Joseph Catt (May 1818-Feb 1884) - Ramsgate did he train seals for Barnham circus

[scatt]

A couple of years ago when I was very new to tracing family members I relied on Smart Matches too heavily on MyHeritage. Back then I came across a match that claimed Joseph trained seals for Barnham circus. Now I'm looking for hard evidence to substantiate this. Would anyone on here know where I could look?

[CaroleW]

Did you check his occupation on the various census entries?  In 1851 & 1861 he is a mariner & in 1871 a Master mariner

1881 - Master mariner employing 2 men

On each census he is with his family in Kent which doesn't suggest somebody involved in a travelling circus

Do you mean Barnum & Bailey's circus as I can't find a Barnham's unless it was just a local one

[ShaunJ]

Google quotes this in connection with a paper on JSTOR:

"Joseph Catt, in Ramsgate. Harbour.6 Catt had caught, tamed and trained a seal, and, having inspired Woodward's sophisticated practical work ."

Sea Lions, Greasepaint and the U-Boat Threat: Admiralty Scientists Turn to the Music Hall in 1916

https://www.jstor.org/stable/531951

[ShaunJ]

If you sign up for an account with JSTOR you can read the paper. It says (page 436) that Captain Joseph Catt owned an aquarium in Ramsgate harbour, and had caught and trained a seal. This inspired his son in law Captain James Woodward to train performing seals and Catt accompanied Woodward on public performances including in America with Barnum & Bailey. 

[scatt]

Thanks for the quick response.
Thant's great thank you ShaunJ.
I've signed up to JSTOR to read the article - very interesting it is too.

[ShaunJ]

There are several newspaper mentions of Catt's Aquarium in the 1870s.

[ShaunJ]

See mention of the aquarium here:

https://www.google.co.uk/books/edition/British_Medical_Journal/Q-H2yZqc3MQC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=catt+s+aquarium+ramsgate&pg=PA620&printsec=frontcover