Wednesday 10 October 2012

ABC Wednesday: M for Mancunian Maharajah


In 1872 the owner of Belle Vue Zoo, James Jennison, bought Asian elephant Maharajah in Edinburgh from a travelling circus for £880 (£30,000 in today’s money). The plan was to travel south to Manchester by train but the 8 year old elephant was not enamoured with the idea of public transport, ripping the roof off of his compartment with his trunk.

So instead elephant keeper Lorenzo Lawrence and Maharajah spent 10 days walking the 200 miles to Belle Vue Zoo. Maharajah spent 10 years at the east Manchester zoo where he was a popular attraction, giving rides to visitors and helping out with day to day work which included pulling around carts of bricks and foodstuffs.

Mancunians and other visitors can now pay their respects to Maharajah here at the Manchester Museum. An elephant to never forget...

 Linked to ABC Wednesday.
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16 comments:

  1. Andy10 October 2012 at 10:24

    It's had to believe elephants have toes. We only get to see the toe nails when they are alive.

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  2. Roger Owen Green10 October 2012 at 10:53

    that elephant is mammoth!
    ROG, ABC Wednesday team

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  3. EG CameraGirl10 October 2012 at 12:52

    BIG! I'm sure he was quite the attraction for people living in the nineteenth century!

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  4. Shooting Parrots10 October 2012 at 13:34

    Where have his ear bones gone?! Sadly I'm old enough to remember having elephant rides at Belle Vue, although not on Maharajah I hasten to add.

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  5. Reader Wil10 October 2012 at 14:29

    A great tribute to the Maharaja! Thanks for participating in the ABC meme. And thanks for your kind comment to my introduction of Mmmm, which I forgot to sign. Sorry!
    Have a great day! Wil, ABC Team.

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  6. Unseen India Tours10 October 2012 at 17:21

    very big...

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  7. Unseen India Tours10 October 2012 at 17:22

    awesome...

    www.unseenindia.us

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  8. Chubskulit Rose10 October 2012 at 19:28

    A very interesting subject!

    Manok... find out what it is
    Rose, ABC Wednesday

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  9. LOLfromPasa10 October 2012 at 19:51

    I have had a look at this a couple of times. I am fascinated with those feet. Bone structure is something else.

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  10. Mark10 October 2012 at 21:14

    A great story.

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  11. Deb10 October 2012 at 23:05

    Mammoth post Chrissy, marvellous!

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  12. Anonymous10 October 2012 at 23:53

    Wonderful ! He feels to be stronger than time itself. Please have a good Thursday.

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  13. Meoww11 October 2012 at 00:19

    Oh. Thats a Mega M post!

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  14. LONDONLULU11 October 2012 at 03:51

    What a Marvelous tale! And we are still entranced by him today. (I'm fascinated by its skull, there's a Henry Moore sculpture here that was supposedly inspired by an elephant skull and now I see it!)

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  15. Leeds daily photo11 October 2012 at 14:33

    Here in Leeds, we have an old Begal tiger, not quite the same. I am not surprised that Maharajah did not fancy traveling by train, asuming his ticket was not first class!

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  16. Cezar and Léia12 October 2012 at 12:07

    Wonderful article, a perfect choice for M theme day!
    Léia

    ReplyDelete

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