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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 […]
Henry Downes Miles’s three-volume Pugilistica (1880; reissued 1906) is the most comprehensive Victorian history of the British prize ring. Its entries for Hen Pearce, the Game Chicken, and the Bristol school of pugilism contain primary-source quotations from period newspapers not otherwise readily available. The work spans the same era as the DWS archive’s principal wrestling […]
CORNISH WRESTLING. BENEVOLENT FUND FOR COMPETITORS WHO ARE INJURED. Begging the ring at wrestling tournaments has been a custom that has always been looked upon as objectionable and lowering to the dignity of those taking part. To overcome this, it has been decided that something shall be done to make provision for those injured, and […]
WRESTLING RECORD. INTEREST IN THE GAME SPREADS. A YEAR’S GOOD WORK. Mr. F. J. Jago, secretary of the Cornwall Wrestling Association, at a meeting of the Management Committee at Truro on Monday, stated that a very gratifying feature of the season had been the number of ladies who had witnessed the various tournaments. This tended […]
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 […]
Captain Tom Gundry is dead. This brief announcement will be made with regret by Cornishmen in every quarter of the world. “Captain Tom” was the best known of the old school of Cornish wrestlers, and will be remembered for his prowess in the ring, and not as a mine agent. Born 70 years ago Captain […]
A description of a military demonstration involving Cornish Wrestlers, in Yokohama. This is particularly interesting since “a Japanese wrestler who was present was very anxious to pit himself against the Cornish wrestlers”. This event took place 10 years before Judo was founded. Let us now turn to the wrestling which took place on the second […]
And as for the gouging, and “rough and tumble” fighting of America — and especially in Virginia and Maryland, I have only to say that I have resided more than eight years in Maryland; that I have known a multitude of Virginians, and been a good deal over Virginia; and that I have never seen, […]
THIS is to give Notice to all Gentlemen Gamesters, and Others, THAT there will be Three HATS, of Three Guineas Price, the free Gift of Abraham Golding and Robert Hobbs, at St. John’s-Bridge in Gloucestershire; One Hat, on Monday the 6th of September next, to be play’d for at Back-sword, by Five or Seven of […]
THIS is to give Notice, THAT Mr. William Saunders, of the Saracen’s-Head at Highworth, Wilts, will give Two Guineas to be wrestled for, by the famous Berkshire Milk-Boy, and four other Berkshire Men, of his Company, against any other five Men in England, on Thursday the 30th Instant, October, for a Fall, or six Foils. […]
THIS is to give Notice to all Gentlemen Gamesters, and Others, THAT on Thursday the 16th Instant, there will be a great Wrestling-Match at the Swan-Inn in Highworth, Wilts, between the Gamesters of Berkshire and Gloucestershire, for Ten Guineas on each Side: To wrestle for Falls; no Files to be allow’d of. Five Men of […]
Crowds come from all sections of the state. Governor Budd and staff watch a drilling contest. Cornish wrestlers give entertainment to large assemblages. MINERS’ days at the fair opened yesterday under the most auspicious circumstances. In addition to the large excursions that came from Tuolumne, Nevada and Calaveras Counties, there was one from Butte, and […]
DEVONSHIRE WRESTLING. A wrestling match, “Devonshire” style, took place at Hill’s Variety Theatre yesterday afternoon, between Albert Ellis and W. H. Browning for a gold watch and a purse of $250. Fun apart, it is one which is not calculated to find much favour in this country, especially among our coloured fellow citizens, as the […]
Cornish Wrestling Was Popular Sport in Butte Before the First World War Cornish wrestling was one of the most popular sports in Butte around the turn of the century, especially with the English residents in Centerville, Walkerville, Meaderville and Butte. However, the active participants in the sport were not all Cornishmen. The Irish and the […]
ECHOES Of the Long Distant Past From Files of the Anaconda Standard When Cornish Wrestling Was Popular in Butte [Photograph: A group of eight men posed outdoors, several wearing the distinctive loose canvas jackets characteristic of Cornish wrestling.] Back in the 1880s, when the above picture was taken, Cornish wrestling was a big attraction to […]
FOR SELF-DEFENSE Wrestling Fits a Man to Take Care of Himself. THE CORNISH STYLE MIGHTY USEFUL IN A ROUGH-AND-TUMBLE FIGHT. Different Holds Secured on a Canvas Jacket—Formerly a Brutal Sport. Written for The Evening Star by Prof. Anthony Barker. One of the best ways for a man to fit himself for self-defense through physical culture […]
A copy of the August 26th 1827 edition of Pierce Egan’s “Life in London and Sporting Guide”, with several vignettes of sporting activities as the headings to various news items (1827). Woodcut Content: WRESTLING. The feats of Cann, Polkinhorne, Copp, Gaffney, and the whole of the Wrestlers faithfully recorded. “Now clear the Ring: for, hand […]
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, […]
WRESTLING. To Mr. ABRAHAM CANN, St. Thomas’s, Exeter. SIR, Although you did not answer mine of Sept. 20th, nor accept the proposals with respect to time, place, and amount of stake——I see yours of the 10th inst., in the Devon Freeholder, dated Dec. 2, wherein you now assert your readiness to try the championship of […]
ST. COLUMB CELEBRATES CENTENARY OF FAMOUS WRESTLER. THOUSANDS HONOUR MEMORY OF GREATEST CORNISH CHAMPION. CORNISH WRESTLING CENTENARY AT ST COLUMB Saturday will stand out as a red-letter day in the history of Cornish wrestling. From all parts of the Duchy, supporters of the old county sport poured into the quaint little town of St Columb […]
20th August 1895: That was a capital little wrestling match which came off in the marsh at Topsham a few days since. The police were in the dark until it was all over. The match was locally known as Devon versus Cornwall, and resulted in a victory for Devon. One of Topsham’s celebrities happened to […]
The Sportsman’s Magazine, September 6, 1845. Singlestick In the play of singlestick the sticks used are somewhat heavier and stouter than in broadsword exercises, and the players usually strip to the shirt. In some parts of the country, Wilts, Berks and Somerset, paddings are used to save the arms, particularly the point of the elbow; […]
Available online via HeardFamilyHistory.org.uk. Page updated 04/04/2024. © Nick Heard 2024
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 [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 […]