The Great Farini

Childhood

In late 1843, William Hunt’s parents, Thomas Hunt and Hannah Hunt (née Soper), moved the family from New York to Hope Township, Ontario in William’s early childhood, where they started a farm. His parents were strict, and Hunt preferred swimming to chores. Some two years later, the family moved to Bowmanville where Thomas set up a general store. Fascinated by the circus from a young age, William trained himself in acrobatics. He drilled pegs into the side of the family stable to climb up the walls.

Early Career

William Hunt’s first major stunt, in 1859, was a tightrope walk across the Ganaraska River, which flows through Port Hope, Ontario. Eventually adopting the name of Signor Guillermo Antonio Farini for dramatic flair, he drew a crowd of thousands to watch him cross a rope suspended between two buildings over the river, performing tricks along the way. This stunt greatly disappointed his father, and created a coldness between the two.

Rivalry with The Great Blondin

After a brief stint in the circus, Farini set his sights on Niagara Falls, which had famously been crossed by French tightrope walker Charles Blondin, known as The Great Blondin. In 1860, Farini decided to challenge Blondin’s supremacy by setting up a cable across the American side of the gorge that was more than twice as long as Blondin’s. On his first performance, Farini descended from the cable down a rope onto the Maid of the Mist below, where he had a glass of wine with the boat’s passengers. He then climbed back up and finished his crossing. Farini engaged in a series of stunts that year in an effort to outdo Blondin. Blondin once brought a small stove onto his rope, cooked an omelet, and lowered it down to passengers on the Maid of the Mist. Farini topped this by carrying a washing machine on his back. He lowered a bucket into the river, hauled up water from below, and washed several handkerchiefs.

Relationship with Mary Osborne

After touring parts of the US with his high-wire act for much of 1861, Farini returned to Ontario and renewed a close friendship with a woman named Mary Osborne. Some sources describe her as his wife, while others claim they never married. The two performed together, Farini carrying Osborne on his back across the high wire.

In late 1861, Farini decided to go south, joining the Union Army months after the start of the American Civil War. By November the following year, he and Osborne were headed for Cuba. Tragically, during a performance in the Plaza del Toros bullfighting arena in Havana, Osborne lost her balance and fell from Farini’s back. While he caught her by her clothing, her dress tore, and she plummeted to the ground. She apparently suffered a serious head injury and died a few days later.

The Flying Farinis

Though he made a few attempts to perform after the death of Mary Osborne, Farini eventually took time off to travel around South America. In the early 1860s, he toured as a trapeze artist in the US. In England, in 1866, he began performing as The Flying Farinis alongside a ten-year-old boy billed as El Niño, who he claimed to have adopted. Some sources identify the boy as Samuel Wasgatt (or Wasgate) of Maine, though it is unclear how he came to be in Farini’s care. El Niño impressed crowds with advanced tricks on the trapeze, such as hanging from the nape of his neck while playing a drum.

From Performer to Promoter

At 31 years old, Farini shifted from the role of performer to that of circus impresario. The first act he promoted was Lulu Farini, the Girl Aerialist, who appeared in 1870. Lulu proved popular, known for her beauty and skill on the trapeze. After a trapeze accident in 1876 in Dublin, it was revealed that Lulu was actually El Niño, dressed in women’s clothing. Lulu continued to perform for a time as a young man.

Farini began to tinker with new inventions and is frequently credited with innovations such as a folding theatre seat and the modern parachute. He patented the human cannonball, in which a performer is projected into the air from a cannon-like device. It later became a circus staple. In 1871, Farini married Alice Carpenter of Portsmouth, England. The pair had two sons, but the marriage ended in divorce in 1880.

Freak Shows and Human Zoos

In the 1870s, Farini put together an exhibit of human curiosities, including a girl he dubbed “Krao, the Missing Link.” Krao was described as Laotian or Siamese and had a condition that caused her face and body to be covered in hair. Farini claimed that Krao was the “missing link” between “man and monkey” that proved Darwin’s theory of evolution. It was typical for freak shows of the era to feature so-called “bearded ladies,” and such exhibits sometimes reinforced racist ideas. White performers were generally presented as humans with characteristics uncommon to their sex, while non-white “bearded ladies” such as Krao were billed as animal-like.

During the Anglo-Zulu war, fought in 1879 between the British and the Zulu people of southern Africa, Farini played on racist sentiments by exhibiting Zulu warriors. Such exhibitions, now known as human zoos, were common at the time, sometimes displaying Indigenous peoples alongside animals at special exhibitions and fairgrounds. (See also Abraham Ulrikab.)

The Lost City of the Kalahari

In 1885, Farini embarked on a trip to Africa alongside Lulu Farini, who acted as the expedition’s photographer. After trekking through the Kalahari Desert, Farini published a book claiming to have discovered a lost city there. Various adventurers and researchers have attempted to locate and identify Farini’s supposed lost city of the Kalahari, but it has never been found.

Later Life

Farini married Anna Müller, the daughter of a German aristocrat, in 1886. His pursuits thereafter focused more on business, including investments in the stock market, transportation and mining, although he continued to be involved in show business management. After the First World War, he and Anna moved to Port Hope, Ontario, near where he grew up, and he took up painting. He died of influenza in Port Hope in 1929, at the age of 90.