When an elephant fell off a North Yorkshire bridge

Watching it in all probability was a nationally famous person of restricted growth, the star of the circus freakshow, for whom there would be great grief before the day was out – her manager-brother was run over and killed and still lies in a North Yorkshire churchyard.

This story, surely the most remarkable in our recent series of the days of touring animal shows, is recorded in Robert Hird’s Annals of Bedale.

The elephant's carriage rolled down Emgate, here in 1986, towards the bridge over Bedale Beck

Mr Hird, a shoemaker, lived in Emgate and began writing in 1808, so he may well have witnessed the extraordinary events of 1814 first hand.

Emgate was the main entry into Bedale Market Place from the east, with the bridge over the river – now known as Bedale Beck – at its foot. The street consisted of low cottages and workshops where many inhabitants made a living by using the beck’s waters either for making cloth or for powering mills.

An elephant in Bedale's main street, probably in the 1940s, with St Gregory's Church in the distance

The Easter fair was held on April 12. It featured Mr Miles’ circus, which had “several caravans of wild beasts”, and Mr Morgan’s novelty show, which starred his 3ft tall sister, who was billed as “Lady Morgan”. She was the “celebrated Windsor fairy” who was aged about 55.

Early next morning, said Mr Hird, the whole entourage set off for Catterick Bridge Races to provide entertainment there.

“The caravans went down Emgate to the old bridge,” he wrote. “That which contained the elephant had broad wheels and four very strong horses.”

Bedale bridge. Robert Hird says it was the elephant's off-side wheels which broke the railings on the last arch, so the elephant must have toppled into the river on the right hand side at the Aiskew end of the bridge - it must have lain quite close to the Leech House

The beck had originally been crossed by a ford but in 1740, Thomas Thompson had built a five arched bridge with wooden rails along the sides to prevent people failing in. Mr Thompson had not, though, calculated how to prevent elephants from falling in.

Mr Hird wrote: “In passing the bridge, and over the last arch, the off-wheels (of the elephant’s carriage) pressed heavily against the rails, which gave way, and the caravan, in slow motion, went over and fell upon its broad side into the water.

“The keeper went in and plied the elephant with rum, to keep it pacified until the carriage was righted.”

So the poor pachyderm must have been in the water at the Aiskew end of the bridge. It was very fortunate that it didn’t squash the famous Leech House on that eastern bank.

A late Victorian view of Bedale Market Place, where the elephant and Lady Morgan, the Windsor fairy, were performing in 1814

“It being Wednesday,” continued Mr Hird, “the mill drew the water quickly off to a lower state, and men of all classes lent a helping hand.

“From the cartwright shop belonging to Thomas Clarkson, they got screwjacks, blocks and props, by which they raised the caravan to a certain height, and then fixed a long rope, that all that could might assist.

“In extremity, the rope broke and few escaped a fall.

“A fresh one was put to, and the milling multitude laid hold again, and the carriage was righted with little damage and proceeded.”

So the elephant, slightly inebriated having been force-fed rum, was back on the road.

“This was only a prelude to a more fatal disaster,” said Mr Hird.

Old Salutation, a former coaching inn, on the western edge of Little Fencote and once on the Great North Road. It was near here that George Morgan came to grief. Picture: Google StreetView

The curious convoy travelled east to Leeming Bar and then headed north on the Great North Road. It took them towards Little Fencote where there was the Salutation coaching inn. Today, it is a Grade II private residence which dates back to 1600; in centuries past, it was a well-known stopping point famed for its “cockings” – cock fights.

“When Mr Morgan’s caravan had got near the New Salutation Inn, and going down a hill, his horses were hurried on by the pressure of the carriage,” said Mr Hird. He did not make it clear whether Mr Morgan’s van had his small sister in it, who was unlikely to be of such weight as to cause a momentum problem for the horses, or the elephant, which would undoubtedly have had the bulk to cause a braking issue.

This, appears to be George Morgan's sister, Lady Morgan, "the celebrated Windsor fairy", in 1803 when she was 45. She was drawn meeting Thomas Allen, "the surprisingly small man" who, aged 35, was 3ft 3ins tall. They are being lloked over by a "normal" sized couple

“Mr Morgan, in getting off, fell, and the wheels went over him, and he was killed,” said Mr Hird. “After a coroner’s inquest, his remains were interred at Kirkby Fleetham, and a stone perpetuates his memory.”

George Morgan's headstone in Kirkby Fleetham churchyard, taken from the new book by Lesley Bottomley and Sheila Minto

A stone in the graveyard of St Mary’s Church at Kirkby Fleetham still perpetuates his memory – and provides several precious clues about him. After 200 years, it is weathering badly, but fortunately its inscriptions have been saved for posterity by Lesley Bottomley and Sheila Minto in their book about the monuments of St Mary’s that was published last year.

It tells how his full name was George Morgan and he was 40 when he was buried – his caravan ran him over on April 13, 1814, and he was buried two days later. A little rhyme, transcribed from the crumbling stone by Lesley and Sheila, tells us more:

“All travellers who may pass by
Stop here awhile & cast an eye,
Like you in life, I once was gay
In the next moment turned to clay.
My wife and seven children dear
& honoured sister mourn me here.
With them on earth I hoped to stay
But God he called me hence away.”

So Mr Morgan had seven children, and his “honoured sister” must be Lady Morgan, the diminutive Windsor fairy.

There is no mention of the elephant. Let’s hope it continued its tour triumphant.

St Mary's Church next to Kirkby Fleetham Hall in a fabulously secluded dell about a mile from the village of Kirkby Fleetham

• With many thanks to David Severs, of Northallerton, for alerting us to this story, and to Lesley Bottomley for delivering a copy of her book, St Mary’s Church, Kirkby Fleetham: Monumental Inscriptions and their Stories. It is still available for £10, plus postage. Email lesley.bottomley@equans.com for more information. More from the book in the near future. Anymore elephant stories out there? Email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk