Charles Jamrach (born Johann Christian Carl Jamrach; March 1815 – 6 September 1891) was a leading dealer in

wildlife Wildlife refers to domestication, undomesticated animals and uncultivated plant species which can exist in their natural habitat, but has come to include all organisms that grow or live wilderness, wild in an area without being species, introdu ...

, birds and shells in 19th-century London. He owned an exotic pet store on the

Ratcliffe Highway The Highway, part of which was formerly known as the Ratcliffe Highway, is a road in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, in the East End of London. The route dates back to Roman times. In the 19th century it had a reputation for vice and crim ...

east London East London is the part of London, England, east of the ancient City of London and north of the River Thames as it begins to widen. East London developed as London Docklands, London's docklands and the primary industrial centre. The expansion of ...

– at the time the largest such shop in the world. Jamrach's nearest rival was Edward Cross, who ran a

menagerie A menagerie is a collection of captive animals, frequently exotic, kept for display; or the place where such a collection is kept, a precursor to the modern zoo or zoological garden. The term was first used in 17th-century France, referring to ...

Exeter Exchange The Exeter Exchange (signed and popularly known as Exeter Change) was a building on the north side of the Strand in London, with an arcade extending partway across the carriageway. It is most famous for the menagerie that occupied its upper fl ...

on the Strand. Jamrach was born in Germany (either in

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

or Memel). His father, Johann Gottlieb Jamrach, was chief of the Hamburg river police (the ''

Wasserschutzpolizei The (, WSP - literally translated "Water Protection Police" in German language, German) is the river police that patrols the waterways, lakes and harbours of Germany around the clock. The WSP are part of the (State Police). The Federal Po ...

''), whose contacts with sailors enabled him to build up a trade as a dealer in birds and wild animals, establishing branches in

Antwerp Antwerp (; ; ) is a City status in Belgium, city and a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of Antwerp Province, and the third-largest city in Belgium by area at , after ...

and London. Charles Jamrach moved to London and took over that branch of the business after his father's death in circa 1840. He became a leading importer, breeder, and exporter of animals, selling to noblemen, zoos, menageries and circus owners, and buying from ships docking in London and nearby ports, with agents in other major British ports, including Liverpool, Southampton and Plymouth, and also in continental Europe. His business included a shop and a museum – named Jamrach's Animal Emporium – on the

and a menagerie in Betts Street, both in the East End, and a warehouse in Old Gravel Lane,

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

. According to a contemporary author Jamrach had an exotic stock: After a

Bengal tiger The Bengal tiger is a population of the ''Panthera tigris tigris'' subspecies and the nominate tiger subspecies. It ranks among the largest wild cats alive today. It is estimated to have been present in the Indian subcontinent since the Late ...

escaped from its box at the Emporium in 1857, and picked up and carried off a passing eight- or nine-year-old boy, Jamrach "came running up and, thrusting his bare hands into the tiger's throat, forced the beast to let his captive go". The boy, who had approached and tried to pet the animal having never seen such a big cat before, sued Jamrach and was awarded £300 in damages. The tiger was sold to

George Wombwell George Wombwell (24 December 1777 – 16 November 1850) was a famous menagerie exhibitor in Regency and early Victorian Britain. He founded Wombwell's Travelling Menagerie. Life and work George Wombwell was born at Duddenhoe End, near ...

and became a popular attraction at his menagerie. The tiger's escape, and subsequent rescue, are commemorated by a bronze statue near the entrance to

Tobacco Dock Tobacco Dock is a Listed building, Grade I listed warehouse located at Wapping, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Located in the East End of London, it was designed by Scottish people, Scottish civil engineer and architect John Rennie the E ...

, a short distance from the scene of the incident. Jamrach was also largely responsible for restocking

P. T. Barnum Phineas Taylor Barnum (July 5, 1810 – April 7, 1891) was an American showman, businessman, and politician remembered for promoting celebrated hoaxes and founding with James Anthony Bailey the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. He was ...

's circus after a fire in 1864. A sea snail, ''

Amoria jamrachii ''Amoria jamrachii'' is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family (biology), family Volutidae, the volutes. It was named after Charles Jamrach, an animal dealer in London, by Dr. John Edward Gray, Keeper of Zoology at ...

