Early Career
George Claude Lockhart (real name Locker) was the son of George William Lockhart, the famous elephant trainer. According to various accounts he broadcast on radio and in his book "Grey Titan", George was brought up around elephants. However, he made his first independent performance at the age of four in a child-only cast of the pantomime Cinderella along with other music hall/circus children. He apparently played the role of the prince. When he was not at school, George spent a lot of his time with the elephants Boney, Molly and Waddy and toured all over Europe with them. His father sold his original troupe of elephants in 1901 and bought four more from the animal dealer Carl Hagenbeck. This group would be known as "Lockhart's Cruet" and would become notorious for causing the death of George William Lockhart. According to George Claude Lockhart, they regularly stampeded and it was in one of these stampedes at Walthamstow station on 24 January 1904 that they killed their owner. The elephants were sold by his widow and George Claude Lockhart went to pursue a career not involving animals. He worked for George Hengler in Glasgow with his water productions undertaking various roles until 1914.
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