Dates

• Existence: c1879 - 1929

Biography

Frank ‘Frisco’, was an equestrian, acrobat and clown performer, and possibly the founder of the first Paulo Circus. Frisco married Clara Wilson aka ‘Madame Clara Paulo’ (b.1885) after meeting her at her father’s show at the age of eighteen.

Clara was the daughter of William ‘Curly’ Wilson (1839-1915) a fairground showman, and Elizabeth Silvester a circus artiste. Frisco and Clara had eight children, all of which became talented performers; Emily (1908-1987), Lizzie, Madge, Grace, Evelyn (1923-2002), Clara Margaret Helen (1921-2000), William Henry ‘Harry’ (1911-1949) and Frank (c.1915-1987).

Frank Frisco was recruited to serve in France and didn’t join the family and the show again until the end of the war. He died of pneumonia in 1928-29 in Rotherham while on his way to St. Austell to merge his circus with the Anderton and Rowland Show. This was not to be the end of the Paulo Circus though, as in 1939 Frank’s widow and her children reformed the family circus and prospered through the WWII years taking morale boosting entertainment around the country. They continued running the Paulo Circus until finally folding it in 1949.

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