Philip Astley

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English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the "father of the modern circus"

AthletesLived 1742 to 1814 · aged 72

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Fame48.8

MomentumNot measured

Languages16

Peak1820s

In century#1,892

Philip Astley was an English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the "father of the modern circus".

Also inDeutsch

Photos 5

Interior View of Astley's Amphitheatre, 1777 [1840].

Commemorative plaque at Cornwall Rd. Lambeth, near the site of the world's first circus performances at Ha'penny Hatch. Copyright LERA

Astley's Amphitheatre in London circa 1808.

Astley's Amphitheatre flagstone in the garden of St Thomas's Hospital, Lambeth. Copyright Zippos Circus.

Athletes born in the 1740s 2

John Sackville, 3rd Duke of Dorset47.3

John de Burgh, 13th Earl of Clanricarde39.5

About this person

Philip Astley was an English equestrian, circus owner, and inventor, regarded as being the "father of the modern circus". Modern circus, as an integrated entertainment experience that includes music, domesticated animals, acrobats, and clowns, traces its heritage to Astley's Amphitheatre, a riding school that Astley founded in London following the success of trick-riding displays given by him and his wife Patty Jones in 1768. Astley's first competitor was equestrian Charles Hughes, who had previously worked with Astley. Together with Charles Dibdin, a famous author of pantomimes, Hughes opened a rival amphitheatre in London, which Dibdin called the Royal Circus and Equestrian Philharmonic Academy.