Two matches, one at billiards, the other at wrestling, took place at Brighton, Thursday. These matches were made in London, about three weeks back, at a celebrated sporting house, between Mr. Hayne, of Tavistock-street, and Mr. Carney, a gentleman from the Sister Kingdom, well known among the members of the turf and the ring. Mr. […]
WRESTLING.—We have before had occasion to advert to the idle stories, which have found their way into the London prints, relative to a challenge given from Cornwall, to back Polkinhorn and Parkin, against the champion A. Cann, and Jordan, to wrestle for 100 guineas,—but we now find the same system of deception is practising nearer […]
WRESTLING.—We have before had occasion to advert to the false stories, which have found their way into the London prints, relative to a challenge given from Cornwall, to back Polkinhorn and Parkin, against the champion A. Cann, and Jordan, to wrestle for 100 guineas. (COPY.) TRULL, 11th August, 1825. SIR,—A challenge having been given by […]
WRESTLING.—The Rival Champions.—The Amateurs of this ancient and truly noble sport, may expect soon to have one of the greatest treats ever experienced in this or any other part of England, in a contest between the renowned Devonshire Champion Abraham Cann, y’clept the Nonpareil, and the no less celebrated Polkinghorn, of Cornwall.—The time and place […]
WRESTLING.—The Rival Champions.—The Amateurs of this ancient and truly noble sport, may expect soon to have one of the greatest treats ever experienced in this or any other part of England, in a contest between the renowned Devonshire Champion Abraham Cann, y’clept the Nonpareil, and the no less celebrated Polkinghorn, of Cornwall. St. Thomas, near […]
WRESTLING.—The Rival Champions.—The Amateurs of this ancient and truly noble sport, may expect soon to have one of the greatest treats ever experienced in this or any other part of England, in a contest between the renowned Devonshire Champion Abraham Cann, y’clept the Nonpareil, and the no less celebrated Polkinghorn, of Cornwall. “St. Thomas, near […]
WRESTLING—We this week present our readers with verbatim copies of the answer of Polkinhorne to Abm. Cann‘s letter, inserted in our paper of the 25th instant, together with the rejoinder of the latter:—comment from us is almost wholly unnecessary, the letters will bear pride for themselves; but we cannot avoid the strong impression we have, […]
WRESTLING—We this week present our readers with verbatim copies of the answer of Polkinhorne to Abm. Cann’s letter. To Mr. ABRAHAM CANN, St. Thomas, Exeter. SIR,—I acquainted you that my answer letter of Sept. 26, now near three months past, was laid before the stewards of the Champion Belt, at Bristol, and published in the […]
WRESTLING.—A. Cann, the Champion of England, and Polkinghorne.—Perhaps there never was more evasion practised, or so much idle chaffing as on the subject of a match between these men. “My Dear Sir, In answer to your Letter bearing date the 13th inst I beg to state, that it would have been an agreeable surprise, had […]
WRESTLING.—Cann and Polkinhorn.—The disappointment so generally felt at the withdrawing of Mr. Polkinhorn from the wrestling at Devonport, thereby leaving the match, so long talked of and so long looked for, undecided, might naturally have been expected to give rise to some discussion. “To the Gentlemen who composed Mr. Polkinhorn’s Committee at the late Wrestling […]
TO THE EDITOR OF BELL’S LIFE IN LONDON. Joseph Butler presents his respectful compliments to the Editor of Bell’s Life in London, and begs to correct an error into which he seems to have fallen in his Paper of this week, wherein he (J. B.) is designated as Bull Calf. The person known by that […]
Wrestling. The Devon Wrestlers came back on Monday from the grand Matches at London and Leeds. They have been every where successful and floored every opponent. Cann, though greatly weakened from the effects of the attack of Gout, could not look tamely on, and risked his well-earned Laurels, while in that state at the London […]
WRESTLING. CANN AND POLKINGHORNE. SIR,—The notice in your paper of last week headed “Old Abraham Cann, the Champion Wrestler,” having caught my attention, I was startled very considerably at its contents, and I cannot allow some of the mis-statements contained in it to remain uncontradicted. I have no desire to disparage the virtues of Cann, […]
The Devonshire Wrestling Society archive has been assembled over more than twelve years of systematic research into the history of Westcountry martial arts. When this work began, the documentary record was sparse and dispersed: sources were few, descriptions were thin, and access required navigating institutional barriers that most researchers would not have the time or resources to overcome. The archive now comprises 421 records — 322 newspaper articles (1778–1947), 35 manuscripts, 11 posters, 48 books, one letters patent, two cemetery inscriptions, and two memorials — spanning approximately one thousand years of history across five defined periods and three core disciplines: wrestling, cudgelling, and pugilism.
