Mystery in History - Magic in Sydney

Magic in Sydney

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Alfred William Silvester
Mystery in History
Magic performers in Australia since 1836

“We understand now; we've been made to understand, and to embrace the understanding,
that who we are is who we were.”   
- John Quincy Adams

Australia, in terms of the land under white colonisation since 1788, is a relatively young nation. Even so, there are many intriguing tales of magicians and their adventures, dating from the early 1800s until today.
                    
This  focus of this research is presently on the earliest performers to appear in Australia, particularly those who have never been documented elsewhere. Some of these stories are bare-bones reports of single appearances, amateurs, or names which require clarification. Stories will be updated gradually; the more detailed or major stories  are marked with a diamond . The date shown indicates the performer’s  first appearance in Australia.

Check the UPDATE LOG for details of major and minor story updates.
Latest update - October 16, 2024.
A guide to the focus of this site, and the main resources used, is here.                 


Horace Sidney
1788 - 1850
              
1788 William Fraser, the Convict Conjurer - Not Australia’s first performer, but probably the first mention of a conjurer in this country.
              
1824 Sydney Smith - Salamander and Toby Ryan - Who was the first recorded magician to perform in Australia? Smith and other elusive candidates.
              
1836 Monsieur Du Pree, The Wizard Of The South - The first definitive record of a magic performance in Australia.
              
1839 Joseph Masters - Tantalising references to legerdemain performances
              
1841 Powell Courtier, Necromancer and Fire King - From convict to magician to murder; one man's struggle.
              Monsieur Du Pree
1842 Robert Corney a magician outside his territory
              

1842 Professor Thomas Rea - Ventriloquism, Magic, Aerial Balloons and Scandal.

1842 William Wainwright - an elusive convict conjuror
             
1844 Khi Kan Kruse tight rope walker and Wizard of the North for one night only.
              
1844 Saville and Douglas - Theatre and Legerdemain
              
1846 Anonymous - Maitland Races
              
1846 Robert Osborne - A Smile, a Song, and an Educated Dog.
         
1847 Arrup
The Wizard Jacobs               
1848 Joseph Gardiner actor, magician, moralist and author
              
1848 Dr. Charles Meymott ship’s surgeon and gentleman conjurer
                             
              
1851 - 1870
              
1852 Bennett Clay, a determined adventurer.
              
1852 W. D. Ford - the vanishing Wizard
              
1853 Mr. Hall, Wizard of the South, and swordsman Professor Parker. Was he also “Signor Blitz”?
              Professor Thomas Rea
1853 Professor Le Berg - apparently not one of the better magicians.
              
1853 Berkeley Lennox, son of a Lord, and a young gentleman going places.
              
1853 Professor Charles Rignold, the Wizard of Australia, and his appalling death in 1859.
              
1854 Professor Horace Sidney at the historic Royal Hotel.
              
1855 Signor Recanati and the demise of the Royal Lyceum Theatre
              
1855 Rolla Rossiter, Corde Volante and legerdemain artist

1855 Wizard Jacobs and the great fire
              
1856 The Darkey Wizard - a brief minstrel performance
              
1856 Professor James Eagle, Wizard of the Gold Rush.
              
1856 Monsieur Theo, the French Magician
              
1856 Samuel Walters in a single appearance
              
1857 M. Chabert for one night only
                             
1857 Professor William Kohler, German Necromancer.
              
1857 Sander, Wizard of the East
              Professor Ericksen
1857 Testo - Fire and Water
              

             
1858 Joe Miller, Wizard of the North, South, East and West
              
1859 Professor Ericksen, Scandanavian Wizard
                                            
1860 Mr. Charles, ventriloquist and Professor of Natural Magic, in Australia decades late.
              
1860 William Montague Murray, theatrical generalist
              
1862 Mr. James - A private entertainer and teacher
                                            

1864 John 'Vertelli' Morcom, Australian wire-walker and magician

1864 William O'Brien a.k.a. Professor Leon
              Grace Egerton


1865 Herr von Kehl, Man of Miracles

1866 Professor Fuller

1866 Professor Hennicke, a.k.a Abda Shah, touring Australia and New Zealand with his wife, Madame Stella.

1869 Abdul Indian Juggler and Wizard of the West

1869 W.A. Chapman the Sorceror's Apprentice

1869 Robert Heller in Australia

1869 Haidee Heller - the identity of Robert Heller's mysterious Second Sight partner

1870 H.B. Wilton and The Somatic Conjuror
              
1871 - 1899
              


1872 Albertine, Fire King and Wire Walker

1873 Edward B. Graveur, sometime magician and seller of racy literature

1874 Bosco - Ventriloquist, Conjuror, Thief.

1874 Alfred Silvester, the Fakir of Oolu in Australia from 1874, and his magical family

1875 Herr Martin Beaufort Tolmaque, Conjuror, Mesmerist, Actor and Author sent to New Norfolk Asylum
            
1875 Lu Zeera, Circassian Lady Magician and Fire-Queen, in a horse-whipping incident with her audience.
              
1877 The Mystery of William Davenport  - William Davenport, of the famous Davenport Brothers pseudo-medium act, died in Australia.
His gravestone is in Sydney; but is there a  second monument to his name?
Maurice Rooklyn
1889 Ada Fitzroy and Professor Perron - Continental Eldorado Entertainment

1894 Hosking, Davis and Barker - Spookbusters in the exposure of spirit medium Mrs. Annie Mellon.
              
1898 Oscar Eliason, the original ‘Dante the Great’ - The life and death of a talented performer.
              
              
1900 ->
            
1905 Ione, Queen of the Air - The story of Richard B. Smith and Howard Thurston’s Floating Lady.

1906 Theodore - Crawling Through a Keyhole - Juggler, Magician, Contortionist, Hypnotist over 46 years, but lost to history.
             
1911 Alvera - Escape Artist in the flames

1934 Maurice Rooklyn, The Human Target - The magician who survived performing the Bullet Catch.
- and an extensive set of photo albums from the performing life of Maurice Rooklyn.             

1937 Rayman Bey - Showman. The tale of a Bullet-Proof Girl gone wrong.
              
1941 Davo the Magician and his ghastly murder
              Tomahawk Joe
1942 Udinis - Daredevil Stirling and Joan Moore, the female escapologist
              
              
Miscellany
              
The Gun Trick - An atmospheric tale from 1873, of the tribulations of the travelling magician.
              
An examination of the Royal Lyceum Theatre - the many circuses, hotels and theatres connected with this site from 1833 - 1882.

William Maxwell Brown - Pioneer of Goldrush theatre in 1850s Ballarat, and the first to present the "Sphinx" illusion in Australia.
              
Tomahawk Joe, Wild Man of Queensland - Not a magician, but a fascinating character of Australian folklore.
              
Assorted Wizards of the North, South, East and West adding to the problems of historical research.











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