Petite, Parsimonious & Picky

There is something very empowering about taking responsibility for oneself in this age of reliance on world-wide connection where advice and influence on every subject threatens to smother us. It's easy to doubt our own wisdom and to turn instead to others. Think 'diets' and how many people slavishly follow the next dieting trend, buying into the idea that, for example, a shake can work magic when really the sensible thing to do is eat the right food in the first place and perhaps in smaller quantities.

Remember that many health, diet, or fashion gurus have a vested interest in getting us to follow them, so their recommendations are often not without bias. I know I'm cynical but at my advanced age I try to give myself some credence while at the same time being open to new research aimed at health and wellbeing.

Making an effort to look presentable is one of my daily 'disciplines', (writing a diary is another). Both mean being realistic, accepting who I am and working with what I've got, using largely inexpensive tools.

I always err on the side of natural in all things and for appearance would not dream of undergoing cosmetic surgery - in my book that's cheating! No doubt there are many success stories created with a restrained hand but trout lips over unnaturally white teeth, taut skin and immoveable foreheads do look rather silly don't they? To me there is something rather sad about glamorous, silicone-boobed middle-aged ladies with hair cascading down to their bottoms...

My beauty routine is such that it takes only minutes. With normal skin type and no layers of make-up to worry about, a warm wash and night cream is my end-of-day routine while cold water alone is the perfect morning cleanser and astringent. I always moisturise then apply a little eye make-up. Years of disappearing lipstick drove me to try lip-paint which is pretty successful and manages to stay put most of the day.

My baby-fine hair does not respond to special hair-dressing skills so I keep it shoulder-length for flexibility. That means I can pull it into a tail or a more elegant chignon. I club-cut it myself using my dressmaking scissors and a hand-mirror and watch with interest as grey begins to mingle with blonde.

I like to keep abreast of fashion trends but on the whole prefer classic myself as I'm petite, parsimonious and picky! Best to steer away from street fashion too. At the risk of offending many, the sight of fleshy knees and thighs poking through ripped jeans is one to be avoided at all costs...

Taking responsibility for myself also means trying to stave off future health problems with a routine of daily exercise of one kind or another. By using it, I am not losing it. (By it I mean vitality, mobility and flexibility).

Not a dining-out 'foodie', I much prefer home-made dishes in the smaller quantities my stomach can comfortably handle and while I love the odd glass of wine as a treat, am unlikely to fall into the habit of regular, excessive consumption so common among middle-aged ladies nowadays!

I don't mean to sound holier-than-thou or patronising, and as a matter-of-fact, often think my brief routines are a form of laziness that gives me more time for other interests! I just want to share the message that often the richness in life lies in simpler things freely available within our own grasp.

Pablo Fanque and The Circus Royal

Growing up in Norwich in 1810, one of five children could not have been easy, more especially if one was of mixed race, so it's perhaps not surprising that young William Darby turned what might have been seen as a disadvantage, to his good fortune. Part African and part English, he joined William Batty's circus as a ten-year-old where he became something of a prodigy learning numerous acrobatic, juggling, tight-rope walking and equestrian skills.

Originally billed as 'Young Darby' he first performed in the sawdust ring in Norwich in 1821 before changing his name to Pablo Fanque, perhaps because it suited his exotic appearance and lent him a more dashing air at a time when minstrel shows were also popular entertainment. Pablo Fanque's horse-training skills were legendary and he had them dancing to music. 'The grace and facility in shifting time and paces with change of the air, is truly surprising.' Another of his famous acts was to leap from a speeding horse over a lengthwise carriage and pair of horses, diving through a military drum on the way!

In 1841 he became the first black circus owner in Britain, and over the next 30 years toured his circus extensively in Britain and Ireland, eventually settling in the north of England. Just imagine for the moment the logistics of moving his entourage around, and the impact of the circus coming to town! For the populace, in an austere world of hardships where slogging daily to stay fed and housed was tough, and with little free time, the sight of the glittering, gilded and colourful circus would have been magical. In an era when most people rarely left their towns and villages, they could enter for a hard-won penny or two into a world of gaudily-dressed tight-rope walkers, tumbling clowns and exhibitions of fisticuffs and horsemanship.