'', was named after Jamrach by

John Edward Gray John Edward Gray (12 February 1800 – 7 March 1875) was a British zoologist. He was the elder brother of zoologist George Robert Gray and son of the pharmacologist and botanist Samuel Frederick Gray (1766–1828). The same is used for a z ...

, keeper of zoology at the British Museum, to whom Jamrach had forwarded the shell after he obtained it. Jamrach was married three times, first to Mary Athanasio; then to Ellen Downing; and finally to Clara Salter. Two of his sons, William and Albert, also became dealers in wildlife. Jamrach died in Bow on 6 September 1891. The business prospered for some time, but encountered difficulties during the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. After Albert died in 1917, the firm went out of business in 1919.

In popular culture

Jamrach's Menagerie was well known in

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

England, and is a frequent contemporary reference in Victorian popular literature. Jamrach is name-dropped in

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

's ''

Dracula ''Dracula'' is an 1897 Gothic fiction, Gothic horror fiction, horror novel by Irish author Bram Stoker. The narrative is Epistolary novel, related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist and opens ...

'' (1897);

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer, prolific in many genres. He wrote more than fifty novels and dozens of short stories. His non-fiction output included works of social commentary, politics, hist ...

' ''

The First Men in the Moon ''The First Men in the Moon'' by the English author H. G. Wells is a scientific romance, originally serialised in ''The Strand Magazine'' and '' The Cosmopolitan'' from November 1900 to June 1901 and published in hardcover in 1901. Wells calle ...

'' (1901);

Saki Hector Hugh Munro (18 December 1870 – 14 November 1916), popularly known by his pen name Saki and also frequently as H. H. Munro, was a British writer whose witty, mischievous and sometimes macabre stories satirise Edwardian society and ...

's short story "Reginald's Drama" (1903); and Stoker's ''

The Lair of the White Worm ''The Lair of the White Worm'' is a horror novel by the Irish writer Bram Stoker. It was first published by Rider and Son of London in 1911 – the year before Stoker's death – with colour illustrations by Pamela Colman Smith. The story is bas ...

'' (1911).

Carol Birch Carol Birch (born 1951) is an English novelist, lecturer and book critic. She also teaches creative writing. Life Birch was born in Manchester, England. Her parents had met in a wartime armaments factory. Her father, a metallurgist, also played ...

's novel '' Jamrach's Menagerie'' (2011), a work of

historical fiction Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the Setting (narrative), setting of particular real past events, historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literatur ...

, was long-listed for the

Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–2012), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017) is one of the United Kingdom's ...

and short-listed for the

Man Booker Prize The Booker Prize, formerly the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a prestigious literary award conferred each year for the best single work of sustained fiction written in the English language, wh ...

. Jamrach's Menagerie was featured in several episodes of the fifth season of the TV drama ''

Ripper Street ''Ripper Street'' is a British mystery drama television series set in Whitechapel in the East End of London starring Matthew Macfadyen, Jerome Flynn, Adam Rothenberg, and MyAnna Buring. It begins in 1889, six months after the infamous Jack t ...

'' (2016).

References

First published in the ''

Westminster Gazette ''The Westminster Gazette'' was an influential Liberal newspaper based in London. It was known for publishing sketches and short stories, including early works by Raymond Chandler, Anthony Hope, D. H. Lawrence, Katherine Mansfield, Margaret ...

'' of 8 September 1903. * Brenda Assael, 'Jamrach, Charles (1815–1891)’, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 200
accessed 21 June 2011

from ''The Boy's Own Paper'', Vol. I, no. 3 (1 February 1879)

Public Monument and Sculpture Association

Victorian London
Mr Jamrach's college for young beasts
''

The Leisure Hour ''The Leisure Hour'' was a British general-interest periodical of the Victorian era published weekly from 1852 to 1905. It was the most successful of several popular magazines published by the Religious Tract Society, which produced Christian lite ...

'', Volume 7, (no.338, 17 June 1858), p. 377-380
Front page of Saturday, 1 February 1879 edition of newspaper ''The Boy's Own Paper''
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Jamrach, Charles 1815 births 1891 deaths Emigrants from the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg Businesspeople from Hamburg Felidae attacks Animal traders Burials in Tower Hamlets Cemetery Immigrants to the United Kingdom