By DAVID MORGAN
‘Master of the Rolls’: boxer Jack Martin had started working as a baker
With pubs closing at an alarming rate, there are fewer opportunities for folk to take on the task of managing one.
Running a pub was once a common ambition among those who laboured hard, but wanted to take a step up, and take their own fortunes into their own hands. Pub landlords, and landladies, came from a wide variety of backgrounds, and it often attracted retired boxers.
The Tom Cribb, a large pub just off Leicester Square, was named after a world champion bare-knuckle fighter who began a new life as a publican after he retired in 1812.
Dave McCleave, a former British welterweight champion, took on the running of the Union Tavern in Camberwell after retiring from the ring in 1945. He ran a boxing club in the backroom. The links between pubs and boxing were common: The Ring, on Blackfriars Road, was so named because it also staged boxing bouts, while the Thomas A’Becket on the Old Kent Road was where many a champion was trained.
Croydon itself was no stranger to famous boxing matches, with the venue for several big fights being Smitham Bottom. June 9, 1788, saw a contest held there between “Gentleman” John Jackson and Thomas Futtrell, with one of the spectators among the massive crowd for this illegal event being the Prince of Wales, who would become King George IV.
And Croydon had it its own pub run by a former boxer. The Crown, North End, was run in the 1830s by a former prize fighter, John Martin.
Regency entertainment: Gillray’s depiction of a prize fight at Smitham Bottom in 1788 (Prince George can be seen on the right) also shows the grisly gallows at Lion Green in the distance
Martin began his boxing career in July 1813 and was involved in some epic contests before he retired in November 1828.
Born near Kennington church on July 10 1796, Martin was always known as the “Master of the Rolls” when he fought, not because he had been a judge, but because he was a baker by trade.
His first fight against George Oliver took place in Ilford on Thursday, July 18 1813 for a purse of 40 guineas – or £42 (one guinea was 21 shillings, £1.05), the equivalent of almost £4,000, a lifetime’s money for working people in Regency England.
Detailed account: reporters provided round-by-round coverage of Martin’s fights
Martin’s match was the undercard, a boxing supporting act, to the main event of the day, a contest between Harry Lancaster and Jack Ford, all fought in a 24-foot.
More than 200 years later, a detailed written account of the fight exists.
Martin began Round 1 looking to spar in the manner of a proper boxer. Oliver was far less technical, carrying out his ring work in “a flurried manner”. Oliver was certainly unorthodox and got a telling off from his own corner for trying to trip Martin up.
By Round 5, blood was running down Oliver’s face from cuts, as Martin’s brutal punches got through to his opponent. Martin was 5ft 9in tall and weighed 11-stone, and had the physique and hitting power to dismantle Oliver’s defence. As his opponent tired, Martin went on to win the bout.
Betting on these bare-knuckle contests was huge and vast sums were won and lost. Oliver had been the favourite to win this fight. Upsetting the odds for his first fight meant that Martin was well-placed to step in the ring with a bigger name next time.
It was to be two years before Martin got the right opportunity to fight again. He was to go up against the experienced “Paddington” Johnson, for 50 guineas a side. The contest took place at Coventry Farm, the Hale, Middlesex. Johnson was the 6/4 favourite. Martin created quite a talking point as he entered the ring, as he wore a pair of fashionable white trousers instead of the usual boxing shorts.
By the end of Round 3, those who were betting on the outcome made Martin the favourite.
His punches on to the nose of Johnson were causing great pain and bruising. One of Johnson’s eyes began to swell and darken and his facial cuts were causing him a great deal of trouble.
Although Johnson fought back bravely and even knocked Martin down in the eighth round, Martin pulled off another stunning victory.
‘Unbeatable’: Jack Scroggins
Martin began to set his sights on challenging the very best fighters in the country. Again, the right opportunity took a long time to present itself. In the meantime, Martin accepted a challenge for a “pugilist foot race”. On Monday September 18, 1819, three fighters turned up at 8am ready for a challenge in Hyde Park over a furlong – 220 yards.
