W.F. Wallett

Who was W.F. Wallett?

William Frederick "W.F." Wallett was a popular circus clown in Victorian England, who also enjoyed modest celebrity in the United States. After he performed before Queen Victoria in 1844 at Windsor Castle, Wallett began promoting himself as "the Queen's Jester," and described himself this way in the title of his 1870 autobiography. For many years, he performed in the circus owned by his good friend Pablo Fanque Wallett also helped manage Fanque's circus.

In his 1870 autobiography, Wallett shares many anecdotes that reflect the powers of observation, humor, and pathos of an effective clown. While often a rolling stone, Wallett frequently found himself working with Pablo Fanque, and thus, many of his most noteworthy stories either concern Fanque or his time performing in Fanque's circus. Wallett speaks of a routine he devised for a show in Oxford concerning freehold land rights:

He claims to have observed the following while fishing with Fanque on The Isis, the stretch of The Thames that runs through Oxford: