Tamar Green, Devonport, was chosen for this purpose, and the West was alive with speculation. The conditions further provided, that if either party declined continuing the play after having once set to, or wilfully struck his opponent, the stakes should be forfeited. The match was to be for 200 sovereigns, 100 each side, the best […]
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 […]
The origin and author of these lyrics (also described as a ballad) are unknown. The song was printed in a broadside newspaper in December 1826. Tripp states that it was sung to the tune of The Night I Married Susy, or The Coronation. When Polkinghorne did first agree, And Cann the day did fix, Sir, […]
HONE’s TABLE BOOK Hone, W (1827); The table book: or, Daily recreation and information concerning remarkable men, manners, times, seasons, solemnities, merry-makings, antiquities and novelties, forming a complete history of the year, W. Tegg. DEVONSHIRE WRESTLING. For the Table Book. Abraham Cann, the Devonshire champion, and his brother wrestlers of that county, are objected to […]
A Correspondent has favored us with the following List of the Ages, Height, and Weight, of some of the principal Wrestlers at the above match: DEVON: Abraham Cann, Age 32, Height 5ft 8½in, Weight 175lbs. William Wollaway, 28, 6ft 0in, 210lbs. James Stone, 28, 5ft 4in, 173lbs. John Jordon, 39, 6ft 4in, 230lbs. William Wreford, […]
WRESTLING. The Annual Grand Wrestling Match took place at Tavistock on Wednesday the 8th instant, and lasted till Friday night. It was allowed to be the greatest match ever witnessed, either in Devon or Cornwall, the former county being allowed on both sides to have the superiority. A. Cann 1st prize. The Cornishmen generally made […]
WRESTLING.—The Tavistock Games.—A statement more entirely opposed to what really took place at Tavistock, was perhaps scarcely ever attempted to be palmed on the public. Polkinhorn was on the spot, and certainly no good reason was assigned why he did not meet Cann in the ring;—there stood his opponent before him. Cann again kept the […]
Devon and Cornwall.—The match at Tavistock, in a most decisive way, settled the question as to superiority in this manly exercise, in favor of the former county. Two gentlemen, as a last effort, have made a purse of 50 sovereigns, for which Cann and Stone are ready to play any two Cornishmen that may appear […]
DEVON WRESTLING IN LONDON. [Reported expressly for this paper.] The matches at the Eagle Tavern, City Road, concluded on Friday, when the first was awarded to Abraham Cann; 2d to Chappie; the fourth to Devon men. At the close of the play, two gentlemen from Westmoreland, Dobson and Anderson, entered the ring, and challenged Cann […]
DEVONSHIRE WRESTLING. For the Table Book. Abraham Cann, the Devonshire champion, and his brother wrestlers of that county, are objected to for their play with the foot, called “showing a toe” in Devonshire; or, to speak plainly, “kicking.” Perhaps neither the objectors, nor Abraham and his fellow-countrymen, are aware, that the Devonshire custom was also […]
WRESTLING IN LONDON. [Reported expressly for this paper.] A match for a prize of was played for at the Mile End Road, on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, when excellent sport was afforded to those who are fond of athletic amusements. The first day play commenced at three o’clock. Stone raised his left wing in good […]
WRESTLING. The wrestling match between Cann the celebrated Devonshire wrestler, and Gaffney, called the champion of Ireland, took place on Monday at the Golden Eagle, in the Mile-end-road. The match was for 60 guineas on the part of Cann to 50 on that of Gaffney, the first three fair back falls to decide it. After […]
WRESTLING. The wrestling match between Cann the celebrated Devonshire wrestler, and Gaffney, called the champion of Ireland, took place on Monday at the Golden Eagle, in the Mile-end-road. The match was for 60 guineas on the part of Cann to 50 on that of Gaffney, the first three fair back falls to decide it. The […]
This satirical epitaph commemorates Abraham Cann, a celebrated wrestler from Devon, through the conceit of his ultimate defeat by Death personified. Originally published in the Weekly Dispatch, the poem employs mock-heroic conventions to honour Cann’s prowess whilst acknowledging mortality’s inevitability. The verse chronicles Cann’s wrestling dominance, noting his victories over formidable opponents including “giant Jordan,” […]
WRESTLING. The following are the arrangements agreed upon during the past week for the great wrestling match, at Haigh Park, near Leeds, on Easter Tuesday and two following days. The wrestling games to commence the day after the Races, and to be continued for three days. The play to be hand to collar, fair back […]