It was another victory for Martin, who covered the distance in 25 seconds. Out of the ring, he was keeping himself fighting fit.
December 1818 saw Martin take on Jack Scroggins. One reporter described Scroggins as “unbeatable”. After an hour and a half, the battle still raged. Scroggins, the older man, refused to give an inch but the boxing skills of Martin bloodied his face, almost to a pulp.
With Martin clearly on top, some spectators thought that the contest had finished and crowded into the ring. After order was restored, the fight continued. In all, it lasted 60 rounds, and took two hours. Today, even world title fights are limited to 12 rounds.
Martin was clearly the victor but critics thought that he should have finished off Scroggins long before the end of the contest. That he failed to do so was a mark against his boxing pedigree. “It was Martin’s constitution that won it,” wrote one reporter.
In May 1819, a fight was promoted between Martin and Jack Randall, one of the very best British fighters of his day. The fight was set to be held on Crawley Down on the Tuesday, but it proved to be such a big attraction that in mid-afternoon the day before, more than a hundred horse-drawn gigs passed through Croydon, heading south for the fight venue. By 8pm that night, every bed in every inn in the surrounding towns were full.
Ordinary households rented out their bedrooms, as well as charging between five and seven shillings to stable a horse for the night.
All this for a sporting contest which was, strictly, illegal.
By midday on May 5, thousands were assembled to see Randall take on his heavier opponent. Randall came into the fight unbeaten in his 10 contests and was determined to defeat Martin, even though his opponent weighed in a stone heavier.
One reporter wrote that Martin had the physique “which could have not attained a higher degree of perfection”. Although Martin started the contest well, his face was cut and bleeding by the fourth round as Randall’s speed of punch got through his defences.
Randall got a vicious punch through to Martin’s head in that fourth round. He stunned Martin but he managed to stay on his feet “tottering to fight with his opponent”. It was the first time in his career that Martin had been hit so hard.
Tough test: Jack Randall
The contest ended with a knock-out in Round 19, when Martin was floored and could not respond. Randall worked out quickly in the fight that Martin’s reach was greater than his and that he needed to avoid Martin’s longer arms. He used body shots to soften him up and these tactics worked perfectly.
Martin’s boxing career was not finished. Randall went into retirement after that fight, and Martin dominated the sport. Victories over Jack Strong and Edward Turner were particularly notable.
But retired boxers have always been susceptible to the lure of a big prize purse, and in 1821 Randall was tempted out of retirement for a rematch with Martin. Randall, despite being a little ring-rusty, won again.
In fact, in his entire career, the only time Martin ever beat Randall was in a 100-yard sprint, when both men put up £5 each towards the prize pot.
In a 15-year career, Martin fought 14 times, winning nine times.
Martin ran The Crown for many years. It was a significant building and business in the 19th Century. Located opposite where the Whitgift Almshouses stand today, there had been a coaching inn on the site from around 1443, catering for travellers making the journey from London to Canterbury and to Brighton.
Martin later moved, to run another famous south London pub, the Horns Tavern in Kennington. He finally retired, first to St Albans and subsequently to a cottage in Devon.
In his later years he became teetotal and encouraged others to join his abstinence. He also became a vegetarian. Despite the rigours and traumas suffered by his body in the boxing ring, he lived to 75, dying in 1871.
Perhaps he decided on his teetotalism because of the death in his 30s of his great rival Jack Randall, who battled against alcoholism once he finished boxing.
I don’t expect Martin stood for any nonsense in his pubs. And who would dare? Martin probably did not need bouncers. I expect he told a good story or two about his years in the ring to those drinkers who cared to listen.
If you would like a group tour of Croydon Minster or want to book a school visit, then ring the Minster Office on 020 688 8104 or go to the website on www.croydonminster.org and use the contact page
Some previous articles by David Morgan:
- 10 shillings to join the Goose Club and lay on a Christmas feast
- Oh yes she is! Victorian dancer who became a pantomime star
- The casualties of war are not always killed on the battlefield
- The church fire that consumed a thousand years of history
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