George Washington Moore

George Washington "Pony" Moore (New York 22 February 1820 – 1 October 1909, London) was a New York-born British music hall impresario. According to his own account, he was the son of a bass drummer who had served under George Washington, for whom he was named. He allegedly acquired his nickname 'Pony' as a boy because of his small size; another source attributes it to his having been employed in several circuses as a driver, managing up to forty horses at one time. He ran away to the circus at age 16, and debuted in blackface in 1841 with Welch and Delevan at the Broadway Circus in New York. Moore eventually joined the Virginia Serenaders in 1844, appearing with them as a negro minstrel at the Halfway House theatre, Broadway, and later in the same capacity with other troupes. While struggling to establish himself fully in his stage career, he worked as a cabinet maker, and also appeared in a knife-throwing act. On 11 June 1859, Moore sailed to England, where minstrelsy had become wildly popular, and there joined the Christy Minstrels. In 1864, he founded a Christy Minstrels company of his own. He was a member of the St. James's Hall Minstrels and, in 1871, founded the Moore and Burgess Minstrels with his partner Frederick Burgess.