Alec Reid, the ‘Chelsea Snob’.
The first instance in which Bill Savage, Ned Savage’s brother, had come to the attention of the Fancy had been one that had caused something of a minor sensation, after Bill had tangled with Alec Reid, the ‘Chelsea Snob’, in rather unusual circumstances. Bill Savage would fight a ‘turn-up’ with Reid following a fight between Harry Jones, the ‘Sailor Boy’, and Ned Stockman at Epping Forest on 21 September 1824, in which Stockman proved to be the victor. At the conclusion of the battle, the spectators assembled at the King’s Arms, in Stratford, on the way home for some refreshment, and the notion of a turn-up was floated, which was promptly taken up by Alec Reid, who was half-drunk and agreed to meet Bill Savage for £5. The terms having been agreed, the men adjourned to a field behind the King’s Arms, where Harry Holt and Jem Burns stepped up as seconds for the Chelsea Snob, with Bill Savage being looked after by his brother Ned and George Weston.
With Reid labouring under the liberal quantities of alcohol he had consumed, the first four rounds showed him as second best, with Savage ‘proving himself in every way worthy of his name’. It was only thanks to the efforts of Harry Holt in tending to his man with cold water that Reid was induced to snap out of his drunken state with enough clarity to defend himself with his usual judgement. Reid was afterwards well on his way to overpowering Savage, when the Welshman’s supporters, seeing the change in his fortunes, hastily decided to take up arms in defence of their man and began raining sticks down upon the head of the Chelsea Snob. Those spectators who tried to defend the interests of fair play had their skulls cracked by sticks, and in the scenes that followed, Reid’s followers agreed to halve the purse, fearing for the safety of Alec Reid. Reid himself suffered only a few scratches to the face in the attack and was well on his way to winning the fight when the supporters of Bill Savage had turned on him.239
The turn-up with the Chelsea Snob ensured that Bill Savage’s name was quickly known to all, even though he had not contended against any opponent within the prize ring, and it would be some time before he would make his debut in the London Prize Ring. Bill Savage was, like his brother Ned, a wrestler of some skill and he elected to engage William Moyles, the brother in-law of prominent pugilist Ben Burns in a wrestling contest held at the Sluice House on the banks of the New River on 13 October 1824. The conditions of the contest were that the first man to secure three back falls against his opponent was to be declared the winner, with £10 a-side having initially been staked on the outcome, which was later raised to £50. Bill was a cab driver, like his brother Ned, and had laid some groundwork for his career as a professional pugilist by appearing at the Fives Court prior to the encounter with Moyles. Although the men were well matched as regards their size, William Moyles had been picked as the favourite.
Alec Reid, the ‘Chelsea Snob’.
At the start of the match, there was little advantage on either side until Bill drove his antagonist against a table, and afterwards threw Moyles, gaining the first fall. Moyles secured the second fall in the following round, throwing Savage cleverly, making the score one-all. The battle continued with Bill Savage being seen to get the advantage with greater frequency over Moyle, who appeared somewhat winded. In the seventh round, Moyles again successfully threw Savage and the umpires declared that the score was 2/1 in Moyles’s favour. In the ninth round Moyles pressed Savage hard for the final fall and Bill forgot for a moment that he was wrestling and not boxing, and took a pugilistic attitude. Moyles took advantage of his error and grabbed hold of Bill, and threw him, although it was afterwards deemed to be a no-fall by the umpires. The 11th round would see a prolonged struggle end with Bill being thrown again, although the umpires decreed that the fall had been a foul. After a lengthy 25-minute dispute, William Moyles was deemed to have taken the second fall. Bill Savage was thrown for the third time in the 17th round and was finally defeated by his skilful opponent. One spectator who believed he could do far better than Bill was his own brother, Ned Savage, who thought that he could have beaten Moyles. As a consequence, Bill and Ned had a brief wrestling contest straight afterwards, in which Ned proved to be an inferior wrestler than Bill and was thrown twice in just a few minutes by his brother.
