The Hyland Circus.
by Peter J. Bridge.
ISBN 978-0-85905-900-8, (New, 2021), A4, 52 pages, heavily illustrated, 175 grams, $30.00*
Hyland's Circus was renowned across Australia. Horseman John Roberts married a daughter of Ah Pan and an Irish girl from Capetown, N Queensland.
The many children were trained as horseriders and circus performers. Some became renowned internationally.
Arriving in WA at the turn of the century they performed state-wide. An attraction was that many of the performers were blind from an inherited optical neuropathy passed on maternally.
Settling in Broome, Roberts disappeared on a horse trading trip up the Fitzroy River. Several years later his body was found with a bullet hole in the head.
The reason for his death was a mystery, known to very few, all now dead. All the police files have been destroyed.
Now for the first time in over a century the secret of his death is revealed.