Jenny Hengler

Born on 23 March 1849 at Lewes in Sussex, Jenny Louise Hengler was the daughter of the circus proprietor Frederick Charles Hengler and his wife Mary Anne Frances née Sprake. Many members of her family were circus performer; her father, while not a performer himself, had established Hengler’s Circus in 1847.

By 1857 Jenny was appearing in pantomime and by 1873 she had become the leading equestrian performer at Hengler’s Circus. A reviewer in 1866 thought that ‘the graceful performance of Miss Jenny Hengler, on the beautiful horse Chanticleer’ was ‘among the most noticeable items in the programme’ (Ari’s Birmingham Gazette, 10 March 1866). The following year another reviewer described her as ‘a charming equestrienne,’ adding that ‘Her grace and courage are the admiration of all who see her’ (Leeds Times, 22 June 1867).

On 6 May 1874 she married fellow circus equestrian Waldemar Alexander Oscar Kamienski, who claimed to a Polish count. His nom professionnel was Alexander Oscar. Jenny appears to have only performed once or twice more after her marriage.

In 1882 Oscar and Jenny moved to the United States and settled for a while on Long Island. Beatrice, the youngest of their three children, was born there in or about 1887.

By 1891, the family had returned to England. They appear on the census that year living at ‘Rookery Farm House’ at Great Pelham in Essex. Oscar gave ‘Living on his own means’ as his profession.

Waldemar A.O. Kamienski died, aged 63, in Gloucestershire in 1898. Jenny appears on the 1901 census as a widow visiting the Marylebone residence of solicitor Charles Edmonds and his wife Mary, who was Jenny’s sister.

Jenny Louise Kamienska died in Paddington, aged 86, on 16 April 1935. The cause of death was ‘senile decay’ and ‘myocarditis.’