Florence Shufflebottom (12 December 1931 – 25 October 2014) was a fairground performer, sharpshooter and snake-charmer who became known as the 'British

Annie Oakley Annie Oakley (born Phoebe Ann Mosey; August 13, 1860 – November 3, 1926) was an American marksman, sharpshooter and folk heroine who starred in Buffalo Bill's Wild West. Oakley developed hunting skills as a child to provide for her impoveris ...

Early life and family history

Florence was born into a family of circus performance. Her paternal grandfather was William Shufflebottom (1850s–1916), who worked as a Buffalo Bill impersonator under the name 'Texas Bill'. He and his wife, Rosina (1872–1937) had ten children, including Florence's father Richard Shufflebottom. Rosina was also a snake-charmer, going on to outlive William, who died in 1916 after being crushed by a horse during a performance. Following his father's death, Richard and two of his brothers, Wally and William, toured the UK with their own

Wild West The American frontier, also known as the Old West, and popularly known as the Wild West, encompasses the geography, history, folklore, and culture associated with the forward wave of American expansion in mainland North America that bega ...

inspired show, eventually setting up the Colorado Family Troupe.

Professional life

From a young age, Florence was involved in the family show, performing as a snake-charmer from the age of five, and as a target for her father's knife-throwing act. She was known for a trick called 'The Kiss of Death' where she would place the head of a snake inside her mouth. She was best known for her skills as a sharpshooter. Using a

Winchester Winchester (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city in Hampshire, England. The city lies at the heart of the wider City of Winchester, a local government Districts of England, district, at the western end of the South Downs N ...

.22, she performed a variety of tricks, earning her a reputation as the 'British Annie Oakley'. Her career ended abruptly after an accident in which she shot her mother in the knuckle, having been knocked by a boy in the audience of a show. She married her husband Robert Campbell in 1957 and the two went on to more business ventures, including running a

Selby Selby is a market town and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England, south of York on the River Ouse. At the 2021 Census, it had a population of 17,193. The town was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire; from 1974 until 2023, ...

bingo hall.

Later life and legacy

In 1994 Florence and her husband gave a donation to the National Fairground and Circus Archive at

The University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth College in 1879 ...

, comprising their family collection. She died in 2014 at the age of 82, and her body was cremated at Cottingley Crematorium.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shufflebottom, Florence 20th-century circus performers Entertainers from Leeds British women 1931 births 2014 deaths 21st-century circus performers