John Broughton (c. 1703–1789)

by unknown engraver

© National Portrait Gallery, London

Broughton, John (c. 1703–1789), pugilist, was born of unknown parents, probably in London, although claims have been made for Baunton in Gloucestershire. He was apprenticed rather late in life (31 May 1723) to John Martin, a Thames waterman, and assigned the same day to the latter's brother Thomas, a lighterman. On 1 August 1730 he won the annual rowing race held on the River Thames, Doggett's Coat and Badge, against five other watermen who had completed their apprenticeships during the previous twelve months. At the time Broughton was plying his trade at Hungerford Stairs (on the north bank of the Thames where Hungerford Bridge now stands).

Broughton's pugilistic abilities are first reputed to have come to the fore when he comprehensively defeated a waterman following a difference of opinion. By the early 1730s he was contending with some of the country's leading fistic exponents, one of the most skilful of whom was Thomas Allen, a St Giles pipe-maker more usually known as Pipes. In 1730 they engaged in a 55-minute battle, and advertisements in contemporary newspapers show that they were later scheduled to meet again at least three further times. These were at James Stokes's amphitheatre in May 1731 and May 1732, and in November 1734 at Thomas Sibblis's (formerly James Figg's) establishment. Among other pugilists Broughton encountered during that period were the celebrated Westminster cabinet-maker John Gretton (Gretting), a fellow waterman, Thomas Edwards, and Charles Raventon (Reventon), another cabinet-maker. In the second half of the 1730s his most significant contests included those against George Taylor the Barber in May 1737 and a coachman, George Stephenson (Stevenson), in March of the next year. Both matches were for £100 and were attended by a number of persons of distinction. At the latter, which lasted 16½ minutes, a barber was squeezed to death attempting to see the confrontation. During Broughton's career he fought Stephenson on at least two other occasions. Captain John Godfrey, a highly respected contemporary sporting amateur, wrote of witnessing Broughton triumph in a forty-minute battle. Later, in April 1744, Broughton was again victorious in a near nine-minute set-to for a very considerable sum (Penny London Morning Advertiser, 23–25 April 1744). One of his bouts against Stephenson was the subject of 'The Gymnasiad, or, Boxing Match: a very short, but very curious epic poem' (1744) by Paul Whitehead, which the satirist dedicated to Broughton.

On 1 January 1743 Broughton set down his proposals for erecting an amphitheatre in London dedicated to boxing and sought contributions towards the cost. He envisaged an establishment where the gentry were not troubled by the populace, and contests were disputed only by those suitably skilled and proven. He suggested that he was the person most qualified to preside over events since he remained undefeated and possessed the physical presence required. On the premises Broughton planned an academy where gentlemen could learn to box with mufflers protecting them from the 'Inconveniency of black Eyes, broken Jaws, and bloody Noses' (Broughton, 4). The amphitheatre, which he advertised in the press as being in Oxford Road, opened the same year. His regulations for fistic combat there were a significant innovation inasmuch as they constituted the sport's first set of organized rules and remained its guidelines for fair play for almost a century. Besides pugilism, the entertainments at the amphitheatre included occasional contests involving weapons, and even bear-baiting. In 1748 Broughton announced that he had enlarged the amphitheatre's gallery considerably, and proposed opening a boxing academy in the Haymarket (Daily Advertiser, 1 Feb 1748).

Broughton's last contest was against John Slack, a butcher who originally hailed from Norfolk. It occurred as a result of an altercation on 8 March 1750 between the two men, and took place at Broughton's amphitheatre on 11 April of that year. An advertisement of two days before the encounter declared that Broughton had enjoyed an 'uninterrupted Course of Victories' for the previous twenty-four years and, having retired, only accepted Slack's challenge because his manhood had been affronted (Daily Advertiser, 9 April 1750). For the first two minutes Broughton was the strong favourite, but Slack soon succeeded in temporarily blinding his more seasoned adversary and, after just over fourteen minutes, emerged the unexpected winner. Although it has been suggested that the venue was closed down following Broughton's defeat by Slack, it in fact remained in existence for over three years after the event. During this period the press of the time was largely against the amphitheatre, even going as far as to describe it as a 'Nursery for Tyburn' (Penny London Post, 6–8 Feb 1751). However, by August 1754 the Gentleman's Magazine was lamenting the 'cruelty of that law, which has shut up our amphitheatres' and left the fistic 'professors' redundant.

Broughton's height was approximately 5 ft 11 in. and in his prime he was extremely broad-chested and muscular. His development was such that he was one of the models used by the noted sculptor John Michael Rysbrack for his statue of Hercules. Godfrey considered that Broughton owed his position as the premier pugilist of his age to having 'Strength equal to what is human, Skill and Judgement equal to what can be acquired, undebauched Wind, and a bottom Spirit, never to pronounce the word ENOUGH' (Godfrey, 55–6). Broughton himself appeared to have had considerable faith in his own abilities. An anecdote was told of him that when accompanying the duke of Cumberland (with whom he was much in favour at the time) on a military expedition, he was shown a formidable foreign regiment and asserted that he could beat every member of the corps, albeit with a breakfast between each contest.

Broughton was undoubtedly one of the king's bodyguard of the yeomen of the guard and was probably the John Broughton, yeoman (bed) hanger, who accompanied George II to Hanover when the king took command of the army in 1743. Towards the end of 1768 Broughton, described in affidavits published in the Public Advertiser (13 December 1768) as 'of Lambeth, in the County of Surry [sic], one of his Majesty's Yeomen of the Guards', was actively involved in hiring a gang of ruffians which was sent to Brentford, on behalf of one of the candidates, Sir William Beauchamp Proctor, on the day of the election of a knight of the shire for the county of Middlesex. The purpose of the mob was unclear, being either to preserve order or to impede the election of Proctor's opponent. Following the resulting disturbance on 8 December two men, one of whom was said in court to have been engaged by Broughton, were subsequently found guilty of murder, although later reprieved.

The last remaining exponent of the old school of pugilists, Broughton was still teaching as late as 1787, charging 5s. a lesson or 1 guinea if required to stand up to his students. He died on 8 January 1789 at his house at Walcot Place, Kennington Road, Lambeth, where he had kept his coffin in readiness for many years. Although some contemporary journals stated that he was interred in Lambeth church (church of St Mary), it is apparent from the burial records of Westminster Abbey that he was laid to rest there on 21 January. These records confirm that he lies in the west cloister next to his wife, Elizabeth, who passed away, aged fifty-nine, on 7 December 1784 and was buried eleven days later. The fees for Broughton's funeral amounted to £10 4s. 3d. It appears that the dean at the time objected to the words 'Champion of England' on the gravestone and a gap was left in the inscription. This was not filled until 1988, when in addition to the original proposed wording, 'Prizefighter' was added for clarification. The chief beneficiary of Broughton's estate, which was believed to have been worth upwards of £7000, was his great-niece Catherine Monk, whom he had brought up from infancy and later entrusted with the management of his household.