Brian Boswells Circus in South Africa

Brian Boswells Circus
HTTP code: 405 image is inline deepink from an external server, inline linking does not directly infringe copyright but can be removed on request.
Type	circus

Owner	-: Jane Boswell 1982: Brian Boswell 1911-1963: James Clements Boswell 1963-2002: African Theatres (Boswell-Wilkies Circus)
Founded	1982
Address	PO Box 36, Umlaas Road
Zip-code	3730
Place	Kwa-Zulu Natal
Country	South Africa
Website	Website

Directors

Key People	1993-: Patricia White (animal trainer)

Veterinarians

Elephant department

Head keepers of elephants

Elephant keepers	1997-2001: Fiso Mbambo (elephant keeper)
Record history
History of updates	2022-04-18

Latest document update	2022-04-18 06:20:08
Google map

Description

Brian Boswells Circus, located at PO Box 36, Umlaas Road, in Kwa-Zulu Natal, South Africa , was founded in 1982.

Living elephants

At the Brian Boswells Circus lives 2 elephants with records in this database: (detail list)

♀ Tembi born 1982-00-00
♀ Wankie born 1982-00-00

Casualties

1 casualties

2001-04-15: elephant keeper Fiso Mbambo fatal attack by Thandi. "just pushed him over, knelt on him and walked over him and down to the river." † Fiso Mbambo Died 2001-04-15, Broederstroom outside Johannesburg. Died at the scene in Broederstroom outside Johannesburg.

Comments / picturesJames Boswell, born 1826, performed as a clown and horseman in circuses in United Kingdom and died 1859 in Paris.
His eldest son James Clements Boswell opened his own circus, Boswell Circus, in 1882 in Yorkshire.
In 1911 they toured South Africa and decided to stay and set up a local circus.
1912: Named the Boswells Royal Hippodrome and Circus Company
1916: became know as Boswell Brothers Circus and Menagerie
1963: The circus was sold out to new owners, African Theatres, who merged with W H Wilkies Great Continental Circus as Boswell-Wilkies Circus.
1964: James Boswells son Brian Boswell acted as adviser for Chipperfields Circus on their 1964 tour, and married one of the Chipperfield family, Jane Stockley.
1982: The film "Jungle Paradise" was filmed entirely at the Lion Park. Brian had recently taken over five Asian elephants from Wilkie, and these were used for the movie.
1982: Brian Boswell opened his own circus, Brian Boswells Circus, but Wilkie was seeking to restrain them from using the name
Boswell on their circus publicity material. The courts granted this, and Brian Boswell had to tour under the name Brians Circus.
1982: Brian Boswell also bought Natal Zoological gardens in KwaZulu Natal.
2002: After Boswell-Wilkie circus finally closed, the circus could travel under the name Brian Boswells Circus.
2016-12-09: Circus owner, Brian Boswell, is challenging the legality of elephant protection laws after his attempt to sell African elephants to a zoo in the United Arab Emirates was blocked by wildlife authorities. Boswell has refused to accept the denial of a permit application to send five circus trained elephants to a Dubai zoo at the selling price of R3 million each.

References for records about Brian Boswells Circus

Recommended Citation

Koehl, Dan (2025). Brian Boswells Circus, Elephant Encyclopedia. Available online at https://www.elephant.se/location2.php?location_id=433. (archived at the Wayback machine)

Sources used for this article is among others:

Litterature about Brian Boswells Circus

Recommended Litterature:

Relevant literature As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases

Search more with Google for Brian Boswells CircusThe link will automatically include Brian Boswells Circus and open a new browser window.

Search this site www.elephant.se with google for keyword Brian Boswells Circus
Google maps
OR search the Internet (with your chosen keyword)

Search more on the Internet Web for Brian Boswells CircusThe link will automatically include Brian Boswells Circus and open a new browser window

Categories circus in South Africa | South Africa Portal | africa Portal

About this documentThis document was updated: 2022-04-18 06:20:08 with valid HTML5