Guest JordanLS Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hi, first post here so be kind! I'm a 21 year old History degree student from Sheffield, encouraged by my Dad's great enthusiasm for the subject - especially local. A little earlier tonight we were talking about Tommy Ward's elephant Lizzie, something I knew very little about beforehand I'm ashamed to say. Anyway did my share of reading (using the BBC website and a couple of good threads on here) and now feel I know the essentials. However the one thing I can't seem to find is the one thing my Dad (and me too now) is particularly interested in! Does anyone know where Lizzie was buried? I couldn't find any record to show that Lizzie worked for Tommy Ward until her death, but my Dad seems to think regardless of this that she must have had some monumental funeral/burial. Any lesser known information/stories regarding Lizzie would be excellent and the matter of her death would make my Dad's day tomorrow I'm sure! He insists if I find anything out to text him at work tomorrow. Thank you, Jordan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 Hi, first post here so be kind! I'm a 21 year old History degree student from Sheffield, encouraged by my Dad's great enthusiasm for the subject - especially local. A little earlier tonight we were talking about Tommy Ward's elephant Lizzie, something I knew very little about beforehand I'm ashamed to say. Anyway did my share of reading (using the BBC website and a couple of good threads on here) and now feel I know the essentials. However the one thing I can't seem to find is the one thing my Dad (and me too now) is particularly interested in! Does anyone know where Lizzie was buried? I couldn't find any record to show that Lizzie worked for Tommy Ward until her death, but my Dad seems to think regardless of this that she must have had some monumental funeral/burial. Any lesser known information/stories regarding Lizzie would be excellent and the matter of her death would make my Dad's day tomorrow I'm sure! He insists if I find anything out to text him at work tomorrow. Thank you, Jordan Fine question ... funeral ? burial ? Fine question indeed. Hopefully the answer is not the knackers yard.. It would be nice to know and great to have a History Student on here - bring yer friends along and the lecturers too - we need some discussion between you academics and us interested amatuers. Welcome to the site. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RichardB Posted June 20, 2011 Share Posted June 20, 2011 I couldn't find any record to show that Lizzie worked for Tommy Ward until her death, but my Dad seems to think regardless of this that she must have had some monumental funeral/burial. During the First World War, Thomas Ward's was heavily engaged in war activities. There was a shortage of horses which had been sent to the Front and in 1916 Ward leased an elephant (and a man to look after it) from a circus. Circuses had been stood down for the duration of the war. The firm had the elephant for a couple of years, stabling her near the factory and using her for hauling heavy loads of steel around Sheffield. The elephant's name was Lizzie and the records are full of anecdotes about her - eating a schoolboy's cap, putting her trunk through a kitchen window to help herself, and pushing over a traction engine. Source Was it back to the Circus post-War ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dunsbyowl1867 Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 A few more details : those damn cobbles! Lizzie Ward Typically the famous Wards elephant, the legendary Lizzie, purchased from a visiting circus, replaced horses conscripted by the military to serve in Europe in 1916. She transported machinery, etc., around Sheffield until the cobble stone roads damaged her feet, when she retired. T W Ward are still regularly asked about this fascinating story of Lizzie. When more orthodox means of transport were requisitioned during the First World War, Lizzie the elephant became a well·known Ward employee in Sheffield. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JordanLS Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 Thank you for the welcome and information everyone. I bet my Dad could add something to this place... sadly he's pretty useless with the Internet so I guess he'll have to be channelled through me, haha! Anyway, looks so that if Lizzie's feet were damaged she probably wouldn't be up to re-joining the circus? And against the popular saying "elephants never forget" I'm sure her act would have been a bit rusty after the years without practise? I can't imagine there was much demand for a retired elephants sanctuary in Sheffield? Haha. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JordanLS Posted June 21, 2011 Share Posted June 21, 2011 May have just gone and proved my only theory wrong though... Look here And here But beyond that I can't find anything. WIll carry on looking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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