Bill Savage’s entry into the ranks of the professional pugilists of the London Prize Ring would be brought to an abrupt halt in April of 1826, when he was hauled before the court in Middlesex in scandalous circumstances. Described as a ‘notorious pugilist’, Bill Savage faced the judgement of the court for having tried to sexually assault his young stepdaughter, Mary Ann Chapman. On a Sunday morning in February, Bill Savage’s wife had left their home in Princes Street in Bedford Row to visit Uxbridge, and was unable to travel home the same night. Arriving home late that evening and finding his wife absent, Bill told his stepdaughter that she would be sleeping with him that night. Being scared of Bill’s temper, and having witnessed Bill throwing knives at her mother following heated arguments on previous occasions, his step-daughter agreed to his demands. After having been awoken and assaulted by Bill in the middle of the night, Mary Ann cried out, ‘Pray, father, let me go! Do, father, let me go!’ Her cries were heard by a female lodger, Mrs Webb, in the next room, who banged on the partition wall and called out to Bill, saying that he should be ashamed of himself, and implored Mary Ann to come to her room. Bill refused to let his stepdaughter go and locked the door, barring Mary Ann’s escape, callously answering that the matter was of no concern to Mrs Webb, and was unmoved by her threat that she would go tell the nightwatchman. Hearing someone at the door soon afterwards, Bill looked out of the window, and saw that it was his wife, and told his terrified stepdaughter to return to her own bed, before opening the door.
The following morning, Bill attempted to conceal his crime after escorting the girl to her workplace, where she was employed as a lace-maker, and implored her not to tell her mother what had taken place the night before. Learning of the assault on her daughter the same day, Bill’s long-suffering wife lost no time in bringing the matter to the attention of the authorities. Mary Ann Chapman tearfully recounted the attack before the court, and her testimony was afterwards corroborated by Mrs Webb, who had stayed up until dawn on the night of the incident, fearful that Bill might renew his assault on the innocent girl. The judgement of the court was quick in coming, and Bill Savage was found guilty of assault, and he was sentenced to imprisonment for 12 months and given hard labour for his sins.240
Bill Savage would fight his first match in the London Prize Ring a month after having finished serving his sentence, although given his status as a ‘notorious pugilist’ at the trial, it seems likely that he might well have indulged in a number of skirmishes of minor importance before this time. Bill made relatively quick work of his opponent, which would appear to have been for the sake of ‘honour’ and not a purse, against a stonemason named Griffiths, beating him in 23 rounds and 45 minutes, which is intriguingly recorded as having come off near the ‘Penitentiary’ on 7 May 1827.241
The following month saw Bill trying to make a match against either Ike Dodd or one ‘Hurley’, but neither man appeared on the date of the proposed meet to discuss the contest at the Three Compasses in Holborn. Bill would also be disappointed in his attempts to make a match against ‘Jennings’, likely to have been one John (or Pat) Jennings, with Savage having placed £1 as his first deposit on a fight to come off on 18 September, with £25 a-side to be deposited at the Castle Tavern in Holborn, on the first day of August. Unfortunately, Bill failed to raise the cash required for the second deposit the following week and was forced to forfeit. In an attempt to raise money and interest in the fight, Bill hastily organised a benefit event for himself at Ben Burn’s establishment, the Rising Sun public house in Windmill Street, having wanted to stake £10 in the hope of landing a match for £50 a-side against Jennings, but was again disappointed in his ambitions.
Undeterred, Bill Savage’s next prize fight of consequence would come off on 28 August 1827, against John Brunston, also known as ‘Brimstone Jack’ or ‘Jack of Finchley’, for a purse of 40 shillings. The battleground was at Colney Heath and took place straight after the third battle between his brother Ned and his long-standing rival, Jem Kirkman. Brimstone Jack had earned his nickname after disposing of all the brickmakers, tradesmen and labourers to be found in the neighbourhood of Finchley. The fight was preceded by some drama, with Brimstone Jack’s wife having followed him to the field of battle and attempted to persuade him not to undertake the fight. Despite her repeated coaxing and scolding, Jack would not be persuaded to give up the match, although it might have been wise if he had. Jack gave a slashing and game performance, but the straight hitting, wrestling abilities and superior experience of Bill Savage would mean that the Finchley man was ultimately outclassed. According to the Weekly Dispatch, Jack gave up the contest after 20 rounds and declared himself satisfied that Savage was the better man and pocketed ten shillings as a reward for his valour.242 Bell’s Life recorded that the fight lasted just 14 rounds and its account was a little less colourful than that of the Dispatch, which had claimed that Brunston’s wife was the main cause of his defeat, having insisted on staying within the ropes and apparently ‘more than once made free use of her mauleys for the correcting of those who dared to speak a word against her husband’, while simultaneously berating her unfortunate spouse for his fighting abilities. At the end of the contest, Jack’s wife reportedly led her conquered husband from the ring and promised to give him ‘a rare time of it when she got him home’.
