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 […]
Somersetshire Wrestling at the Furnham Hotel, Chard, A purse of 15 Sovereigns, will be wrestled for, On Thursday and Friday, the 29th and 30th days of July, 1847, in the DEVONSHIRE STYLE !!! OPEN TO ALL ENGLAND. Dated 21st July 1847 – TOMS, PRINTER, CHARD. This poster is currently in the collection of the […]
CORNWALL AND DEVONSHIRE WRESTLING. BRECKNOCK ARMS, CAMDEN TOWN. The sports began by Verron, of Birmingham, who threw C. Retford, of Devon, twice. Jeffery, a new arrival from Cornwall, then downed D. Radford (D.) in superior style. Trimblett (D.) and Paul (Somerset) played two spirited bouts, Trimblett finally hiping Paul in consummate style. TUESDAY. Ayres (D.) […]
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.
Wrestling.—Devon and Cornwall—The friends of this manly sport were gratified by the sight of some first-rate play at Copenhagen House, on Easter Monday and Tuesday. The play was under the judicious management of Mr. F. Oliver. Upwards of fifty of the prime champions of both counties were present. Lockyer threw Pierce, and won the first […]
Wrestling.—Devon and Cornwall—The friends of this manly sport were gratified by the sight of some first-rate play at Copenhagen House, on Easter Monday and Tuesday. Notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, Mr. Garratt, the proprietor, gave the annual treat. The play was under the judicious management of Mr. F. Oliver. Upwards of fifty of […]
CORNWALL AND DEVON WRESTLING at Copenhagen House. In consequence of the unfavourable weather last week, Mr. Garratt, the spirited host of Copenhagen House, again gave prizes to be Wrested for last Monday, when some first-rate play was displayed, before a highly respectable and numerous company. For the next round the first set-to was between the […]
HORNSEY-WOOD TAVERN — Wrestling in the Devon and Cornish style will take place in the enclosed grounds upon Easter Monday and Tuesday. The proprietor will give £10 in prizes to be wrestled for; there will also be Single-stick, Rifle and Pigeon Shooting for a chased silver cup and a handsome silver snuff box. This being […]
THE COMMITTEE of the CORNWALL and DEVONSHIRE WRESTLING SOCIETY beg to announce that they will celebrate their usual ANNUAL SPORT in the Pleasure Garden attached to Mr Baum’s, the White Lion, Victoria Park Station, Hackney Wick, on Whit- Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when a number of handsome money prizes will be given to be wrestled […]
THE COMMITTEE of the CORNWALL and DEVONSHIRE WRESTLING SOCIETY beg to announce that they will celebrate their usual ANNUAL SPORT in the Pleasure Garden attached to Mr Baum’s, the White Lion, Victoria Park Station, Hackney Wick, on Whit-Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, when a number of handsome money prizes will be given to be wrestled for […]
pp.118-123. “We wish to say a few words, my men, to those who are ” going to play with the sticks or wrestle to-day. There has ” been agood deal of talk about these sports, as you all know ; ” and manypersons think they shouldn’t be allowed at all now” a-days-that thetimefor them has […]
Backswording by Richard Doyle (1824-83). Wood-engraving, 2 1/2 x 4 3/8 inches (on 4 1/8 x 7 1/8 inch page). 1859. W. J. Linton, Engraver. Facing p. 146, Hughes’s The Scouring of the White Horse. Image scan and text by George P. Landow. Available to access online thanks to George P. Landow, via VictorianWeb.
This song or poem was documented by Hughes in 1859. It is believed to predate this recording. THE ZONG OF THE ZUMMERZETSHIRE OWLD GEAMSTER. I. “Cham* a Zummerzetshire mun Coom here to hev a bit o’vun. Oo’lt+ try a bout? I be’ant aveard Ov any man or mother’s zun. II. “Cham a geamster owld and […]
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 […]
EXETER. The Devonshire Wrestling Champion.—Mr Langdon, of the Bull Inn, Exeter, assisted by other gentlemen, has succeeded in obtaining £180 for the veteran wrestling champion, Abraham Cann. After much deliberation it has been decided to purchase an annuity in the Norwich Insurance Office, and yesterday the proposal was effected and £200 paid. The champion wrestler […]
Four friends were bent on a holiday, A holiday, A holiday, So to Truro town they made their way One early Whit-sun morning, One early Whit-sun morning. There was Jim, and Josh, and Ginger Jan, Three Cornishmen Jim, Josh and Jan, With Bill Penelewey to lead the van So early in the morning, So early […]
Wrestling.—The Cornwall and Devon Wrestling Society have resolved to divide the £100 to be given away on Friday, April 18, and at Easter, as follows:—Four money prizes for wrestling, open to all the world, for men under twelve stone, when several of the best men from the two counties have promised to come up and […]
WRESTLING. DEVON AND CORNWALL WRESTLING SOCIETY. This great annual carnival will take place at Hackney Wick Grounds (Victoria Park station). The committee have voted the liberal sum of £100, to be contended for by men under 12st, which will be apportioned in twenty money prizes. The committee have also secured the valuable services of R. […]
PEDESTRIANISM. METROPOLITAN RACE GROUNDS, HACKNEY WICK. THE CORNWALL AND DEVON WRESTLING SOCIETY’S ANNUAL MEETING. The customary annual meeting of the above-named society was held at the popular grounds of Mr. J. C. Baum, at the White Lion, Hackney Wick, on Whit-Monday and Tuesday; and terminated in a complete success, the enclosure being absolutely crammed with […]
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, […]
Abraham Cann’s memorial stone in St. Andrew’s churchyard, Colebrooke, bears the inscription: ‘SACRED to the memory of Abraham Cann who departed this life April 7th 1864 aged 69 years. Champion of Devon Wrestlers.’ (Trewman’s Exeter Flying Post, April 20, 1864, p. 8)
Portrait of the famous wrestler Abraham Cann in 1864. Now in the public domain. Illustrated Sporting News and Theatrical and Musical Review – Saturday 07 May 1864, Page 4.
Fictional account, but with key references made by the novelist R. D. Blackmore that drew upon real events, and real wrestlers of the period: Volume 2, Chapter 5: CHAPTER V. That same evening, as I was sitting in my lonely room, yet not quite alone,–for little Sally, who always did as I bade her, was […]
“The wrestlers of Kenidjack” is a Cornish supernatural legend set at Carn Kenidjack, a granite tor on the moorland between St Just and the Tregeseal valley in West Penwith. The tale describes two miners who, returning home one night, witness a wrestling match near the carn presided over by the Devil; when one of the […]
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 […]
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 […]
A ‘Devon and Cornwall’ wrestling tournament at Hackney in London, reported in the Illustrated Sporting News of 1866.
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 [London]. Mr. Wreford bore a name familiar to all the lovers of wrestling, both in the provinces and the metropolis. Indeed, there is probably none […]
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.