The material has been drawn from archives, museums, and libraries at both local and national level, as well as from diaspora communities. Access varied considerably: some holdings were straightforwardly available through public or gated online repositories; others required direct institutional inquiry, formal licensing, or payment. Licence fees for individual items have, in some cases, reached several hundred pounds. Items acquired under licence are retained for private research purposes only and are not published. A small number of items from private collections likewise remain unpublished, pending permission. All records for which publication rights have been secured are made freely and openly available.
The cost of the archive — in time and in money — has been substantial. It is offered without charge because the traditions it documents belong to the communities that produced them, and because those who come after should not be required to repeat the effort already expended.
Every record in the archive was acquired through a consistent five-stage process:
Identification. Awareness of potential sources was established through systematic searches of public and private institutional indexes worldwide, and through direct correspondence with subject specialists already engaged with relevant holdings.
Access. Depending on the institution, access was obtained through online repositories, direct application, or formal licensing. Correspondence was initiated with several hundred institutions over the course of the project. Where institutions confirmed the absence of relevant holdings, this was recorded. Where access was granted, the means of access was documented.
Storage. All acquired material is held in a single centralised repository, ensuring that research access is permanent and that no duplication of acquisition effort is necessary.
Preparation. Every record has been transcribed to render it fully searchable and taggable. Images have been assigned metadata recording provenance, licensing terms, and resolution specifications for publication purposes.
Publication. The publicly available inventory represents all records for which the requisite permissions have been obtained.
In order to ensure consistency and intellectual coherence across the archive, all prospective additions are evaluated against the following criteria, which are applied collectively and in sequence. A record should satisfy the majority of these criteria before inclusion is considered.
Relevance. The record must have a demonstrable and direct connection to the Six Shires (Devon, Cornwall, Somerset, Dorset, Gloucestershire, and Wiltshire) as the location of practice, the origin of practitioners, or the primary institutional context. Records concerning Westcountry practitioners competing elsewhere (in London, the United States, or South Africa, for example) are eligible where the practitioner’s regional identity is explicitly identified in the source. Records documenting the export of Westcountry martial arts beyond Britain are admissible and desirable, consistent with existing holdings relating to California, Japan, New Zealand, and South Africa. The record must concern one or more of the three disciplines in scope: Westcountry wrestling (Devonshire or Cornish style), cudgelling or single-stick as practised in the region, or pugilism and boxing with a demonstrable Westcountry connection. Records documenting the co-occurrence of two or more disciplines are particularly valuable and should be prioritised.
Integrity. The source must be primary or a reliable early secondary record. For newspaper sources, this means a contemporaneous report; for books, a first or early edition, or a verified transcription thereof. Secondary scholarship is admissible where it contains primary-source quotations not otherwise independently accessible, provided these are clearly identified as such.
Balanced representation. The curatorial target is approximate parity — not of record count, which will inevitably reflect the uneven survival of evidence — but of intellectual representation across the three core disciplines. Where any discipline is underrepresented relative to this target, acquisitions in that discipline should be prioritised accordingly.
Material culture. Physical objects — trophies, belts, equipment, and architectural features — are admissible where they carry inscriptions or documentary provenance that independently attest to the practice of a discipline in the region.
Verifiability. The source must be identifiable with sufficient bibliographic precision to be cited in APA format and, where possible, to be independently verified by a reader consulting the original. Oral tradition, undocumented folklore, and secondary paraphrases without citation do not meet this standard. Where a source is available online, a direct URL must be provided.
