Weymouth & Mr Punch

Front cover of new book shows the earliest known photo of a Punch booth at Weymouth. 1881

Review by Ray DaSilva August 2008

Exactly as the title implies, this bifocal work brings together a selective history of Weymouth and a potted history of the Punch & Judy Show, but with many unexpected yet noteworthy diversions. For instance, we are given an analysis of ‘Weymouth Sands’ the novel by John Cowper Powys which commences with a description of the beach show and whose characters mirror those of Mr P and his cronies. There is a look at the beach Pierrots which leads the reader back to the Commedia and inevitably forward again to Joey the Clown. Even Napoleon and Nelson get in on the act and just when you are wondering if one of these side-tracks is a blind alley you turn a corner and are back again with Mr P.
When Mr P arrived in Wevmouth it was already a thriving resort, thanks initially to King George III who had long holidays there for several years. There is much information about the Theatre Royal (sadly, no longer there –apart from the auditorium which is now a restaurant), and we learn that in 1801 the Royal Family visited the theatre 51 times in 13 weeks –not so mad after all.

Puppeteers will have read the histories of Mr P, but it is worth noting that there has been no new publication available to the general public since Byrom’s revised ‘Origin and Evolution’ edition of 1988. On the other hand, the chronicle and anecdotes of the succession of performers who have played the Weymouth pitch since Victorian times will be of most interest to P&J enthusiasts. One after the other the procession of professors has continued, uninterrupted except for wartime years, to entertain, illuminate, and scandalise summer visitors: Murray, Maggs, Staddon, Beavis, Carcass, Edmunds, Higgins, and now Mark Poulton (see picture below). What other resort can boast of such an enduring relationship? Their story in this work has been skilfully interwoven with a fitting social context following considerable research, as is evidenced by the sources listed for each chapter.

There are 240 pages and 100 illustrations. It can be ordered, price £14.95 from Harlequin Press, Allshire, East Anstey, Tiverton, EX16 9JG, telephone 01398 341502 or by email at the address in the right column -->

Judith Stinton is a writer/researcher at Dorset County Museum and this is her 10th book. She said “I wrote the book because I think Weymouth has tended to be undervalued; I used to take my daughter there to see Guy Higgins’ show, and it is interesting in the way that Punch has survived there for so long. It therefore seemed so natural to link the two together”
Harlequin Press is a new company and intends to publish more unusual books about Dorset.
Don’t miss the photograph which appears uncaptioned on the last page after the index, it is an enlargement of the one on page 127 showing a traditional chequered cloth booth of 1881 – puppeteer unknown.