The Curious Case of Casey The Ape

Casey the performing chimpanzee brings chaos and tragedy to

Marrickville streets in 1914.

By Matt Abotomey

In May 1909, an entrepreneur named Ellis Joseph brought a male chimpanzee to Australia.

Casey, as the chimp was called, made his first public appearance in Brisbane.

Casey knew how to entertain a crowd; he smoked pipes and cigars, played the harmonica

and piano, clapped, did somersaults and poked out his tongue. Billed as the ‘man-monkey’

or sometimes referred to as ‘the missing link’, he was a hit wherever he went and the media

often reported on his appearances and what tricks he performed. Great excitement was had

when he and Joseph caught a taxi in Melbourne in 1910 from which Casey waved to people

they passed. By the time of his appearance in Adelaide it was excitedly reported that he had

learnt a new trick – eating sago pudding out of a bowl with a spoon.

Joseph was asked what he intended to do with Casey after the tour to which he replied he

would sell him, but would not accept less than £1000. Joseph also knew, it is believed, that

Casey’s time as a performer was limited. Once chimps outlive adolescence they are no

longer interested in doing tricks for scraps of food. Worse still they are strong and sometimes violent.

In March 1911, Joseph found his buyer, selling him to another fortune seeker, Thomas Fox,

while touring New Zealand. Though it quickly became apparent that Casey didn’t like his

new owner. The New Zealand press wrote that Casey had ‘given his new proprietor several

maulings.’ However, Casey kept performing and entertaining crowds throughout New

Zealand, completing the tour with Fox that Joseph had previously organised.

But after touring both Australia and New Zealand, nothing much is heard of Thomas Fox or

his chimpanzee for almost a year. Casey next reappears in the zoo in Sydney’s Moore Park

in early 1913. Fox then took him on a short tour around regional New South Wales, but by

this time Casey was not interested in performing. It’s here that Fox made a grave mistake –

he took Casey to his home in Meeks Road, Marrickville.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on 7 December 1914:

Probably the most exciting incident in the history of Marrickville was witnessed in Meeks Road last night, when the huge performing chimpanzee made his escape into the street and, for a couple of hours, refused to be captured, either by his keeper or two policemen who came hurriedly upon the scene. The adventure, however, had a very sad sequel, resulting in the death of Mrs Russell, who lives in Meeks Road and who apparently dropped dead from fright. Between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m., Casey, a performing chimpanzee well known to the Sydney public, made his escape. The chimpanzee is always kept chained up,

but he succeeded last evening in freeing himself from his chain and slipping out

through the front gate.

Casey is a big animal, standing about five feet in height and weighing about 12

stone, and is an excellent boxer, a fact of which he apprised his keeper, who

received a severe injury to the eye, besides several lacerations about the face,

while endeavouring to effect a capture.

It was not until the arrival of Sergeant Wearin and Constable Toobey, of the

Marrickville police, that Casey was taken into custody. Before finally being

captured, the chimpanzee charged Sergeant Wearin, catching him by the collar

of the coat, and the Sergeant found it necessary to fire two bullets into the

beast’s foot before it released its grip.

During the excitement, the chimpanzee rushed at a group of women, and it was

then that Mrs Russell was seen to fall to the ground. When she was picked up, it

was found that she was dead.

In trying to capture Casey, Thomas Fox lost an eye. Emily Russell was 42. Her husband, John, took Fox to court, suing him for negligence and demanding £1000. In court, Fox pleaded not guilty and insisted that Casey was a docile creature. The court, especially seeing the state of Fox’s face, disagreed. He was ordered to pay John Russell £450.

Not to be outdone, Fox then bought another chimp, a youngster called Bismark, and with his wife and Casey left for America where the animals became part of a circus side show. It was

reported that Casey died of appendicitis in 1922.