Biography

Benjamin Howden was the son of Benjamin Howden Snr., who was the brother in law of Lincolnshire showman George Aspland.

As many other fairground families did, the Aspland-Howden family inaugurated the travelling year at King’s Lynn Mart, the first fair of the season and the one where traditionally new rides where showcased. Ben met his wife Lily at King's lynn, Lily came from the Tuby Yorkshire fairground family and Ben's and Lily's marriage joined the Aspland-Howden family to the Tuby family.

Ben joined the family fairground business as a child, while still attending school, performing small tasks such as feeding the cardboard into the mechanical organ and collecting fares.

In 1875 George Aspland was joined by his brother in law, Ben Howden, forming Aspland-Howden. Ben brought his engineering skills to the business which complemented George's skills with the running of the rides and the photographic booth.

In 1895, when George retired, Ben took ownership of the business and continued running it under the unified family name of Aspland-Howden.

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