SUPPLIERS TO THE
COUNT
See Also: ANIMALS; VAMPIRES Dracula
In the
novel Dracula (1897), Count Dracula purchases his wolf bersicker from
Jamrach s Animal Emporium. The
Wapping-based business was mentioned in a number of other works of fiction.
Charles
Jamrach, a German, inherited the enterprise at the start of the 1840s. He developed the firm into being London s
foremost animal dealing business. He
became widely known to the general public in 1857 when a recently arrived
tigress escaped onto the streets of Wapping.
She encountered John Wade, a nine-year-old boy who had no idea what she
was and therefore did not regard her as being dangerous. When the child tried to pet her, she took
hold of him with her jaws. She only
released him after Jamrach had struck her head with a crowbar. She then chose to flee back to the relative
safety of her cage. The dealer sold the
creature to Wombwell s Travelling Menagerie for £200. She was publicised as 'The Tiger Who
Swallowed The Boy'. The animal dealer
was prosecuted by Wade s parents. A
court ordered him to pay them £300.
The
nature writer Eliza Brightwen bought a number of exotic animals from
Jamrach s. When she purchased some
armadillos from the firm, she was advised that, if she tired of the creatures,
they would be able to furnish her with a fine meal.
Location:
Brightwen Grove, Stanmore, HA7 4WH. A
street named after Mrs Brightwen.
179-180
The Highway, E1 0DF. On the northern
side to the west of Betts Street is where the yard for the large animals was
(possibly leads into Swedenborg Gardens). (orange, pink)
Pennington
Street, E1W 2SF. Entrance to Tobacco
Dock. By the complex s northern entrance
there is a statue of a boy and a tiger. (red, red)
David Backhouse 2024