hippodrome, Oxford Street from 23 October. Then they were at the Empire, Lime Street Liverpool at the beginning of November, and Scotland: Empire, Edinburgh, then the Hippodrome, Glasgow from 13 November. At the Winter Hall, Leamington Spa, 23 November Hoffman was in charge. They were in Bath on 24 and 25 November and about this time visited Oxford. They then returned to the Moss-Stoll circuit: Empire Palace in Birmingham from 27 November, Shepherds Bush Empire (west London) from 4 December, by now the troupe already reduced to five, numbered four and ended their tour at the Empire, Bradford from 11 December.

Commercial photographs were issued by reputable publishers (oddly none gave their heights) and it is through surviving postcards that something of their activities has been recovered.

The south London exhibition centre, the Crystal Palace, had them on Easter Monday 1906. They went west to appear at Exeter’s Public Rooms 7 and 8 May, and then east to Folkestone Town Hall 11 and 12 May. Early May saw them spend three days at the Portland Hall, Southsea and some days in Brighton. They were in Bristol’s Victoria Rooms 3-5 May 1906 and at the Great Hall, Tunbridge Wells 10 May.

They went to Berlin, Germany, returning to Brandesburton by mid-July: to appear in Grimsby on 7-9 August after overnight appearances in Withernsea and Hornsea. Grimsby 31 July-2 August then Bridlington and Scarborough,Whitby 13-14 August then Lowestoft in August, to Hastings and St Leonards mid-September, and to Wales to appear in Barmouth 26-27 September and Aberystwth on 28 and 29 September. They were in Eastbourne in early October, and the Victoria Assembly Rooms in Cambridge, was scheduled to have them appear twice daily on 18, 19 and 20 October. Luton 24-25 October and then London – Olympia exhibition centre from 24 December into January 1907

A set of four postcards, showing their heights, was issued at this time. The grand theatres of the Moss-Stoll group had been replaced by small public halls, and they were in Westcliff on Sea in late February 1907, then Bath, then Bristol in late May.

Their appearances at exhibitions continued, with London’s Balkan States exhibition presenting them from June into September. They returned to Yorkshire and a brief appearance in Hull before departing on the Hindoo for Mombasa in mid-November 1907.

All six reached the rain forests at the beginning of 1908. Despite long-lasting beliefs in Brandesburton that some had died – including (falsely) identifying a site in Cherry Burton – the Africans survived. Harrison took photographs of them, in their English clothes, with their under-dressed and un-travelled relatives. Eighty years later people in Yorkshire who had encountered them, recalled names and several positive aspects of their African visitors

We have included the newspapers within this article to illustrate the attitudes, perceptions and language used at that time. Some of the content will now appear outdated and offensive.

About the author

Jeffrey Green, an independent historian, has been researching the activities of African people in Britain for forty years. He has lectured, participated in television and radio programmes and met many veterans. His publications include contributions to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography: such as a summary of the life of William Hoffman, who crossed Africa with Stanley and was the interpreter for the Congo pygmies. His book Black Americans in Victorian Britain was published by Pen & Sword, Barnsley, in 2018.