Showman of the Past -Hancocks of the West Online talk

ONLINE TALK: Exploring the story of the Hancock family, travelling fairground showpeople of the West Country, and the challenges of researching their lives before the advent of online records. Who were the Hancocks? That was the question posed when our speaker acquired a fairground steam engine some thirty years ago. The records showed it had been supplied to W., C. & S. Hancock. Initial investigations revealed that William, Charles and Sophie Hancock travelled the West Country with their fairground amusements at the turn of the twentieth century. They were larger-than-life characters, and even a century later their legacy could still be felt among showmen in the West. This talk tells the story of the Hancock family and the challenges of researching itinerant showpeople in the days before everything was readily available online.