Heritage

My Romany Showman (Birch, Beckett, and Frankham) ancestors started their boxing booth in the fairgrounds of Southern England in the 1860s - although they were boxing at fairs and stopping places for generations prior. A fairground boxing booth consisted of a boxing ring in tent behind opulent fairground frontage, where members of the public could challenge professional fighters for prize money in front of a live audience. Usually encouraged by groups of tipsy friends. If the boxer won, the contestant left empty handed.
Boxing booths “peppered the English countryside for over 200 years. These booths travelled with fairs and circuses throughout England, and provided an entertainment staple.” Many of the booths were found amongst sideshow attractions featuring eight-legged horses, unusual sights, and sharp shooting, knife-throwing acts. Dancing girls, or sideshow acts would perform on the podiums to entice audience members to buy a ticket to watch the next fight.

My great, great-grandmother Charlotte Birch ran the boxing booth for over 40 years - surpassing three husbands, often fighting and winning in the ring against male challengers. It was said that she was a better boxer than most of the men she fought. Charlotte would wear a brass breastplate and underskirts to fight in, something that captivated my imagination from a young age.
Like most fairground attractions, the boxing booth was a family affair. My great-grandfather, his siblings, uncles, and aunties would help to run the show. Family boxers would line up on the podium outside the booth, and Charlotte’s brother would perform the famous showman’s spiel to get the punters into the tent behind the opulent frontage. The family women would do the bookkeeping, run the payboxes and cook for the boxers.

My great-grandfather, Joe Beckett - made his debut in the booth at the age of 8, either billed as ‘the midget boxer’ or ‘Joe Beckett, the boy boxer’. Joe, as a teenager, could knock out a man in one punch. His brother George Frankham was also a talented boxer and trainer - he’d referee matches in the booth, subtly knocking men out with his elbow when an older Charlotte was fighting in the ring.
Joe became the first (Romany) Showman to become the Heavyweight champion of Great Britain, and is one of the longest undefeated (5x) heavyweight champions in British history. In his prime, he fought at venues such as the Royal Albert Hall, and London Olympia, winning the Lonsdale Belt - the oldest and most prestigious belt in British boxing, as well as being one of the highest-paid circus entertainers of the early 20th Century for his shadow-boxing act with Circus Ginnett.


My grandmother’s aunties and uncles owned circuses, and fairgrounds across the southern counties: where my grandmother and her siblings worked and travelled in their youth. Their descendents still own some of the most renowned fairgrounds in the South of England today. I grew up with stories of glamour and heavyweight title bouts. Spirit horses, showman’s wagons, and incredible fairground rides. My grandmother would tell me stories of her youth spent at the fairs: of the strong men, fairground stunt performers, and boxers. Her stories inspired me to perform sideshow: a form of popular entertainment specifically related to fairgrounds, rather than disciplines found in traditional circus.

In the wider family, both past and present; we have champion light-heavyweight boxers, circus equestrian riders, fairground showmen and women, Victorian female stunt divers, and a gorgeous strong woman who lifted remarkable weights with her hair. My grandmother’s cousin was Dolly Smart, wife of Billy Smart - proprietor of ‘Billy Smart’s Circus’ one of the largest and most famous circuses in European history.

I am currently writing a book on my family history and heritage with the help of a grant from Arts Council England, Hampshire Country Archives, The National Fairground & Circus Archive