Local History
equipment manufacturer, who had diversified in the 1900s into making fairground equipment. In 1910 Savages built eight units including one for Hancocks which was delivered in December 1910 and proved immediately to be a popular attraction. People stood in the centre of a polished disc which revolved first slowly, and then slightly faster, and then very fast. The centrifugal motion forced the participants outward causing them to fall over, slide on their bottoms and end up as an undignified heap, much to the amusement of spectators seated around the periphery of the disc. Obviously to have a chance of staying on for any length of time the participants needed to sit tightly with their backs forming a circle around the centre, and then hold hands and link arms as tightly as possible. However at a time when fairground operators were seeking to outdo each other with more spectacular mechanical attractions the popularity of Joy Wheels was short-lived, and in 1913 Hancocks advertised their Joy Wheel for sale. Of the many made only one Joy Wheel has survived and is currently awaiting restoration by the National Fairground Trust at Lifton.
The years leading up to WW1
saw the decline of the Hancock business. Other operators outbid them for the purchase of event leases which they had previously held for many years. A major disaster struck Hancocks in December 1913 when the fair was at its winter base in Richmond Walk, Devonport. A fire started in a timber yard next to the fairground site, and spread to the fairground destroying much of their equipment.
Unfortunately for the Hancocks they had no insurance having decided it was an ‘extravagance they simply could no longer afford’. It is believed that the fire was started deliberately by suffragettes who were protesting about the arrest earlier in the day of Mrs. Emmaline Pankhurst. This was the time of the ‘cat and mouse’ tactics by the authorities who to avoid force feeding suffragettes released and re- arrested them. On her return from a lecture tour of America Mrs. Pankhurst was arrested on board a liner in Plymouth Sound and was transferred by tender to Bull Point, and not the Great Western Docks where her many supporters were gathered. This may have sufficiently provoked some supporters into starting the fire in the timber yard. To add to the family’s problems Charles Hancock died at Devonport in September 1914 leaving William and Sophia Hancock to carry on the business. Following an appeal to other
showmen after the fire a large sum was raised to help Hancocks,
and the business did manage to survive. They were even able to take on the role of principal fairground operators at the Tavistock Goose Fair in October 1914. However the First World War effectively brought a halt to large fairground events but Hancocks did make a final brief return to Tavistock as the fairground operator for the Goose Fair in 1919 when Sophia Hancock paid the Council £50 for three days use of the Meadows. But this was nearly the end of the era as William Hancock died at Devonport in April 1922, and Sophia Hancock died at Sutton, Surrey in August 1926.
For a flavour of an old-style fair and a good day out, even on a wet day, the Dingles Fairground Heritage Centre at Lifton is recommended. For more information about the remarkable Hancock fairground family there is a book Hancocks of the West by Kevin Scrivens and Stephen Smith which can be purchased at the Centre or online.
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