Chapter III: Tom King (champion) (4)

PERRY, WILLIAM (“the Tipton Slasher”).
His birth at Tipton 157
The Slasher’s _coup d’essai_ 157
Beats Tim Dogherty, near Chelsea 158
Returns to the “Black Country” 158
Fights and beats Ben Spilsbury 158
Matched with “the Gornel Champion” 159
Beats Jem Scunner, and becomes “a lion” 159
Tass Parker, Harry Preston, &c. 159
Forfeits £15 to Deaf Burke 160
Johnny Broome “manipulates” the “Tipton” 160
Charles Freeman, “the American Giant” 161
Theatres, the Circus, and the P.R. 161
A challenge to Freeman by “an Unknown” 161
William Perry is declared as “Broome’s Novice” 162
Matched for £150 against Freeman 162
The Giant “in training” 163
Description of Charles Freeman 164
Comparisons of bulk and strength of men 166
The journey to the field 167
A contrast 168
The fight interrupted by darkness 170
The return and its incidents 173
The adjourned battle; magisterial interference 176
Stanzas: “The unfinished fight of the American Giant
and the Tipton Slasher” 177
A trip down the river agreed upon 179
Freeman’s benefit at the Westminster Baths 179
The voyage to the fighting ground 180
Aristocratic Ring-goers: “the Bishop of Bond Street” 180
“A shave:” Joe Banks, “the Stunner,” Jem Burn, &c. 181
The fight and defeat of the “Tipton” 182
The return: Dick Curtis’s benefit 185
A challenge to Caunt 185
The stakes given over to Freeman 186
Death of the American Giant, of consumption;
infrequency of deaths from Ring encounters (note) 186
Johnny Broome and the “Slasher” 187
Tass Parker and the “Tipton” matched 187
Unsatisfactory result; police interruption 189
The adjourned battle 190
A railway “excursion” 190
A squabble about the referee 192
The fight: the “tumble-down system” 194
Johnny Hannan’s good conduct 195
The stakes given to the “Tipton” 196
Third battle with and defeat of Tass Parker 196
Challenge to Caunt, who declines to fight under £500
a side 199
Candidates for the Championship (note) 199
Tom Paddock 200
A forfeit, and a match with Paddock 200
A trip per South Western Rail 200
A day misspent: Wiltshire and Hampshire tabooed 201
A mill by moonlight 201
A “pig-shearing” excursion, and a “foul” blow 203
The Tipton claims the belt 204
Johnny Broome’s “Unknown” and the “Slasher” 204
Harry Broome “the Veiled Prophet” 204
Defeat of the “Slasher” by “Young Harry” 204
Receives forfeit from Harry Broome 205
Perry becomes a publican 205
Rise of Tom Sayers and his challenge of the
Championship 205
Defeat of the “Slasher” by Tom Sayers 205
Death of Perry, in January, 1881 205

R

ROWE, JOE.
His fight with Harry Broome 314-321
In business, 1881 (note) 339

S

SAYERS, TOM (Champion).
His birthplace disputed 359
An Irish pedigree 359
Born at Pimlico, near Brighton 359
A bricklayer on the Preston Viaduct, at Brighton 360
Comes to London. First fight with Aby Couch 360
Matched with Dan Collins 360
First fight interrupted by darkness 361
Tom beats Dan Collins 361
Various challenges. Matched with Jack Grant 361
Beats Jack Grant 362
Matched with Jack Martin 365
Beats Jack Martin 366
Matched with Nat Langham 368
Tom’s first and last defeat 369
Langham declines a second encounter 369
Match with George Sims; £50 to £25 369
Beats George Sims 370
Proposes to go to Australia 370
Harry Poulson of Nottingham 371
Jem Burn, his backer, and Bendigo his trainer 371
Sayers defeats Poulson 373
The Championship in sight 379
A new belt and its claimants 380
The Championship in suspense 380
Sayers and Aaron Jones for £200 380
A change of route 381
A voyage down the river 381
Sayers fights Aaron Jones 383
A “draw” and darkness 386
Renewed battle with Jones 387
Sayers beats Aaron Jones 387
Challenges the Tipton Slasher 392
Excitement in the sporting world 393
Preliminaries of the battle 393
Sayers defeats the Tipton Slasher 395
Challenged by Tom Paddock 399
Paddock’s illness 399
Matched with an “Unknown” for £200 399
Bill Bainge, or Benjamin 399
First battle with Benjamin 400
Recovery of Paddock and his challenge accepted 401
The “Three Toms” 401
Anecdote of Alec Keene 402
Sayers defeats Tom Paddock 403
Tom Sayers against “the field” 404
Second match with “The Unknown” for £100 and the belt 406
Bill Benjamin once again 407
Sayers announces his intended retirement after his
battle with Benjamin 408
Extraordinary rumours 409
The second defeat of Benjamin 410
Bob Brettle, of Birmingham 412
Sayers fights Brettle £400 to £200 412
£200 to £20 that Brettle was beat in _ten minutes_ 412
Mr. John Gideon’s “arrangements” 413
A “monster” train 414
Bob Brettle’s career 414
Sayers defeats Brettle 416
Silly imputations on defeated pugilists 419
Aaron Jones returns to England 419
Defeat of Heenan by Morrissey 419
A challenge from America 420
Negotiations for an international contest for the belt 420
Aaron Jones in the field. He retires 420
A match proposed for Heenan and Sayers 420
Correspondence between New York and London 421
Arrival of Mr. Falkland. Preliminary arrangements 423
Heenan and Morrissey. Heenan lands at Liverpool 423
The day fixed, April 17th, 1860 423
A rush for “tickets” 423
Two monster trains 424
The journey down 424
A distinguished company 425
Appearance of the men 426
Pictorial representations of the battle (note) 426
The fight 427-432
Conflicting reports of the result 432
Departure of the referee 433
Return to town 433
Condition of the men 433
Humane decision 434
Two belts ordered 434
Circus buncombe 434
Subscription for Sayers at Stock Exchange, Lloyd’s,
Mark Lane, &c. 435
Sayers a partner in a circus 435
Free living and its results 435
Sayers’s last appearance in the Ring 435
The needs of consumption 436
Last illness 436
His death 437
£1,000 invested for his children 437
Tom Sayers’s personal appearance 437
His grave and monument in Highgate Cemetery 438
The Combat of Sayerius and Heenanus――“A Lay of Ancient
London” 439

