A Legacy Of Entertainment
The History of the Bishop Family

Thomas W. Bishop circa 1920.

In the late 1800’s a young Scottish orphan by the name of Thos. W. Bishop saw the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show and Congress of Roughriders in England.

The colour, pageantry and most of all the masterful use of the horse made a great impression on the young boy. Thomas and his brother Robert were being groomed at a military school to take over their uncle’s fortune in the iron industry. As fate would have it, the uncle ended up gambling away the entire fortune, leaving Thomas and his young brother to be raised by their single mother, who worked as a pastry chef. She couldn’t afford their keep, so they were sent to live at an orphanage.

A few years later, as students at the infamous Dr. Barnardo school for boys, the young Thomas and his brother Robert were faced with a decision. As was the practice at the time, orphans were shipped to the British colonies and given a choice of Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Propelled by the inviting advertisements portraying the Canadian West as the land of wide open spaces and golden opportunities, the boys chose Canada and wound up homesteading in Olds, Alberta. When their mother received news of this, she quickly sent them a letter asking them not to leave, afraid that she would never see them again. Unfortunately, she never did.

In Alberta, the two Scottish city boys were armed with a couple of shovels and no farming skills whatsoever. Living in a sod hut, they would rarely see another soul, with the exception of a rare visit by an RCMP officer doing his rounds, or the occasional odd sight of a man riding by who would talk to himself, apparently having gone crazy with the solitude.

After the brutal first winter the boys abandoned their quarter section of land, jumping boxcars back to the East. Here, young Tom, put to work as a farm-hand and sleeping in barns, quickly earned a reputation as a trainer for rogue horses. He again saw Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show, reputed to be the first ever North American showing-in Niagara, Falls, NY. The program for that show is still in the Bishop family today. Soon after, Thomas began to live his dream by producing shows at local fairs and during World War I, trained his famed horse, Saladdin, to climb a scaffolding and pull a trigger to shoot an effigy of the Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany.

Tom Bishop circa early 1960s.

It was during this time that Tom also managed to save enough money to buy his own tract of land. He met his wife, Eva MacGlashan, and settled down. Eva came from a homesteading family in Niagara, and her grandfather received their land as a land grant from the King. That piece of paper still exists today in the MacGlashan family, who live on what is now called MacGlashan Road. Legend has it, that during the War of 1812, which took place all around the Niagara region, the British army, retreating hastily from the Americans, buried their payroll on the MacGlashan land. It may still be buried there today.

Tom became known for driving his horse and buggy through town-although this horse was different. Tom’s horse was bridle-less and responded solely to voice commands, long before the popularity of “natural horsemanship” and other similar training methods. Thomas later went on to become a co-founder of the Western Horseman’s Association of Ontario, and hanging out at Toronto’s famed Circle M Ranch, had the opportunity to work with and meet many early cowboy stars such as Roy Rogers and Cisco Kid.

4B Ranch Wild West Show 1969.

The next generation continued building the Wild West Shows to a full touring production that for 10 years travelled extensively throughout North America and Europe. Tom Bishop II, learned to trick rope and trick ride by the ripe old age of seven.

As a young man, he hosted a talk show at the local radio station, and was asked one day to be a celebrity judge of the Lions Club beauty pageant. He did the judging, picked a winner and then asked her on a date. Janet Whitty, the daughter of a prominent Niagara grape farmer was horse-crazy, and was sure she had found her cowboy.

They married in 1965, heading to Blackpool, England for a Wild West Show as their honeymoon, Jan skipping out on graduation day from nursing school to go. They arrived by ship, along with some 35 horses, only to find that the company that had hired them had gone bankrupt. They pooled their money together and shipped the horses back, but with no money left over they and about a dozen other performers were stranded for 6 months. They were sponsored by a British Lord, and people around the area began holding fundraisers to get the cowboys and cowgirls home! Some of the bands that played at their benefit concerts were Freddy and the Dreamers and Gary and the Pacemakers.

The Canadian cowboys were somewhat like local celebrities, and Jan Bishop and her sister-in-law Lorna Bishop-Aylett were chosen Blackpool, England’s, Women of the Year, for “standing by their men.” The group was even approached by the manager of a hot new band out of Blackpool, and invited to the concert. Tom and Jan weren’t fans, so they didn’t go, but the manager nonetheless gave them an autographed card, signed, John, George, Paul and Ringo.

Rodeo program cover circa early 70's with Lorna Bishop-Aylett on the cover.

They eventually made their way home and Jan, Tom and Tom’s sister Lorna Bishop-Aylett continued to perform trick riding and trick roping to the delight of crowds everywhere. They took the 4B Ranch Wild West Show and Rodeo on the road, touring the US and Canada on a constant basis for 10 years. Lorna Bishop-Aylett went on to become an unbeatable barrel racer and despite her early death in 1979, has barrel racing awards in her name to this day in the province of Ontario.

Today, Tom and Jan’s children, Tom Jr., Sally and Sarah have continued the tradition with trick riding, roman riding, knife throwing, bullwhips, and high-schooled horses, all with the breathtaking artistry that runs through their veins.

Jan Bishop trick riding.

The Bishops have also made their mark in the film industry, providing horses and wagons for dozens of films over the years, as well as doing stunt and training work. Tom Bishop Sr. and Jr have been in the film industry in Toronto for approximately 35 and 20 years respectively, while Sally does her film work in Calgary, Alberta.

In December, 2005 Sally married Calgary Stampede Committee man Grady Galvin in Las Vegas, at the National Finals Rodeo. Sally and Grady met while she was trick riding at the Calgary Stampede where Grady was working.

Tom Bishop Jr, with a film school degree from York University in Toronto, continues to write and is often a contributer to various horse publications.

Sarah Bishop decided to go into television, and is currently the weekday reporter, weekend anchor at Fox 17 in Nashville, Tennessee.

See more images from Sure Shot's history.

Lorna Bishop-Aylett.