Edwin "Ned" Hanneford was born between 1868 and 1870, son of Edwin and Sarah. His family owned their own circus at the time and Ned was trained in the equestrian arts and knife throwing. The family were residing at Sidney Street in London when he was growing up and during the "Jack The Ripper" murders that took place in the area Ned was questioned when the police discovered his throwing knives - causing him and the family some consternation.
     Elizabeth Scott was also born into a famous British circus family. The Scott's Circus was renamed to the Royal Scott's Circus after it gave a performance for Queen Victoria and her family in 1895. She was also an excellent rider and a tight rope walker.
    When the two finally met and wanted to get married there was a problem. The Scotts were descendants of Walter Scott, rival of the earlier Edwin during the famous trial of skills before George III. Ever since that time the two families had vied with each other and an upcoming marriage between two members of the opposing familes was out of the question. Love, however, prevailed and the two were married in September 1890 in Leeds - uniting, for a while, the two leading circus families in England. The two young performers decided to work in other shows rather than cause friction, it seems, as they were billed with the John Sanger Circus, Cartland's Circus, the Grand Circus, and Bostock's Circus, as well as shows such as the Great Yarmouth Hippodrome and Norwich Agricultural Hall. The two worked the riding act together plus Ned worked his knife throwing and Elizabeth her rope walking. Ned, however, refused to be a rigging man and so the tightrope act was discontinued. Elizabeth then added pidgeons to her riding act - they would fly to her as she rode a series of figure eights.
     They became much in demand, working on the continent as well as England, but they wanted a show of their own. Nobody wanted to loan them the money, least of all their families who had their own shows, so they had to save enough to buy the necessary equipment. When they finally got a show together they decided that England had enough Hanneford and Scott shows so they adopted the name "The Royal Hanneford Canadian Circus" and in 1903 moved to Ireland, along with their three children, 12 year old Edwin (Poodles), 10 year old Elizabeth (Lizzie), and 8 year old William (George). They toured in Ireland for the next nine years.
    Ned and Elizabeth's Circus grew and prospered in Ireland, both in size and quality. They played every town and hamlet, with thirty wagons pulled by one hundred horses - others running free (totalling 125 including performing horses). They also had a small menagerie with two camels, one elephant, and ten lions. Later they added two wolves, two hyena's, a bear, and a tiger. As their reputation grew they were booked outside of Ireland during the winter with a successful 1907 winter season perfomance at London's Agricultural Hall - a prestigeous engagement at the time.
     In 1909 an event occured that many consider to be the major contributing factor to Ned's bout with alcholism and eventual early death from cirrhosis of the liver four years later. Elizabeth's father died leaving the Scott show to his two sons. Unfortunately he also left a debt of 170 pounds sterling owed to a man injured at the circus. The two brothers attempted to continue the show but the equipment was finally seized to be auctioned off to pay the debt. They appealed to Ned and Elizabeth to help them out and they agreed. At this point there are two versions of the agreement. Ned said that he bought the circus and the Scotts said Ned was only taking the show out under his name until the following year when the profits would pay off the debt to Ned. Lizzie, Ned's 16 year old daughter, was put in charge of the Scott show, now touring in Ireland, but was ousted by the Scott brothers in July 1910. A court battle ensued which was finally settled in December 1910. The Scott brothers got their show back and Ned his money plus a profit. However, the affair created a new rift between the Scotts and Hannefords that never really healed. Ned took to drinking and became a nervous wreck. He could no longer handle the day to day operations of the circus and Elizabeth had to assume control. With political problems rising and Neds increasing inability to run the show, they left Ireland to return to England.
     In 1912 the Hanneford show started touring England and Scotland under the direction of E.H. Bostock as Mr. E.H. Bostock's International Circus. Bostock was able to give the Hannefords the proffesional guidence that Ned was no longer able to do, plus he knew the venues. In 1913 they resumed control as Hanneford's Royal Genuine Canadian Circus with W.C. Burns as their booking agent. Then, in June, Ned died. His funeral in Penzance, Cornwall, was a spectacular affair with many dignataries, performers, and circus fans attend- ing. Ned's strong personality and perseverance had made his show one of the most famous of its day. Unfortunately, after his untimely death, Elizabeth was unable to keep things together as well. The show started going down 
     At this point, in 1913, John Ringling came over from the U.S.A. and saw the Hanneford riding act and immediately offered them a contract. They couldn't accept immediately as they had commitments through 1914. Negotiations continued and an agreement finally was made. However, before they could depart in February 1915, British authorities would not allow them to take the horses. The war was on and horses were in short supply. Joseph Davies of the U.S.Department of Commerce pleaded with the British government, promising the return of replacement horses within the year. A bond was put up by Ringling and the Hanneford Riding act made its debut with the Barnum and Bailey & Ringling Brothers Circus in March 1915.
    Though the Hannefords fully intended to return to England to continue their own show, they were so successful that Ringling kept renewing their contract. Elizabeth was forced to return to England to dispose of their affairs, and the Hanneford Circus in Europe was no more.
     The act was now Elizabeth, as "ringmaster" (using the original sense of the term), with Poodles (as clown), Lizzie, George (Sr.), and Johnny O'Brian. Elizabeth continued working till the late 1940's and finally died in 1953. She is buried in Glendale, California.