To read about each person, click their name tab above.

The snake men and women of La Perouse
This page charts the history of the Cann family of snake men and women, herpetologists and showground performers from La Perouse, Sydney, Australia.

The history of the La Perouse snake show
In the late 1800s La Perouse became a popular picnic and day-tripping spot for tourists and Sydneysiders. Entertainers and carnival-style shows sprung up to entertain the crowds. The most enduring of these entertainers were the snake men, or 'snake charmers' as they were originally known.
George Cann Sr began performing a weekly snake show at La Perouse around 1919, a tradition which continued until April 2010, following the retirement of his youngest son, John Cann. The show is now managed and run by the Hawkesbury Herpetological Society.

(C) Copyright 2010 Michael Power, Afterglow Film Production.

Where is La Perouse?
La Perouse is a south-eastern suburb of Sydney, located at the opening of Botany Bay. Cann Park, where snake shows have been performed since the late 1800s, is located to the east side of the La Perouse loop.

Macquarie Watchtower
Across the road from Cann Park in the centre of the La Perouse Loop sits the Macquarie Watchtower. Built in the 1820s during the governance of Lachlan Macquarie, the tower was positioned at the opening of Botany Bay to watch for smugglers and escaped convicts. This photo shows the tower as it looks today.
During the Great Depression, La Perouse became known as Happy Valley. Thousands of unemployed and homeless families moved from the city and surrounding suburbs to camp in tents and makeshift shacks on the beaches and the surrounding scrublands. In 1935 the Cann family moved into the Macquarie Watchtower and made it their home. This photo shows the Watchtower as it looked during the Great Depression.
Source materials
Most of the information on this page comes from the Cann family personal archives and John Cann's books, Snakes Alive! (Kangaroo Press, 1986; 2001) and The Last Snake Man (Allen & Unwin, 2018).

Snakes Alive! John CannJohn Cann, The Last Snake Man 2018

Snake man calls it a day
The last Cann snake show was performed by John Cann on 18 April 2010. Click here to watch the video if the link below doesn't work.
Cann family photo, 18 April 2010.

6 comments:

  1. i just found out that John has retired the show!
    my dad used to take me down to see you and i loved it.
    i wont get to take my kids down now, but the stories will live on. thank you for some great shows and cherished memories :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. i was about to take the kids down to Laper to see John and his slithery mates- bummer! I guess after one hundred years of shows, you Cann men deserve a lie-in on Sundays....
    I have a 3mn video i made and edited of George in 1999 as part of an application to a film course. You would be v welcome to it, it could go on your website. please contact me at camilian@gotalk.net.au

    ReplyDelete
  3. John put me onto the site today. Well done. Did he tell you about the short doco we made? It's here
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C5LnHxPlRKc
    if you want to link to it or imbed it.

    Michael

    ReplyDelete
  4. Message for John Can:My name is Brenton Hamilton and I am looking for any information on my father Fred Duffy who you featured in one of your publications. He was a showman who died of a snake bite in 1977.

    my email is brenton971@mac.com

    thanks..

    ReplyDelete
  5. have sent you a message
    samsonhamilton@hotmail.com

    ReplyDelete
  6. Dear John,

    I am from Canberra and have written a book titled Made in Australia: Native Species Introduced Overseas which I hope to release as a Kindle e-book on Amazon.

    With your permission, I would like to use your image of an Eastern Long-necked Turtle which is located at http://www.chelonia.org/articles/easternlongneck.htm.

    If you are amenable, I will naturally credit this image to you in the acknowledgments section.

    Yours sincerely,

    Maurits Zwankhuizen

    ReplyDelete