Anna Fay an American medium/stage Mesmerist created a riot when the audience uncovered the secrets of her tricks. The police had to be called in to break up the crowds. The story made national news and featured in papers all over the country. (article transcriptions) LIGHT ON A DARK SEANCE The Exchange Hall, Blackburn was…
Professor Kershaw, described as an electrician and a mesmerist performed an amusing hypnotising show in the Exchange hall in the 1880s. According to trade adverts of the era, Professor Kershaw was from Southport where he also offered various healing from his residence at 62 Sefton Street (pictured) which was handy for the tram, according to…
A lecture was given entitled, ‘Modern Discoveries connected with our Planetary System,” Illustrated with an Oxy-Hydrogen Lantern. It was presented by the Rev S J Perry, BJ, F.RS, FLRAS, Director of the Stonyhurst College Observatory and Chief of the Government expedition to Kerguelen in 1734, and Madagascar in 1752 for observing the transit of Venus.…
On Thursday 5th February 1885, a grand Venetian fair was held at the Exchange to raise money for the building of St Matthew’s Church, Higher Audley. The interior of the hall was made up to look like Venice, including scenes of St Mark’s Square and Church, the Grand Canal and the Doge’s Palace. Stalls were…
Professor Andre’s Alpine Choir performed annually for several years at The Exchange as part of a UK tour. Dressed in Swiss costume, they performed a mix of sacred and non-religious tunes with some musical sketches. This was part of a programme of events promoted by the Temperance Movement. The Blackburn Times advertised the show which…
The Exchange had become a popular venue for live shows, so the owners decided to focus on its new role by applying for a theatrical license and extending the stage. At the time, a theatrical license was needed to show plays, and so the Exchange Company applied for a license around October 1881. This would…
February 26th 1877 for six nights only, Miss Annie De Montford appeared at The Exchange, pronounced by the press and public of the time as ‘the greatest mesmerist in the world’. According to researcher, writer and performer, Christopher Green ‘she was also called a ‘psychological star’ and an ‘electro-biologist’, and occasionally a hypnotist. Her bill…
The Exchange hosted a championship billiard match between the world’s greatest players of the time, rivals, John Roberts junior and William Cook. You can read all about Cook here: https://www.snookerheritage.co.uk/normans-articles/past-masters/william-cook-senior/ the image of John Roberts junior is from the National Portrait Gallery digital collection.
On the 18th of June 1869, Blackburn was host to an exhibition of well-known celebrities – Miss Anna Swan, the Giantess, Chang and Eng Bunker, the Siamese Twins, and Zoebida Luti, the Circassian Lady. Chang and Eng Bunker were conjoined twin brothers from Siam (now Thailand) who became famous as the “Siamese twins” in the…
Charles Dickens gives a reading of A Christmas Carol at the Exchange as part of a UK tour. In 1913, a letter was published revealing that the author was in poor health and exhausted by the demands of the touring and performing schedule. This had been his second visit to Blackburn.Two days later he…
The renowned Mr and Mrs Howard Paul performed at the Exchange on the 12th January, 1869. They reportedly impersonated at least a dozen different phases of life, “in the most exquisite manner”. Audiences were treated to a rich performance and gave repeated applause throughout. Mrs Howard Paul was an English actress, singer and manager who…
Phrenology is a pseudoscience that involves the measurement of bumps on the skull to predict mental traits. It is based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules. On 27th April 1867, renowned phrenologist Lorenzo Fowler visited the Exchange to…