The Great British Boxing Booth - Part I
As someone with both Romany Gypsy and Travelling Showman heritage, I’ve been researching performers that lived and worked in Britain’s travelling fairgrounds and circuses for several years, and thought it was time to document these inspirational artists and athletes in one place. Starting with the story of the ’Great British Boxing Booth’, an institution that was an integral part of every travelling fairground for over 200 years, and one that’s very close to my heart.
I grew up immersed in stories of the boxing booths that had long since vanished from British fairgrounds. My grandmother would recount vivid tales of her grandmother, Charlotte Birch, who ran and fought in one of these booths, and of her father, Joe Beckett, and his brother George Frankham, who would fight up to forty rounds a day in the ring before becoming champions in their own right. The brother’s successes were aided by the rare chance of them being born into a long lineage of boxers, rather than joining the business later in life as most booth fighters did.
Throughout my life, I’ve frequently spoken of my rich family history, and am often surprised to learn that many people know little about the boxing booths that once peppered the British countryside—or the significant impact they had on British boxing, and culture. The gritty origins of the sport are now overshadowed by glamorous televised bouts with big cash prizes.
The first recorded bare-knuckle boxing match for entertainment took place in 1681, and despite being illegal, these bouts thrived on fairgrounds across the country. A lightweight, makeshift ring, would be created by driving four posts into the ground and attaching ropes to form the boundary. The fighters competed for "nobbings"—earnings collected in a hat passed around the crowd. The better the fight, the more money would be put in, and the more they’d earn. However for many, the takings were hardly enough to survive on.
The local Nobility would back their chosen fighters, and encourage bets by spectators, which would be wagered ringside, over who would win. Although bareknuckle boxing was illegal, it was permitted in London fairgrounds such as the megalith Bartholomew’s Fair in Smithfields.
From left to right: Jem ‘the Gypsy’ Mace, James Figg, Tom ‘the gasman’ Hickman, and a bareknuckle fight in Boston USA.
Early Rules of Bare-Knuckle Boxing:
Bare fists only.
No kicking, biting, eye gouging, or elbowing.
A round ended when a fighter was knocked down.
Fighters had 30 seconds to rest before the new round began.
The fight ended when a fighter was knocked unconscious or conceded defeat. (Some bouts lasted for hours.)
James Figg (1684-1734) was the first bare-knuckle boxing champion of England, claiming the title in 1719, before boxing became a national sensation. Figg kept his title for 11 years, and it’s claimed he fought a grand total of 270 bouts, with only one defeat. At 6ft in height, and of solid weight, it’s no surprise he did so well, especially against those of lighter stature, as there were no weight divisions in bare-knuckle boxing at the time. This imbalance eventually led to the creation of weight classes in modern boxing.
Figg was renowned known for Prizefighting with swords and other weapons such as quarterstaffs and cudgels, as well as teaching historical European martial arts. He was one of the first people to turn martial arts into business and entertainment. In 1719, he opened a large fighting venue in London that could seat more than 1000 audience members, the venue was one of the first of its kind, setting a precedent for viewing fighting sports today. In his ‘amphitheatre’, he’d promote (and make money on) boxing matches, martial arts, bearbaiting, tiger-baiting and female prizefighting.
Another important figure in early bare-knuckle pugilism was Tom "The Gasman" Hickman (1785-1822). His nickname came from the claim that his punches were so fast they blew out the flames of surrounding gas lamps. Hickman fought in front of large crowds, sometimes as large as 25,000 people. He was involved in one of the most famous fights of the 19th century, with wagers reaching as high as £150,000 on the outcome. Which for that period, was an obscene amount of money, and a clear indicator of how popular boxing would become.
Romany Gypsy fighters were common in the bare-knuckle world, as pugilism offered a way for men to earn a living or settle disputes whilst travelling the fairgrounds and horse fairs, where the community gathered to sell livestock and other goods. However, due to the numerous cultural prejudices and discriminatory laws against Travellers, the fighters didn’t often reveal their ethnicity, for fear of retribution. Yet, for many boxers, it would have been apparent that they were Romany Gypsy, due to the longstanding cultural divides between the settled and Traveller communities in Britain at the time.
The social and legal discrimination against the community has led to numerous Romany fighters, both male and female, not being recognised for their achievements and contributions to the foundations of one of the UK’s favourite sports. My family’s history with bare-knuckle boxing dates back to before the 1860s, though much of it remains undocumented, passed down only through oral histories.
One of the most famous Romany Gypsy boxers of the bareknuckle era was "The Gypsy" Jem Mace (1831-1910), who had a professional career lasting around 35 years, with his final exhibition match taking place at age 79 in 1909. His father was a horsedealer, and he started to box at horsefairs against other ‘jockeys’. He won the Middleweight Championship and the Championship of England in the 1860s. In 1910, he spoke to the Manchester Evening Chronicle about his career as a prizefighter.
“I am the last of the old lot. When I was in my prime, prize fighting was just about at the beginning of the end. To earn money in those days, we had to be always fighting. There were no purses of 1000s to tempt us… In the old days you know we fought with bare knuckles and the punishment was greater than nowadays. I think men were harder, too. I think so, but you see I’m an old man and we old ‘uns always think that our times were the best and our men the greatest.”
Jem Mace is considered a pioneer and a bridge between the bare-knuckle fights of the past and the boxing booths used for entertainment. After the introduction of the Queensbury Rules in 1867, and the formation of early, legal boxing shows, he travelled fairgrounds around the country with his troupe of lady athletes and gentleman boxers. Understanding that his name and reputation as a previous bareknuckle champion attracted large crowds, Mace also capitalised on his reputation by giving sold-out talks about his career as a prizefighter.
Mace performed with some of the biggest circuses of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, including Ginett’s Circus and Pablo Fanque’s Circus, as well as at fairgrounds and music halls—seamlessly merging boxing with the art of entertainment.
I believe my family and all of Showland’s boxing proprietors were deeply influenced by his legacy. They may have boxed alongside him or even against him at various fairgrounds. Regardless, they would have certainly known his name, and his formidable reputation.