Wizards of the North, South, East and West!
One of the great curses of the magic history researcher is the plethora of performers titling themselves “The Wizard of the North/ South/ East/ West” and some of them all four. The more ambitious wizards were “The Wizard of the World”. Alongside the magicians calling themselves Signor Blitz, these pests obfuscate and frustrate.
Many of these would be rank amateurs or performers who stuck their heads up in front of an audience on few occasions. Other more professional artists, such as Monsieur Du Pree or John Henry Anderson, may have had a valid claim on the title.
The difficulty with such billing is that, frequently, there is no other name attached to the performer’s advertising, and so we are left to try and decipher, or guess, which magician it might actually be. This page will try to list some of these miscreants!
Monsieur Du Pree (Thomas Amott) Wizard of the South from 1836
Antonio de Hesperio Wizard of the South, 1842
Khi Kan Kruse Wizard of the North, 1844
Dr. Charles Meymott portraying the character of the ‘Wizard of the North’, 1848
Mr W.C. Wainwright Wizard of the South, Melbourne, January 1849
Chas. Jingle Wizard of the South, briefly seen in Geelong, Victoria, in June 1850
Signor Blitz possibly Mr. Hall, Wizard of the South, in Sydney and Maitland (NSW) areas 1852 - 1853
W. D. Ford Wizard of both North and South, at the same time in Sydney July 1852!
Mr. Hall Wizard of the South, New South Wales between 1853 - 1867
Professor Le Berg, the Great Wizard of the South, October 1853 for an extremely limited season.
Professor Horace Sidney Wizard of the South, in Sydney 1854 and Victoria to 1856
Berkeley Lennox Wizard of the South. 1853 in Melbourne to late 1856. Some of Lennox’s advertising does not state his name but his tours in the same region confirm him as the artist.
James Eagle Wizard of the North South East and West, and the Wizard of the World, 1856
Samuel Walters Wonderful Wizard of the North. Seen once only, in November 1856, Sydney
Monsieur Chabert, Wizard of Wizards for one night only, 1857
William Kohler Wizard of the North, 1857
Sander Wizard of the East, 1857
Professor Franzheim, Wizard of the South, Sydney and Illawarra 1857 - 1861
John Henry Anderson Wizard of the North 1858
Charles Henry Rignold Wizard of the North East South and West, also the “Wizard of Australia” 1858
Joe Miller, Wizard of the North South East and West 1858-1862 in Melbourne, Bendigo, Ballarat
Professor Hermann - Wizard of the World, 1859
Herr Arnold, the great Wizard of the South c. 1862 in Sydney
Joseph Gardiner Wizard of the Antipodes from around 1862
Thomas Carr, Wizard of the South 1864 Victoria
Professor Hennicke Wizard of the East, 1866 Brisbane, Queensland. He had, at least, toured in China and India.
Grace Egerton female Wizard of the East, 1866 and 1874
Abdul, Wizard of the West and Indian Juggler, May 1869
Professor Pirie, Wizard of the South 1870
H.B. Lees Wizard of the South 1872 NSW
Gordon A.Barker Wizard of the South 1878-79, Sydney NSW
Even in 1860 the lack of originality shown by “Wizards” was regarded as a joke. [The Star, Ballarat, May 1860]