Monday a wrestling match for different prizes, to the amount of 30 sovs. took place in the grounds of the Green Man, in the Kent-road. Between 2 and 3 o’clock the rules for regulating the play were read, and immediately afterwards Gaffney, the celebrated Irish wrestler, threw his hat into the ring, and was opposed […]
ORIGINAL CORRESPONDENCE. EXETER GRAND WRESTLING. To the Editor of the Exeter and Plymouth Gazette. Sir,—I understand that it is intended to renew this manly sport in St. Thomas, and that the Grecians have also resolved upon having a bout. Surely it would be much better for the Manager to meet, join interests and purses, draw […]
Tuesday.—The spectators were more numerous than on the preceding day, and the single play was renewed with great vigour. On Gaffney making his appearance in the ring, a few persons raised a violent clamour against him, contending that he ought not to be allowed to play after quitting the ring before the time was out […]
WRESTLING – In the account given last week of the wrestling which took place at Hyde Park, the best trial of skill, between Finney, an Irishman, and King, a native of Devon, and servant to a respectable spirit merchant in the town, was by accident omitted. Finney, who may be termed a professional, is six […]
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 […]
At the Eagle Tavern, City Road, in April, 1829, a match took place for £20, between PHILIP PYLE and William ARCHER. In appearance Archer exhibited no superiority over his veteran antagonist, except his youth; but when they grappled his strength was evidently superior. Pyle, who has always been considered a heavy kicker, commenced with some […]
DEVON AND EXETER WRESTLING MATCH FOR FORTY SOVEREIGNS — THE BLUE BALL, HEAVITREE. Whit-monday this match commenced. Stone and Wm. Bolt commenced.—Stone was laid on a side fall in the early part of the contest; no sooner gained his legs than he began with kicking, which was returned by his antagonist without flinching, and terminated […]
GRAND WRESTLING MATCH. On Monday last a numerous and respectable company assembled at the Blue Ball, Heavitree. Jordan and Wolland.—This contest was one of the most striking of the day, from the contrast of the men—Jordan, being several inches above six feet, and Wolland not many more above five feet—and the length of time which […]
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 […]
TWO CELEBRATED WRESTLERS, LITTLE COCK AND BLIND BILL. John Coppe, commonly called Little Cock, lived in the neighbourhood of Great Torrington, in Devonshire. This man, who lived to an advanced age, never exceeded five feet five inches in stature. In his youth he remained master of the ring at all the wrestling matches in the […]
WRESTLING. The Grand Match for One Hundred Sovereigns, and retirement of Mr. Cann, the Champion, from the Ring. This match, which was for 100 sovereigns, between Mr. Abraham Cann, formerly of this city, but late of Colebrook, and Mr. John Ellicombe of Kingsteignton, came off in a spacious ring, in which an area of an […]
WRESTLING. Newton Abbot.—This good old Devonshire sport commenced on Thursday last, in one of the Bradley Meadows, near the town. The attendance was small on that day owing to the weather, it being very showery, but on Friday the ring was crowded to excess, and among the wrestlers were some of the finest men of […]
NORTH DEVON. Barnstaple.—The wrestling match that came off at this place last week was attended by some of the best players in the western counties; and also, from day to day, by a large number of spectators. It commenced on Wednesday the ult. Standards made included: William Tucker, of Marwood; George Crocker, Chittlehampton; William Hodge, […]
THE EXETER WRESTLING MATCH. On Friday the play was continued—Bond threw Bolt, Pengelley threw Chappie, Walters, and Bray. The sport throughout was excellent, and excited the admiration and applause of hundreds of enthusiastic spectators. Monday.—Chappie (D) threw Bond (D); Thresize (C) gave Holt (D) a fore-hipper. Then came the grand match, Bray vs Miller—Miller with […]
SOUTH ZEAL, In the Parish of SOUTH TAWTON, DEVON. A GRAND WRESTLING MATCH will take place at the Kings Arms Inn, on TUESDAY, the 11th of July, and following days, for THIRTY POUNDS, Which will be played for the old Devonshire style, and open to all Players, with the exception of Messrs. Gundry and Chappel. […]
James Cane, champion of the Devon wrestling ring, died, 1849.
