Nell Gifford

Nell Gifford (born Eleanor Rose Stroud; 24 January 1973 – 8 December 2019) was a writer and the founding director of Giffords Circus.

Life Gifford was born in Oxford in 1973. Her parents were Charlotte (born Pumphrey) and Richard Peter (Rick) Stroud. Her father was a television director and producer and the second husband of her mother who had been Charlotte Bridgewater. Nell had three half-siblings including the designer Emma Bridgewater. Her mother encouraged her children to have a long childhood.

She fell in love with horses and was educated at a convent school, before she went on to New College, Oxford. Her university place was put on hold for a year after her mother was in a riding accident that sent her into a coma; although she came round she never recovered. She completed her degree in English and went to work in circuses.

In 2000 she married a farmer's son named Toti Gifford, and they set up Giffords Circus. The marriage ended after they had twins.

In 2003 she published her second book. This was a children's book about one of the founders of the original circus, Philip Astley. Her book was titled Sgt. Major Philip Astley: Inventor of the Circus.

She developed her circus to meet modern tastes. She was awarded a £10,000 grant by the Jerwood Foundation and that enabled more people to be involved with producing a show. Three important women were involved; they were the horsewoman Rebecca Townsend and her pony, the trapeze artist Emily Park on the trapeze and Isabelle Woywode. In the following year, 2004, Giffords Circus had their first themed show, "Pearl".