The
Hanneford family roots are deeply imbedded in the circus and show business
world. Dating back to at least the 17th century, a Hanneford has been involved
in enter- taining somebody somewhere - often for royalty or high ranking
members of society. Be- cause of the nature of the entertainment business
(constantly moving from one town to the next) they often married other
performers, creating stronger ties to the fickle world of the showman and,
incidentally, imbuing their children with the bug.
As
anyone born into a family involved in a particular profession can tell
you, when you are a child your whole world revolves around that profession.
Every facet of that business is your daily diet from the time you can walk.
Even if, as you grow older, you decide you want no part of it you can never
quite escape it. This is especially true of a child of a traveling entertainer.
You most likely can walk on your hands before you can walk on your feet!
You're juggling balls and clubs long before you learn about juggling your
finances. There's every chance that you'll have worked in front of an audience
be- fore you're five. So it's not surprising that, with so many generations
of entertainers be- hind them, virtually every member of the current Hanneford
family is, or has been, an entertainer. In fact, the Hannefords are ranked
among the top ten circus families in the world. They are extremely proud
of their family history, tradition, and accomplishments, and, in this section
of the Hanneford Family Circus web site, we are going to tell their fascinating,
and colorful, story.
Also, because this site
is about circuses, we have included a short history of the early circus
thru the 19th century. There are other sites on the web that deal with
the history of the circus in general so we are not attempting to be as
thorough as they, but to give you, the circus scholar, some background
on this most fascinating, but little known, piece of human endeavor. The
circus was, is, and ever will be the last completely family oriented form
of live entertainment that everyone can enjoy. |