T

THOMPSON, WILLIAM, of Nottingham (“Bendigo”).
His birth: one of three sons 5
Nottingham Lambs. Puritanism and Pugilism 5
Early battles, and first fight with Caunt 6
Challenged by Brassey (John Leechman), of Bradford,
and others 7
Beats Brassey 8
Receives forfeit from Jem Bailey 8
Comes to London 8
Proposed match with Molyneaux, and forfeit from Flint
of Coventry 9
Defeats Langan of Liverpool 9
Challenges any 12 stone man in England 9
Looney’s challenge replied to by Jem Ward 10
Looney declines Ward and is beaten by Bendigo 10
Challenges from Tom Britton, Fisher, Molyneaux, &c. 12
Matched a second time with Caunt 13
Beaten by Caunt 13
Caunt forfeits in a new match 14
Deaf Burke returns from America, his challenge accepted 14
Burke goes to France and the match falls through 14
Stanzas from Bendigo to Deaf Burke 15
Burke returns and articles are signed 16
Narrow escape of Bendigo 17
Shrove Tuesday at Ashby-de-la-Zouch 17
The road to Appleby 18
Bendigo beats Deaf Burke 18
Challenges from and to Caunt. Benefit humbugs 22, 24
Bendigo in London. A serious accident 24
“The fine old English Pugilist;” a fancy chaunt 25
Bendigo redivivus appears at Jem Burn’s 26
Matched with Tass Parker 26
Arrested at the instance of his brother and held to bail, 27
Caunt returns from his American tour 27
Renewed negotiations and “A Valentine from Bendigo
to Brassey” 27
Third match with Caunt 28
Preliminaries of the fight 29
Bendigo defeats Caunt 30
Disputed result and decision of “the Old Squire”
(Osbaldiston), the referee 36
Caunt and Bendigo shake hands 37
Pretenders to the Championship 37
Bendigo accepts Tom Paddock’s challenge 38
Defeats Paddock 39
Receives the battle-money and retires from the Ring 45
Bendigo’s eccentricities. Takes “the pledge” and
becomes a preacher 45
Beelzebub and Ben Caunt; an anecdote 45
True etymon of the nickname “Bendigo” 46
Dies from the effects of an accident, aged sixty-nine 46

TRAVERS, BOB (Langham’s Black).
His Ring career 454
Beaten by Brettle 454
Beaten by Jem Mace 455

W

WARD, NICHOLAS.
His claims to a place in this “History” 206
His birth in East London 206
His maiden battle with Jack Lockyer 206
Matched with Jem Wharton (Young Molyneaux) 206
Arrested and held to bail 207
A journey to Moulsey and a disappointment 208
A black job: Sambo Sutton 209
“Nick” is defeated ignominiously 210
“Brother Jem” backs Nick for a second trial 210
Misgivings: a “Beak” at Bicester 210
The Philistines out 211
Drawing a badger 212
A fight and a fiasco 212
Matched with Jem Bailey 212
A trip to Woking: an interrupted fight 213
A second match; Nick forfeits to Bailey 214
A match with Brassey “no go” 214
Articled to fight the “Deaf’un” 214
A trip to Stony Stratford 219
Adventures 220
Nick defeats “the Deaf’un;” a wrangle 221
Challenges Ben Caunt 223
The stakes awarded to Nick Ward 224
Matched with Ben Caunt 225
A long journey and its vicissitudes 226
Hostility of the “beaks” 227
The fight: a bloodless victory for Ward 229
A chaunt of the Ring: “Nick Ward and Caunt” 231
The stakes given to “Nick” 232
Second fight with Caunt, and defeat 232
Death of Nick Ward, Feb. 17, 1850 233

Transcriber's Note:

Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like this_. Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the end of the section in which related anchors occur. Inconsistent hyphenation, dialect, obsolete words and misspellings were left unchanged. Obvious printing errors, such as backwards, upside down, or partially printed letters, were corrected. Spacing was adjusted between paragraphs for consistency. Transliteration of one phrase in Greek follows within brackets.

Comments:

There are five anchors to Footnote [43].
Occasional sentences lack a verb.
“Edinburg” on the title page and “L’Envoy” at the end of the book are
in blackface in the original.
Fight rounds occasionally omit some numbers.
The meaning of one line ending with a hyphen is uncertain:
… and that gentle-
and Orme;…
The letters, ‘man,’ may have been omitted, or the first word on
the following line, ‘and,’ may be a misspelling for ‘man.’

The following items were changed:

Added final stops missing at the end of sentences.
Removed duplicate words at line endings or page breaks.
Capitalized lower case letters at beginning of sentences.
Removed spurious stops mid-sentence.
Adjusted mis-matched quotation marks around citations.
Added spacing between words, crowded by printer.
Removed misplaced comma preceding a list.
Changed commas to stops after numbers of subparagraphs.
Changed stops to commas mid-sentences.
Added commas unprinted in lists.
Added missing dashes after fight round numbers.
Added missing page number in index for first entry of Tass Parker.