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Barbaric sport

Recently published by Tony Gee of London is a new book chronicling the history of bare-knuckle boxing and the heroes of the prize fighting ring.

Entitled Up to Scratch, it contains interesting references to a number of famous Nottinghamshire prize-fighters including Ben Caunt of Hucknall, William 'Bendigo' Thompson of Nottingham and Newark's own Harry Paulson (1819 - 1890).

Although particularly barbaric by today's standards, it was the most popular spectator sport in England, with audiences drawn from all sections of society.

For a time Harry Paulson was one of its most respected and successful exponents and the publication of Tony Gee's book coincides with the discovery of new information about Paulson's life.

Harry Paulson was born in Paxton's Court off Kirkgate in Newark on May 4, 1819.

Even as a small boy he was considered remarkable for his strength and in early manhood, as one sports writer later commented: "His frame developed into such Herculean proportions that it would have been hard to find his equal in muscles, thews and sinews in the three kingdoms."

When Paulson was about nine years old his parents moved to Nottingham, although Harry by no means lost contact with his native town.

He became a labourer, heaving ballast on the Trent barges engaged in gravel-getting around Newark, and remained a frequent visitor (and well known figure) in his home town.

Work on the barges undoubtedly served to harden his frame and during trials of strength against other rivermen, he invariably came off the victor.

As the Advertiser later put it: "Paulson was said to be able to 'leather' any boatman employed on the Trent between Nottingham and Hull."

His abilities soon came to the attention of the Nottingham prize-ring fraternity, and after Paulson had won a bare-knuckle 'test match' in just two seconds, many local devotees felt they had found themselves a new Bendigo.

Paulson made his debut on the national prize-ring scene in September 1851, when he was pitted against Tom Paddock of Redditch for a purse of £25.

Over subsequent years Paulson fought many important bouts, but it was to be his three meetings with Tom Paddock that secured his place in history.

Paddock, subsequently a champion of all England, was widely known as a ferocious and impetuous fighter. He had already been beaten by Bendigo Thompson, and the prospect of a match against another Nottinghamshire man attracted considerable interest.

As Tony Gee describes in his book, one of the biggest problems faced by promoters of bare-knuckle fights in the 19th Century was finding a suitable venue.

The sport was illegal and publicity often relied simply on word of mouth. Bouts were often purposefully held in out of the way locations - often in open fields where interference from the magistrates and local parish constables could be minimised.

Such was the location of Paulson's first encounter with Tom Paddock which took place at Sedgebrook near Grantham at midday on September 23, 1851.

An eyewitness at the event was Mr Joseph Smith of Newark, one-time publican of the Wing Tavern in the Market Place, and in a subsequent article published in the Advertiser, Smith recalled how Bendigo and Ben Caunt were both in attendance.

The rules by which bare-knuckle fights were conducted were startlingly different from those which govern boxing today.

Most prize-fights adhered to a code of practice established in 1743 by Jack Broughton (generally considered to be the founder of the sport) but there were no weight restrictions, no gloves, no set number of rounds and no specified length to the rounds.

A round only came to an end when one contender was either knocked down or thrown from the ring. There could be as many as 90 or 100 rounds before the bout was declared over, either by a knockout (literally) or submission.

Broughton's rules were revised in 1839 following the tragic death of a fighter in the ring, but the only significant improvement under the new so-called 'London Prize Ring Rules' was the introduction of a standardised 24ft square ring surrounded by ropes.

It was not until 1867 that the 8th Marquess of Queensbury formulated his rules (initially for amateurs, but later adopted universally), which removed some of the more barbaric aspects of the sport and paved the way for boxing practice as it is today.

Paulson's first bout with Paddock in 1851 was fought under the London Prize Ring Rules and turned out to be a particularly bloody affair.

A report later published in the book Famous Fights Past and Present tells how Paulson - in his first national contest - quickly gained the upper hand, delivering a deep cut to Paddock's left eye and repeatedly knocked the Redditch man "off his legs".

The contest ran to 71 rounds over 11/2 hours and was only then terminated because the police had turned up. Paddock fled the ring leaving Paulson the victor by default.

Over subsequent weeks, however, Paddock began to dispute his defeat, saying that he had only left the ring to avoid arrest, and that another contest must be organised to decide the matter once and for all.

A re-match was duly arranged, this time at the Cross o'the Hands near Belper in Derbyshire. The additional interest raised in the fight - now billed as a grudge match - was reflected in the increased purse of £50.

This time it was undoubtedly Paddock who gained the upper hand, and despite the arrival of the police and several riotous incidents among the crowd, the fight continued for well over an hour.

It was in the 86th round that a tremendous smack in the wind doubled Paulson up; he fell senseless to the ground and amid the frantic shouts of his supporters, Paddock was hailed the winner.

Shortly after the contest, both Paddock and Paulson were arrested and, in March 1852, sentenced to ten months in Derby Gaol with hard labour - not for having taken part in an illegal prize-fight, but for supposedly inciting the crowd to attack the police.

Ten months in gaol did little to cool the men's dispute and once out of gaol, a third and final meeting was quickly arranged.

Next week I will tell the story of Paddock and Paulson's third and final meeting and the subsequent career of Harry Paulson, Newark's famous bare-knuckle fighter.

Nottinghamshire prize-fighters in the days of Newark's Harry Paulson. These pictures have been drawn by artist Gillian Elias of Nottingham, taken from original 19th Century depictions of life in the bare-knuckle ring.

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