|
Tickhill’s
annual Autumn Fair was celebrated with attractions such as
roundabouts and sideshows clustered near the Buttercross. Some
of the attractions were provided by the
Tuby family.
One of the early founders of the business was Mr George Thomas
Tuby who settled in Doncaster after a varied career ranging from
working at Goole Docks to being a peripatetic photographer. He
finally decided to follow in his father’s footsteps as a showman
and acquired swings and ‘steam horses’ which were a regular
fixture in Doncaster during Race Week. As well as coming to
Tickhill, Mr Tuby took his equipment to Goole and Louth, for
example. After only a few years as a showman he began to put
some of his income to philanthropic uses. He gave money
regularly to Doncaster Infirmary and various orphanages and
nursing homes in places where he worked. Among those who
benefited from Mr Tuby’s generosity were the inmates of
Doncaster Union Workhouse. Unlike the unremitting austerity
in some
workhouses, Doncaster’s inmates had their lives brightened
periodically with day trips to the seaside: Cleethorpes in 1892
and Skegness in 1893, all funded by Mr Tuby. On 16 July 1894 the
inmates were taken to Scarborough as reported in The
Doncaster Review of August 1894:
Unfortunately the weather was rather unfavourable this year, and
somewhat marred the enjoyment of the recipients of Mr Tuby’s
generosity, but for all that they got a considerable amount of
pleasure and relaxation from the outing. Refreshments were
provided by Mr Tuby at the Sandside Coffee House. The
excursionists arrived safely back at Doncaster shortly after
nine o’clock, and were met at the Station by an exceedingly
large crowd and the Volunteer Band, which escorted the inmates
back to their home ‘over the bridge.’ [The Union Workhouse was
across the railway lines behind St James’s Church.] The crowd
cheered Mr Tuby, followed him to his residence in the Market
Place and would not let him retire until he had made a short
speech.
The Review
also published a letter of thanks to Mr Tuby from one of the
Workhouse inmates which concluded with a poem (perhaps one of
the few instances of poetry being written in a workhouse):
All hail to our good
brother Tuby,
The friend of the poor and
the needy;
Whose good works are known all around,
Whose
praises in many towns sound.
For the good
he has done, for the poor he has helped,
For the
children made glad, and the sick people cheered
The blessing
of God rest upon him –
The smile
and the favour of Heaven;
All thanks
to our good brother Tuby –
The friend
of the poor and the needy.
Mr Tuby
later became a councillor then, from 1913, an alderman before
serving as Mayor of Doncaster in 1921. He and his wife Maria had
ten children, several of whom went into the fairground business.
Mr and Mrs Tuby are buried in Hyde Park Cemetery with two of
their children who died in infancy. Mr Tuby was one of the first
people to be featured in The Doncaster Review. The 12
page monthly paper, price one penny, was published for only four
years from 1894-8 by Mr Robinson, a bookseller in Frenchgate.
If you would
like to find out more about Mr Tuby and the history of
fairgrounds, two websites might be of interest. The first gives
access to some of the material held in the National Fairground
Archive housed at the University of Sheffield, and includes, for
example, some photographs of the early, highly decorated,
steam-driven rides:
http://www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk/rides/history.html
(If you have a problem with
this link, go to
www.nfa.dept.shef.ac.uk and work through the links)
The
second website focuses on the Tuby family’s history:
|
