Teddy Lowe, Lancashire Wrestling Champion, Whitworth

[RuslanPashayev]

yes and no...of course every sport fan "admires his heroes"...but the thing is I dont actually associate those sport arenas with wrestling, I associate them mostly with Pedestrianism which was number one sport in England back then, peds were admired. Again "foot racing" was one of historical English sports since rural times, and new, industrialization era just brought it to another level, level of sports, rather than what it was prior to that, basically a hobby. Esp in Lancashire, famous Lancashire Runners...all those sport grounds' main focus wasnt WRESTLING...it was Pedestrianism. Wrestling Boom happened to happen way way later...in the early 1900. Back in the 1860's they still practiced regional wrestling, meaning each county had their own version or style, Cornish, Cumberland, Lancashire etc.

[RuslanPashayev]

winner of the wrestling championship tournament in the 1860's could win up to 10 pounds in the 1860's...which was a lot....just imagine most of those champions were in their early 20s and they either were colliers or weavers (in the earlier days)...its Lancashire...how much those people would make in their daily life? like 1 pound or maximum 30 shillings in 2 weeks or something like that...basically up to 3-4 pounds a month, of the hardest work imaginable in the pit.

[RuslanPashayev]

most of them would dream of just making some savings and then invest it in more profitable business and retire from mining...of course their golden dream was to become  a publican, beer seller. And yes the most successful wrestlers who became financially stable at some point all became owners of public houses. A lot of great names from the 60's...I did study English Wrestling a lot, to me it was the Golden Era of Lancashire Wrestling Style...

[Footo]

I didn't see it mentioned anywhere but "The Bacup Times" was the local newspaper of the time  covering the years 1865 to 1965  - originals are found at the Bacup Natural History Museum which is open on a Tuesday and Thursday for a few hours at a time. I saw that you'd emailed them - why not give them a ring on the above days there's a phone number on their website contacts.

There's a local lady who has a "Bacup Times" website giving some history on the area - unfortunately there is no search facility and has also written a book about the area.

http://www.bacuptimes.co.uk/entertainmentandpleasure.htm


Barbara

[heywood]

I called into my local archives yesterday to see if there was anything there - but no. Some articles in the paper are archived and there was a brief reference to the Higginshaw grounds but nothing of any consequence.
I was curious as to its whereabouts but have now found it on an old map.

This article fulfills all the clichés about Northerners 
http://www.rootschat.com/links/01kqc/

To balance that here is a thesis on Pedestrianism which I would you think you have seen.

http://www.rootschat.com/links/01kqb/

[RuslanPashayev]

Dear Barbara, I didnt know about Bacup Times, wow, great info I am going to email them as well.
I ordered online Teddy's death certificate, no ideal how long itll take to get here to America, Im in Ohio by the way, hahahaha But yeah Teddy was local celebrity I am sure Bacup Times covered his life in details and yeah his sporting peak was the years 1865-1870...

[RuslanPashayev]

And yeah I am friends with Samantha...shes great researcher, she studied Copenhagen grounds a lot, mostly pedestrianism

[RuslanPashayev]

Hello Everyone who participated in this discussion. I am trying to locate any photos/sketches/lithographs of Edmund Law/Teddy Lowe...I know that most of Victorian sportsmen from the 1860's were photographed by famous George Newbold, Illustrated Sporting News almost always used his photographs in their newspapers. Any ideas where in Greater Manchester they may have preserved photos of local sports celebrities? Again in the 1860's Manchester esp Copenhagen Gorunds was heart of pedestrianism sport number one in Victorian England. Those who promoted wrestling at the grounds were the same people who organized pedestrian championships. Most famous of course was owner of the grounds - Thomas Hayes. Thanks again. Kind regards, Ruslan