September 6, 1891

The imagination of a city remembers still the time a Bengal tiger attacked a nine year old child. London, 1857. And I suspect what is indelible is what happened next.

Charles Jamrach (1815 to September 6, 1891) was a dealer in exotic animals. German born, he thrived in Victorian England, buying, breeding, selling -- wild animals. He supplied the zoos, and circuses; even Barnum and Bailey's got animals from him. When in 1857, a tiger escaped its cage at his emporium, an urban disaster unfolded. A child in the street, thinking it a large domestic cat, didn't try to even dodge the beast, and so was seized by the huge jaws. Jamrach chased after the the escapee,  jumped on the tiger and drove his fist into the tiger's mouth and down it's throat, freeing the child. However you look at this story, Jamrach's action was brave. Fitting the description of contemporaries who described him as a charismatic figure.  (The detail about Jamrach shoving his fist down the throat is not in the original sources: it is in fact what happened-- nothing else would have disabled the huge beast, and is a technique known to those who work with dangerous animals.)

The postscript is very modern sounding. The child's parents sued Jamrach and were awarded 300 pounds.

Here is one of many places which copied illustrations of the event from 19th century accounts.

In the words of an Oxford Dictionary of National Biography article, Jamrach:

attracted a good deal of press attention and was admired for his courage when he struggled with a runaway tiger in 1857. Jamrach showed particular interest in breeding long-coated Persian greyhounds, Japanese pigs, and Madagascan cats. In later years his exploitation of animals became less profitable because of competition, and he diversified, importing large quantities of Eastern curiosities.
Jamrach married, first, Mary Athanasio, the daughter of a Neapolitan or French Canadian; second, Ellen Downing; and, last, Clara Salter. There were children by his first two marriages. A son, Albert Edward Jamrach, also became a dealer in wild animals. Jamrach died on 6 September 1891 at his home, Beaufort Cottage, Wellington Road, Bow.


Here is how the story sounds today.





Inspired by a local nineteeth-century tale, Tanya Russell created this seven-foot bronze of a boy and a tiger for the new Tobacco Dock shopping complex in the 1980s. Legend has it that a tiger escaped from Charles Jamrach’s exotic pet store on Ratcliffe Highway and picked the lad up in its razor-sharp teeth. He lived to tell the tale. The shopping centre hasn’t been so lucky. It’s been eerily abandoned for over ten years, though it is hired out for filming and private parties.

These are the words of tourist guide for London.