General
Blackall celebrates pivotal role in story of Australia’s circus industry with life-size elephant
It is a dream of children worldwide — running away to join the circus.
Key points:
- 12-year-old Mary Ellen Atkins ran away to join the Perry Bros Circus in the late 1800s
- Perry Bros would go on to become the first circus to circumnavigate Australia
- A life-size fibreglass elephant named Jumbo has been erected in Blackall in tribute to the troupe
But for a 12-year-old girl in outback Queensland, that snap decision would end up altering the course of history and put her on the way to arguably becoming the brains behind Australia’s circus industry.
It was on the banks of the Barcoo River near Blackall that the Perry Bros Circus started in 1889.
After a decade of life as a publican, William Perry was eager to get back to his family’s roots as…
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