AGNES HENDERSON
Several of the people mentioned in the Sgt. Pepper song “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!” were prominent in the circus world at that time. The poster is headlined “Pablo Fanque’s Circus Royale”; Fanque owned a circus back in Victorian times. John Henderson performed with his wife Agnes Henderson throughout Europe and Russia in the 1840’s and 1850’s. Mr. Kite is believed to be William Kite; he worked for Pablo Fanque from 1843 to 1845. “Somerset” is an early term for what we call a somersault, and that word made it into the song’s lyrics.
(June 2015)