TO THE EDITOR OF THE LEEDS INTELLIGENCER. SIR,—A Correspondent in your last states, that, at the approaching Grand Wrestling Match, at Leeds, it is understood by the Cornishmen, that the players are to be confined to the hold by the collar, and that no other hold will be allowed. This is not the case. The […]
TO THE EDITOR OF THE LEEDS INTELLIGENCER. SIR,—As far as the prizes and offer to pay the expenses of the wrestlers go, I cannot sufficiently admire the liberality of the promoters of the approaching wrestling at Leeds; but there is a condition of play, which will I think destroy all chance of deciding in a […]
GREAT WRESTLING MATCH, AT HYDE PARK CRICKET GROUND. ON MONDAY next and Two following Days, a GREAT WRESTLING MATCH will take place between the Men of Yorkshire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire, Cumberland, and the surrounding Counties, and a number of picked Wrestlers from London, Devonshire, Cornwall, and Ireland. On commencing, the Men are first to […]
GRAND WRESTLING MATCH AT LEEDS. On Monday last, the whole of the Wrestlers who arrived from London, nineteen in number, appeared on the Race Ground, and excited considerable attention from the commonalty there assembled. On Tuesday the sports commenced, & after three days’ excellent play, the Prizes were thus awarded:—A. Cann 1st, 30l.; James Stone […]
LEEDS, April 19.—The great wrestling match took place on Tuesday and Wednesday, on a stage erected in the centre of an enclosed piece of ground called “Haigh’s Park,” at Huddersfield. About ten o’clock, Bell and Pook commenced, the latter was thrown; Pyle, one of the Devonshire men from London, then threw in his hat for […]
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 […]
In Devonshire, early in June, 1828, the Wrestling Match in St. Thomas’s, adjoining Exeter, commenced; at which, Woolaway, Wreford, Simon Webber, Huxtable, Jackman, and Flower, from the North; the Underdowns, Freys, &c. from the east, were particularly noticed. The champion, attended by his brother James, Roach, &c., was on the ground, but not playable—he was […]
In June, 1828, a match took place at the Eagle Tavern, in the City-road, for £20, between the celebrated JAMES CANN, of Devonshire, and a young Cornishman of good repute, of the name of OLVER. After shaking hands, they grappled each other. In a few minutes it was evident that Olver was not only the […]
Shortly after two o’clock the ground was opened, and lots were drawn to determine which men should oppose each other, there being exactly 13 Cornishmen, 13 Devonshiremen, 1 Irishman, and 1 Cumberland man as double players. The men entered the ring in the following order: Randall and Batstone, the former was quickly thrown; Trewicke and […]
A detailed and quite graphic match report published in Australia regarding the match between Cann (Champion of Devon) and Gaffney (Champion of Ireland). The newspaper published the match on Tuesday 27th January, 1829. It demonstrates how reporting of these events was global and garnered international interest. Grand wrestling match between CANN, the Champion of Devonshire, […]
In the middle of July, 1829, the Eagle Tavern, in the City Road, was again the scene of Sporting events for five days in succession. Benjamin Sambell, a Cornishman, and Samuel Steers, a Devonshire man, both of first-rate science, were called on to oppose each other; and from that moment the games became lively, and […]
A modern replica (1996) of a poster believed to be original. The printers were listed as Nicholls & Peowrie, confirmed to be active between 1835-1836. This is currently in the private collection of Matthew Bennett-Nichols, and provided here with express written permission. The poster reads: Devon Wrestling AND SINGLE STICK, May 5th, 6th and 7th, […]
THE WRESTLERS : ——————-a mutual yoke of hands, Dragging with arms and elbow – joints in intertwisted bands; And in their clasp reciprocal they lifted from the ground Each other’s body, snatched in air, descending round and round; A double pleasure thus employ’d th’ Olympian dweller’s mind, Lifting and lifted thus by turns upon the […]
Howitt, W (1838); The rural life of England, Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. WE must not close this department of our subject, without saying a word or two on wrestling. This exercise, which at one time was almost universal, is now, like many others, fallen into general disuse; and is confined almost entirely to […]
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.
