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Belle Vue Zoological Gardens started in June 1836 when John Jennison first
took a lease for land known as Belle Vue on the Hyde Road, Manchester,
England. Over the next few decades, the pleasure gardens grew and grew
becoming a great attraction. The gardens remained in the control of the
Jennison family until 1925.
In the early 1900s, there
were published two similar sets of postcards which featured scenes from
the gardens. There were twelve cards published by Horrocks & Co. of
Ashton under Lyne, and a set of six cards published by G. D. & D.
(originally Gottschalk, Dreyfus & Davis) of London. The G. D. & D.
cards were signed by the postcard artist H. Fleury junior who was my great
uncle, Hermann Conrad Fleury. I do not know which cards came out first,
nor whether the Horrocks cards were published as a set of twelve or as
two sets of six cards, which was the usual number in a set.
Zoological Gardens, Belle Vue,
Manchester - Horrocks & Co - 12 postcards
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| The Monkey House |
Sea Lion House & Aquatic Birds |
Pheasantry and Penguin House |
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| The Italian Garden |
The Ocean Wave |
Indian Temple & Grotto |
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| The Ballroom |
The Bear Pits |
Open Air Dancing Platform |
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| The Chinese Café |
Clock Tower and Lake |
An Elephant Ride |
Belle Vue, Manchester - Star Series - G. D.& D.,
London - printed in Bavaria
artist H. Fleury junior - 6 postcards
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| The Ballroom |
The Bear Pits |
Open Air Dancing |
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| The Chinese Café |
The Lake & Island with Clock Tower |
The Children's Delight |
For a full catalogue of postcards by H.
Fleury junior click here.
For information about Hermann Conrad Fleury's
life click here.
The six Fleury cards are very similar to
six of the Horrocks ones. For easy comparison I have set out below larger
images of the cards side by side.
| Horrocks cards |
G. D.& D. cards by Fleury |
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| The Ballroom |
The Ballroom |
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| The Bear Pits |
The Bear Pits |
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| Open Air Dancing Platform |
Open Air Dancing |
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| The Chinese Café |
The Chinese Café |
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| Clock Tower and Lake |
The Lake & Island with Clock Tower |
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| An Elephant Ride |
The Children's Delight |
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| The Monkey House |
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| Sea Lion House & Aquatic Birds |
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| Pheasantry and Penguin House |
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| The Italian Garden |
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| The Ocean Wave |
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| Indian Temple & Grotto |
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