A master of advertising, Fanque used captivating posters to stir imagination ahead of arrival and sometimes drove 'Twelve of his most beautiful Hanoverian and Arabian Steeds’ through the principal streets, accompanied by his ‘celebrated Brass Band’. On one occasion a rope-dancer almost fell to her death when she slipped from a wire strung 30' in the air between two buildings in 1869. After losing her balance pole and clinging in fear, her eventually drop from exhaustion was broken by the piled jackets of men below which saved her from injury and made national news.

Pablo Fanque was a strong character who weathered highs and lows without losing his compassionate streak. Belonging to an association known as the Ancient Shepherds who specialised in helping impoverished families meet funeral expenses, he often organised benefit performances for local charities as well as retiring performers from his own and others' circuses.

In 1967, Pablo's fame was immortalised world-wide in the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the song For the Benefit of Mr. Kite with the line 'the Hendersons will all be there, late of Pablo Fanque's fair, what a scene!' written after John Lennon had bought an old poster for a circus performance in Rochdale from 1843. More recently, Norwich city centre has seen the erection of a fine new student accommodation block close to where the circus impresario was born and which has been named Pablo Fanque House in his honour.

Jem Mace: The First World-Heavyweight Boxing Champion

November, 2020

When I was a young mother living in Norwich, I used to push my babies out in their pram along Dereham Road and was always intrigued by a large stone memorial dedicated to boxer Jem Mace which stood outside the premises of a monumental mason. The name stuck in the back of my mind and now I have learned his amazing history which began in 1831 at Beeston-next-Mileham, a tiny isolated village in the wilds of Norfolk.

From a poor working-class background, young Mace inherited his father's ability to play the fiddle which gave him the opportunity to earn coins playing pubs and fairs. A brawl with three fishermen outside a public house in Great Yarmouth however, saw the end to that with his precious instrument smashed. Enraged, Mace knocked out two of the thugs while the third fled. Impressed by the show of strength from the slight lad, a gent gave Mace a guinea along with the suggestion that he become a prize-fighter.

The 1850s saw the emergent James "Jem" Mace in London where he became an exhibition boxer, fencer and wrestler associated with Nat Langham, a well-known retired prize fighter who ran a booth. This was solid training for Jem as he moved around the country. A good fight with a touch of showmanship meant money in the hat passed around the crowd afterwards! In London he made extra by giving sparring and training sessions at Langham’s Cambrian Stores boxing club.

In September 1858, Mace met Bob Brettle under London Prize Rules in what is now considered to have been the Welterweight Championships of England for £100 a side. (Bearing in mind the average labourer's earnings were £40 per year if he was lucky, this was a good purse!) Though he conceded after only two rounds, in a second attempt he took the title.

Billed theatrically (and incorrectly), first as The Swaffham Gypsy and then The Gypsy, Mace worked his way up to the top of the prize-fighting scene and in 1861, he became Heavyweight Champion of England by beating reigning champion Sam Hurst, 50 pounds heavier and three inches taller, in an eight-round brutal fight at Medway Island, Kent in which he all but killed his opponent before the police arrived. Mace won his first defence of the title against Tom King in 1862, for £200 a side with a rematch in November the same year for the same purse, but a slip to the grass caused his seconds to concede the match.

Salve no doubt to Mace’s bruised ego, came in February 1863 when he received The Windham Cup, a chased gold trophy in recognition for his win and considered to be worth about £100,000 in today’s money! In September of that year, for a split purse of £1,000 Mace fought for and won the English Middleweight title against Joe Goss, using the technique he had perfected.

Over 20 rounds, on 6th August, 1866, Jem regained his title of English Heavyweight Champion, splitting the exceptional £1,000 prize money with his opponent, again Joe Goss, after both men added weight to their bulk.

Successful pugilists found the type of fame and fortune we are familiar with today in what was considered at the time to be the national sport. Such was Mace’s popularity that he drew a crowd of 10,000 to greet him at Liverpool’s Lime Street Station and was carried on their shoulders through the streets on a return visit to the city after the match. Clearly his respect and popularity as boxing instructor and judge following the Liverpool Olympics in the 1860s ensured good crowds wherever he performed.