AN EXTRAORDINARY WRESTLER.—Mr. Wreyford, aged 82, lately died at Orchard Lake, in the parish of Cheriton Bishop—about forty years since one of the first men in the wrestling ring in the Western counties, if not in all England. Mr. Wreyford was totally blind from eight years of age, and was familiarly known in the ring […]
The eyes of all classes of politicians are now on the pretty town of Tiverton, but we believe it is not generally known that there is now residing among us the greatest of living wrestlers. We allude to that respectable old yeoman, Mr. William Wreford, who may be truly said to be the hero of […]
DEATH OF A RENOWNED DEVONSHIRE WRESTLER.—On Sunday last the veteran William Wreford died after a very short illness at the house of one of his children, in the metropolis. Mr. Wreford bore a name familiar to all the lovers of wrestling, both in the provinces and the metropolis. Born at Morchard Bishop, near Crediton, at […]
WRESTLING AT SOUTHMOLTON, DEVON. A GRAND WRESTLING MATCH will take place in a Field at the back of Mr. LUXTON’s ANCHOR INN, South-street, in the town of Southmolton, on THURSDAY and FRIDAY, 18th and 19th JUNE, when the following Prizes will be awarded: Best Man: £5 0s 0d. Second: £2 10s 0d. Third: £1 0s […]
WRESTLING EXETER. A wrestling match commenced on Tuesday in a field adjoining the Old Tiverton-road. The total prizes amounted to £30. Mr. Bolt, of Upton Pyne, and Mr. Underdown, Pinhoe, the triers; Mr. J. Hall, of Whimple, was the umpire; Mr. Robert Britton, secretary. Some fine play took place in the course of the afternoon, […]
EXETER. A wrestling match at Exeter was brought to a close on Saturday, having lasted five days, and been conducted with great satisfaction to all parties. The conduct of the visitors was marked with more than an ordinary amount of decorum. As the match proceeded, the interest heightened considerably, as shown by the increasing number […]
TOPSHAM, NEAR EXETER, DEVON. GRAND WRESTLING MATCH for FORTY GUINEAS, OPEN TO ALL ENGLAND, is now proceeding in the well-known Bowling Green at the Salutation Inn. Efficient and Impartial Triers have been appointed to act with the Committee. 1st Prize £15 0s 0d; 2nd Prize £10 0s 0d; 3rd Prize £5 0s 0d; 4th Prize […]
ST. THOMAS, EXETER. A GRAND WRESTLING MATCH FOR 50 GUINEAS, AND A SILVER CUP, Added to the first prize, with the winner’s name engraved thereon, OPEN TO ALL ENGLAND, WILL take place in a field adjoining the St. Thomas Railway Station, commencing on MONDAY AUGUST 9th, 1869. First Prize £17 0s 0d; Second £10 0s […]
WRESTLING AT TORQUAY. A £50 match was commenced on Monday. The contest took place at Glue’s Torbay Inn, a ground well suited for the purpose, enclosed on all sides and quite removed from public view. There was a large attendance, especially on the grand stand. The arrangements were well planned by the committee of tradesmen, […]
WRESTLING. Those who see wrestlers on a London arena of sawdust, whether they represent France against England or Cumberland against Westmoreland, gain thereby a very imperfect idea of this famous athletic sport. It is a country game. It belongs aright to wild regions where the turf is virgin, and the wrestler, like Antaeus in the […]
EXETER GRAND WRESTLING WILL COMMENCE THIS DAY for Thirty Sovereigns, open to the World. Amongst others the following men have made entries: Back, Burley, Burnett, Oliver, Harrish (Minehead), Bakers (Brothers), Pike, and Hayward (of London), Milton, Rundle (Champion), James, Westlake, Drew, Gross (St. Austell), Skinner (St. Austell), Warry, and others.
THE EXETER WRESTLING MATCH commenced yesterday. Amongst those who put in an appearance were Milton, Hutchings, Baker, Westlake, James, Chaple, and others. There was some very fine play between Milton and Chaple, who held out the time of forty minutes, and will play again today. Baker and Westlake had a very good turn, after which […]
EXETER GRAND WRESTLING MATCH. This match was continued yesterday, and the fine play of the previous day was (if possible) surpassed, the London men showing splendid practice, and putting our local celebrities on their mettle, but although heavily matched they have held their own in good style, as the following results will show:— Class A—Pike […]
EXETER GRAND WRESTLING MATCH. Play was resumed yesterday with all the vigour of the previous day; the men were in fine form, and the plaudits showered on them fully shewed the satisfaction felt by the spectators. In Class A, Captain Back (Topsham) and James (London) played a splendid turn for 40 minutes. James (Whipton) and […]
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.
