Any information on Bristol’s daredevil, Charlie Stephens, the fearless barber of West Street, Bedminster. Thank You.

The daredevil barber of Bedminster

Of all Bristol’s daredevils, Charlie Stephens, the fearless barber of West Street, Bedminster was the greatest — and he died the most spectacular death possible in a stupendous act of courage.

Charlie’s colourful career as a self-confessed ‘tempter of fate’ included shaving people in a lion’s cage at the Bristol Coliseum, having an apple balanced on his throat sliced in two by a sword, parachuting in a red coat from balloons with landings on Chessel Street and Bedminster railway station, diving off the Forth Bridge and standing stock-still while crack shots knocked sugar cubes from the top of his scalp.

But they were mere aperitifs to the Big One. Charlie was determined to pull off the greatest stunt of all. He was going to ride the Niagara Fails in a barrel.

He had his barrel made in Bristol. It was painted in bright zebra stripes and specially cushioned for the gigantic forces of the world’s most famous water-fall.

Charlie was convinced he could make his fortune from the film rights to his spectacular success in shooting the Falls and he was sealed into his barrel on July 11, 1920. Minutes later he was dead, his barrel smashed to smithereens and his body in pieces.

All they found of this brave, likeable man was a severed arm which was interred in an unmarked grave in the local cemetery. The camera crew’s fee was just £20, enough to cover the funeral expenses.

Charlie was 58. He left 11 children, a widow, Annie and an enduring memory as a larger-than-life character.