William Batty , circus director in United States Born 1801 in United Kingdom dead 1868 in United Kingdom . William Batty (1801–1868) was an equestrian performer, circus proprietor, and longtime operator of Astley\'s Amphitheatre in London. Batty was one of the most successful circus proprietors in Victorian England and helped launch the careers of a number of leading Victorian circus personalities, such as Pablo Fanque, the versatile performer and later circus proprietor (best known today from his mention in The Beatles song "Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!"), and W.F. Wallett, one of the most celebrated clowns of the era. Also, while in operation for only two years, Batty\'s most lasting legacy is probably Batty\'s Grand National Hippodrome, also known as Batty\'s Hippodrome, an open-air amphitheatre he erected in 1851 in Kensington Gardens, London, to attract audiences from the Crystal Palace Exhibition nearby. Batty managed Astley's Amphitheatre from 1842 to 1853. All the major circus acts of the day performed at Astley's, including Pablo Fanque who performed there for twelve nights in March 1847. Batty leased the building to William Cooke in 1853. Cooke would run Astley's until 1860. In 1863 the Amphitheatre was turned into the Theatre Royal by Dion Boucicault, however it resulted in failure and left Boucicault heavily in debt.[5] Edward Tyrrel Smith succeeded Boucicault and provided Adah Isaacs Menken with her first London appearance in Mazeppa to "overflowing houses". Its final owner was "Lord" George Sanger, who bought it for £11,000 in 1871 and ran it as "Sanger's Amphitheatre" for over 20 years. It finally closed and was demolished in 1893. When Batty died in 1868, he was reportedly worth a half a million pounds sterling. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery in London.
