William George Sanger Hanneford was the third and last child born to Ned and Elizabeth on March 31st, 1894, in Keighly, England. His older brother, Poodles, was his mother's favorite and his sister, Lizzie, was his fathers favorite, so George tended to be left out of his parents attentions. This tended to follow through when the three were performing. Poodles was the star and got most of the press coverage and Lizzie was the glamorous lady that attracted the attention of all the young men. Though somewhat introverted, however, George made up for it with a superlative performance of serious acrobatic horsemanship.
   During the last summer the Hanneford riding act spent in England, at Blackpool Tower Circus, George met his future bride, Catherine Breen. The Breen family, a multi-talented family of American performers, were appearing on the same bill. Though a loner, he always appealed to the ladies and Catherine was quickly attracted to his good looks and reserved manner. They developed a friendship but at season's end the Breen returned to America and the Hannefords continued in England to fulfill thier commitments before finally joining Barnum and Bailey's Circus. They met up again in 1915 on an elevator in New York.
  Thomas Breem was a well known juggler who regularly play vaudeville and musical theater. He made his debut in 1886 in New York's Weber and Fields Theater. His wife, a non performer, stayed at home and raised their family, but died young. Catherine was expected to bring up her younger siblings until, while away on a tour in Australia, Thomas sent home a message - "Bury the dead. I'm coming home with a live one!" His new Australian wife, Margaret Carroll, joined in with the family act when Thomas dumped his partner and formed a new act with his young family. He also appeared in such Broadway shows as George M. Cohan's O'Brien's Girl, the Marx Brothers The Cocoanuts, and Billy Rose's Jumbo. His daughter learned and mastered all her fathers juggling and dancing skills and she won a Juggling championship in Monte Carlo while the family was touring France.
     George Hanneford kept asking Kate to marry him and she kept refusing - not wanting to become part of the circus. Finally, however, she gave in and they were married in 1922. Their first son, George Edwin (George Jr.) was born in 1923. Their second, Thomas Robert, was born in 1927. Their daughter, Catherine (Kay Frances) was born in 1933.
  George got his chance to lead the family act when Poodles was injured. At first George balked at the idea of doing comedy, but the owner of the New York Hippodrome insisted the act work - with or without Poodles. George, though not as funny as his brother, did well, thus speeding Poodles recovery. When Poodles went to Hollywood to persue his movie career George took over once again. This time, however, he was not keen to relinquish the leading man role when Poodles returned and left the family act to form his own - The George Hanneford Riding Act. Catherine joined in as dancer and, later, ringmistress.
     At first they worked vaudeville with a single horse - George Hanneford, The Riding Fool - then, when they returned to the circus they added more horses and more riders. George and Poodles combined their acts in 1929-30 for engagements in London and Paris, then George reformed his own act working most of the major shows, including the Ringling show, Sells-Floto, Downey Brothers Circus, Tom Mix Circus, Bob Morton Circus, Hamid-Morton Circus, Hunt Brothers Circus, Clyde Brothers, Clyde Beatty, Cole Brothers, etc.
   As the three children grew they became incorporated into the act, except during George Junior and Tommy's stints in the military between 1941-47. Fortunately neither of the two were away at the same time. In 1947, when both boys were finally over their military stints, and Kay Frances was fourteen, George realized his dream of re-creating the act that had brought his family to the United States in 1915. Tommy did the comedy of Poodles, George Junior did his father's routines, and Kay Frances took up Lizzie's role. George himself, with Kate, acted as ringmaster, and ringmistress, assuming his mother's role. This act, of course, was not an exact replica of the original act. Times were very different and the personalities of the three children were not the same as Poodles, George, and Lizzie. However, they propelled the George Hanneford Riding Act into stardom again. Once more they were the leading riding act in the United States. George, himself, retired from riding on a regular basis, but he occasionally would ride - getting up on the horse in the middle of the act, turning around backwards, then summersaulting off the horse to the ground. He did this well into his sixties.
    By the time George Junior left the family act to start his own, in 1959, the Hannefords had developed into a virtual circus of their own. First, and foremost, was the riding act. Kay Frances presented a dog, pony, and monkey act. George Jr. and Kay did a trampoline act - the Bouncing Kay's. Tommy and Kay did a rolla-bolla act as The Martells. Tommy's wife, Struppi, did her single trapeze, and George Junior's wife, Victoria, worked with George in their perch act.
     Through their connection with producer Al Dobritch, George was able to get some serious public attention by appearing in movies - Jumbo and Ring Of Fear - and a number of television shows - The Mike Douglas Show, The Hollywood Palace, The Wonderful World Of Horses, The World's Greatest Circus Stars, and The Ed Sullivan Show. They also worked the 1964 New York World's Fair. On January 31st, 1971, George was honored by being the fourth circus performer to have a special day devoted to him by The Ringling Museum of the American Circus in Sarasota, Florida.
     George died from emphysema on August 6th, 1972 and was buried in Oneco, Florida. Kate continued to tour with Tommy, acting as ringmistress for the riding act, working two shows a day, forty weeks a year, into her 80's. When asked about retiring she replied, "Maybe someday I'll retire, but right now I'm too busy". She collapsed after appearing in the riding act on October 18th 1985 and died on the 22nd. She was 93 years old.