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One of earliest trick riders, working with Philip Astley at Astley's Amphitheatre, was Thomas Hughes. Astley engaged him in 1771, but he quickly decamped to set up his own riding stables at Blackfriars Bridge, and then to set up with Charles Dibdin as the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy in 1782 on Blackfriars Road. This was the earliest modern usage of the term ‘circus’. The Royal Circus operated until 1806, when it burnt in a fire and was then rebuilt as The Surrey theatre. Between 1814 and 1816 The Surrey became a circus again and in 1816 it reverted to the theatre, though retaining the Royal Circus name until 1822. Engraving by Rothwell after a drawing by Van Assen.

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