A bare-knuckle match in a makeshift grass ring.

Despite a veneer of respectability, clandestine matches with an undefined number of rounds and attendant crowds of gamblers and ruffians were arranged to be fought usually outdoors in remote locations and all weathers, and as such were subject to raids by police. Having suffered arrest in 1867 the night before a scheduled title defence and held over in court not to fight again for two years, Mace left England to further his career in America where in May 1870 in Kenner, Louisiana, he defeated English-born American Tom Allen for a massive purse of £2,500 a side. The fight is now considered by boxing historians to have been the first World Heavyweight Championship and a celebrated Mace would go on to give exhibition fights in New Jersey and New York.

Frequent visits to America followed, and in 1878-9, after an attempt on his life, he travelled to Australia to perform around 30 exhibitions under Queensbury Rules which he had a hand in drafting and which required, amongst new rulings, the wearing of gloves.

Jem Mace, New York, 1896

1882 saw Mace in New Zealand where he schooled new boxers and discovered future champions. The following years saw him criss-crossing the globe performing exhibitions in the world of sport showmanship that had begun so early in his career.

A typical travelling boxing booth

Used to the lure of the nomadic fairground circuit and though officially retired from boxing, he toured Lancashire putting on exhibitions with various travelling shows including that of Norwich’s Pablo Fanque (William Darby), the first black man to own and run a circus. Later he put on entertainments across the country in a circus of his own. He also became the proprietor of The Strawberry Gardens pleasure grounds in West Derby, Lancashire featuring running, bowling, wrestling and boxing. Various licenced premises and hotels (including the White Swan Inn in Norwich) and others in America and Australia passed through his hands as the rich and ambitious wanderlust travelled the world and kept company with Royalty, toffs, gamblers and showgirls.

As wealthy man-about-town, U.S.A., 1877

Approaching age 59 in 1890, the draw of the ring proved too much and Mace fought unsuccessfully for the English Heavyweight title losing in four rounds. Never daunted, he continued exhibition fighting, even opening a boxing academy in faraway Cape Town where he performed himself in 1903 and 1904. Throughout all this time, Jem never forgot his musical inheritance and continued to play the violin.

Astonishingly, Mace's last fight was at age 78, shortly before his death in 1910, when he was still travelling the fairground circuit and performing in music-halls as lecturer to Billy LeNeve’s troupe of lady athletes and gentleman boxers. His appearances were sell-out successes: ‘...all they wanted was to see and hear the unconquered champion of the world. Their sole ambition was to gaze upon the veteran of the pugilistic ring, so that every day, and at every performance throughout the week, the standing order at this world-famed establishment was either standing room only or house full.'

A wanderer in later years

It is little surprise to find Jem Mace had no fixed abode in old age since fighter, racehorse owner and sometime dandy, he had made and gambled away a fortune. Married four times (twice bigamously), he had at least 14 children by five women.

In today’s currency, it is estimated that in his prime he made the equivalent of £200,000,000 but for all that, in 1910, at the age of 79, itinerant Jem had returned to playing fiddle at fairs and pubs. Despite his sell-out reputation, he died penniless in Jarrow, Durham. His only possessions were his cherished violin and bust of Tom Sayer, his greatest rival, which he had refused to sell. World-renowned pugilist, Jem Mace was to suffer an ignominious end, finally being buried in an unmarked pauper’s grave.

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In much-belated recognition of his hard-won and largely forgotten achievements, in 2002 Merseyside Former Boxers arranged a memorial headstone for his grave and the city of Norwich has a blue plaque in Swan Lane, in recognition of his success. He has also since been inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame as well as the Australian National Boxing hall of Fame.

Though Mace dictated the story of his life 'Fifty Years a Fighter', published in 1908, he remains pretty-well unknown in his native land where he surely deserves recognition for boxing his way out of illiterate poverty to international stardom in his field, and whose boxing career is longer than any other in recorded history.

Back in Kenner, a bronze life-sized statue of two fighters marks Jem Mace's greatest achievement as the first Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World.

In Norfolk there is practically nothing save the weather-worn monument I saw fifty years ago, re-erected to stand in forlorn isolation beside his father’s grave in the backwaters where it all began, Beeston.