BLONDIN
Frenchman Jean-Francois GRAVELET was known to the world as “Blondin” - a Funambulist , Equilibrist (Tightrope-Walker), Aerialist and Acrobat Extraordinaire.
Blondin was the first man to cross the Niagara Falls (or at least cross the gorge below the Falls) on a tightrope (1859) and became famous worldwide for his aerial rope walking feats. After a long and successful career he died in his home “Niagara House” in South Ealing, London, in February 1897, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery with his wife Charlotte who had predeceased him in 1888. His second, much younger, wife Katherine joined them when she died in 1901.
A Blondin Memorial Trust has been created to “commemorate his life by giving talks, lectures and tightrope events. Our aim is to preserve and honour his memory and raise funds to renovate and maintain Blondins grave and monument”. The Trust has recently assisted with restoration of the grave, with funding from English Heritage, Heritage of London Trust (HOLT), the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery (FOKGC), and individual donors.
Restoration was undertaken by the London Stone Conservation Co. and a brief description of the restoration work is available on their website http://www.londonstoneconservation.co.uk/monument_conservation_blo.html
The Blondin monument at Kensal Green Cemetery is a tall, pink, Peterhead granite headstone on a double plot with marble medallion portraits at the front. The monument is topped off by an allegorical figure representing Hope. A female figure stands with one arm resting on an anchor, the primary symbol. A hand held over the heart symbolizes faith, and there is a broken chain attached to the anchor which symbolizes the cessation of life. (Thanks, Wikipedia)
Blondins feats were known worldwide and in 1874, while performing in California, he was convinced by Australian entrepreneur H P Lyons that a visit to Australia would be rewarding. Blondin then proceeded to entertain large crowds in Australia June-September 1874. Amongst those who attended his show in the Domain in Sydney was a 12 year old boy from Careening Cove by the name of Cyrus John Richard WILLIAMS. Cyrus was the great-grandfather of my husband. In his memoirs, written in the 1930’s, Cyrus wrote about the entertainment provided by Blondin thus:
Another great show was that by Blondin who crossed Sydney Harbour at the “Spit” on a tight-rope, and cooked and tossed an omelette on the tight-rope in the Sydney Domain. I was among the crowd watching the performance and was nearly crushed to death.
Blondins feats set all us boys ‘walking the tight rope” along the tops of the paling fences everywhere, when we soon found out that in the balancing pole lay the secret of Blondin’s success. Apart from the giddiness which comes to some people from looking down any considerable depth, Blondin performances were as easy as walking on a floor.
Blondins many performances in Australia were extensively covered in somewhat breathless terms by newspaper reports of the day, and they mostly endorse the spectacle recalled so many years later by Cyrus. The reference to Blondin crossing Sydney Harbour by tightrope is probably a failure of recall by Cyrus - Blondins exploits in Sydney all took place within a large enclosure in the Domain.
Frenchman Jean-Francois GRAVELET was known to the world as “Blondin” - a Funambulist , Equilibrist (Tightrope-Walker), Aerialist and Acrobat Extraordinaire.
Blondin was the first man to cross the Niagara Falls (or at least cross the gorge below the Falls) on a tightrope (1859) and became famous worldwide for his aerial rope walking feats. After a long and successful career he died in his home “Niagara House” in South Ealing, London, in February 1897, and was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery with his wife Charlotte who had predeceased him in 1888. His second, much younger, wife Katherine joined them when she died in 1901.
A Blondin Memorial Trust has been created to “commemorate his life by giving talks, lectures and tightrope events. Our aim is to preserve and honour his memory and raise funds to renovate and maintain Blondins grave and monument”. The Trust has recently assisted with restoration of the grave, with funding from English Heritage, Heritage of London Trust (HOLT), the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery (FOKGC), and individual donors.
Restoration was undertaken by the London Stone Conservation Co. and a brief description of the restoration work is available on their website http://www.londonstoneconservation.co.uk/monument_conservation_blo.html
The Blondin monument at Kensal Green Cemetery is a tall, pink, Peterhead granite headstone on a double plot with marble medallion portraits at the front. The monument is topped off by an allegorical figure representing Hope. A female figure stands with one arm resting on an anchor, the primary symbol. A hand held over the heart symbolizes faith, and there is a broken chain attached to the anchor which symbolizes the cessation of life. (Thanks, Wikipedia)
Blondins feats were known worldwide and in 1874, while performing in California, he was convinced by Australian entrepreneur H P Lyons that a visit to Australia would be rewarding. Blondin then proceeded to entertain large crowds in Australia June-September 1874. Amongst those who attended his show in the Domain in Sydney was a 12 year old boy from Careening Cove by the name of Cyrus John Richard WILLIAMS. Cyrus was the great-grandfather of my husband. In his memoirs, written in the 1930’s, Cyrus wrote about the entertainment provided by Blondin thus:
Another great show was that by Blondin who crossed Sydney Harbour at the “Spit” on a tight-rope, and cooked and tossed an omelette on the tight-rope in the Sydney Domain. I was among the crowd watching the performance and was nearly crushed to death.
Blondins feats set all us boys ‘walking the tight rope” along the tops of the paling fences everywhere, when we soon found out that in the balancing pole lay the secret of Blondin’s success. Apart from the giddiness which comes to some people from looking down any considerable depth, Blondin performances were as easy as walking on a floor.
Blondins many performances in Australia were extensively covered in somewhat breathless terms by newspaper reports of the day, and they mostly endorse the spectacle recalled so many years later by Cyrus. The reference to Blondin crossing Sydney Harbour by tightrope is probably a failure of recall by Cyrus - Blondins exploits in Sydney all took place within a large enclosure in the Domain.
