Rose Chipperfield, who died on March 7, aged 93, was the widow of the famous showman and safari park pioneer Jimmy Chipperfield. A former performer herself, she helped Jimmy build up the largest travelling circus in Europe and was the mother of Mary, Richard, John and Margaret, who all became involved in circuses, zoos and filming. Born in 1912, Rose came from the famous Purchase family which operated travelling menageries for seven generations. Her father, Tommy Purchase, lost a leg in an accident as a boy but always worked in the menagerie shows and he became the trainer of the family’s lion act. Rose took over from her mother, dancing in a cage between two male lions as a prelude to her father’s daring act. She appeared first with a snake act at the age of 14 and graduated to the dance routine in the lions’ cage at 16. Her pets included monkeys, a raccoon, a giant rat and a lemur which lived with her in her wagon, as well as several pythons. The Purchase menagerie and the Chipperfield Circus were often seen together at fairgrounds and Jimmy Chipperfield first met Rose at Mitcham Fair when they were both 16. He plucked up the courage to ask her father for his permission to take her out and chaperoned by his sister Maud, they took a spin for five shillings per person in a plane at the nearby Croydon aerodrome. Two years after they first met, the Purchase and Chipperfield families amalgamated their shows. Jimmy’s elder brother Dick tried to save the life of Tom Purchase one day when he was attacked by a lion soon after Rose had finished her exotic dance in the big cage. The lion chewed at Purchase’s wooden leg before more seriously wounding his neck, back and lungs. Aided by Rose and Jimmy, Dick managed to get Purchase’s body out of the cage but the man died from his injuries three weeks later. At 22, Rose and Jimmy married in Plymouth in July, 1934, to the fury of Jimmy’s father but he later forgave them. In 1936, the family were in Sweden with Cirkus Scott and in 1937 Jimmy appeared at the London Palladium with the Crazy Gang and his famous wrestling bear, Bruni, until the animal inflicted an injury which cost him a kidney. He and Rosie returned to the family circus in 1938 and 1939 but during the war Jimmy served in the RAF as a fighter pilot. Their first born son, James, died at the age of six from tetanus contracted from a simple graze to his arm but they subsequently had four more children, Mary, Richard, John and Margaret. The family regrouped after the war to rebuild the fortunes of Chipperfield’s Circus. The acquisition of nine elephants from Sri Lanka established them among the biggest circuses in England. They bought more animals to become the largest travelling circus in Europe in the fifties. Rose paid a solo trip to Sri Lanka, returning with nine more elephants, some leopards and a number of giant pythons. Leaving the family establishment, Jimmy branched out in the fields of showjumping, filming and zoo ownership, running small zoos with Rose in Plymouth and Southampton. He began trapping in Africa with his son, Richard, bringing animals back to England for circuses and zoos. From this he developed the first drive-through safari park outside Africa, the Lions of Longleat, in partnership with Lord Bath. He went on to create a string of these parks in England and abroad, making him a multi-millionaire. Richard was killed during a safari in Uganda in April 1975. Mary and Margaret Chipperfield both became talented animal trainers and presenters and at one time both Jimmy and Mary Chipperfield ran their own circuses. John Chipperfield worked on the administrative side before launching a successful photographic business in Southampton. Jimmy died in 1990. Rose Chipperfield was described by one critic who saw her dancing in the lions’ den as “the epitome of delicious English womanhood, a dainty little lady with a lissom body surmounted by a really charming face in which glowed eyes of surpassing beauty”. She is survived by her daughters Mary and Margaret and son Johny
Posted on: Wed, 07 Aug 2013 14:04:48 +0000
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