The next opponent firmly fixed in Bill Savage’s sights was Harry Jones, the ‘Sailor Boy’ who had previously made his willingness to fight Savage known, in the event his preferred opponents, Barney Aaron or Ned Stockman, were not prepared to meet him.243
At a benefit event for Tom Gaynor held at the Tennis Court, Bill mounted the stage and announced his willingness to fight Harry Jones for £25 a-side. Jones made no hesitation in joining Bill on stage, staking a sovereign on the meeting, with two more to be put down to bind the match that evening at the Castle Tavern. At the public house that evening, Harry Jones’s backers failed to put in an appearance and the money already put down was forfeit.
For some unknown reason, after offering to post the £25 to secure the fight and the whole of the money was produced, the supporters of Jones promptly backed out of making any agreement, so nothing was done.244
Attempts to make an agreement to fight faltered in the weeks that followed, with Harry Jones having been a no-show at Hood’s, the fighting tailor’s establishment on the Strand, when Bill Savage appeared with his backer to meet Jones.245 The Sailor Boy would again forfeit a couple of weeks later, having apparently been more tempted to make a match against Dan M’Kenzie.246 With the proposed match against Jones having stalled, Bill Savage would state his willingness to meet Paddy Flynn, in the event that Harry Jones would not come to terms.247
Bill Savage and Harry Jones finally agreed to fight on the evening of 18 December, although after having finally made a match, Harry Jones was sufficiently angered by Bill’s conduct at the meeting to write a letter to the editor of Bell’s Life, highlighting the underhand behaviour of both Bill and his brother, Ned:248
TO THE EDITOR OF BELL’S LIFE IN LONDON.
SIR – The cowardly conduct of Bill Savage, on Tuesday, compels me to lay the same before the public, for them to judge whether such men ought to be admitted into the Ring. After I had won the toss to name the place of fighting, he declined making the match, and afterwards told my backer (who will come forward at any time) that he and his brother Ned would both pitch into me together. Now I have only to say, I will fight the pair of them in a fortnight for 25l. each. If they decline this, I am open to fight any man of my weight for 25l. I should like to give Dan M’Kenzie a chance.
HARRY JONES, Sailor Boy.
By this time, Bill Savage had already entered into negotiations with Paddy Flynn, so for the time being, his rivalry with Harry Jones was put to one side. Bill sent an answer to the Sailor Boy’s letter, which was published in the newspaper the following week:249
TO THE EDITOR OF BELL’S LIFE IN LONDON.
SIR – In answer to Harry Jones’s chaff in your last, I have only to say, I would have had great pleasure in giving him the preference to Paddy Flynn; but my friends thought Paddy an easier customer, and gave him the turn. I will, however, make a match with Harry, win or lose with Flynn, for fifty or a hundred pounds.
Yours, &c. WILLIAM SAVAGE.
On Tuesday, 15 January 1828, Bill Savage and Paddy Flynn appeared at the appointed battleground at Banstead Downs. While both men had support amongst their friends and followers, neither could be said to have enjoyed a sound reputation amongst the Fancy. In Bill’s case, it was said that both ‘Bill Savage and his brother Ned are both well known in the sporting houses, and perhaps, more jaw work has taken place in their attempts to make matches, than has been observed with any other men in the Ring’. Despite his limited pugilistic record, some people thought Bill was a superior fighter to his brother, given Ned’s reliance on underhanded techniques and his rather old-fashioned left-handed ‘chop’, and Bill’s supporters were confident of his victory against Flynn. Paddy Flynn, known as a ‘St Giles Irishman’, had never before fought in the London Prize Ring, but had won some praise for the manner in which he had distinguished himself in contests against other amateurs at the Old Oak Common. As a consequence of his great strength, athletic frame and his notable ability in throwing an opponent, the odds favoured Flynn at 6/4 and it was thought that his superior weight of 12st 6lbs would be too much for the 11st Welshman to overcome.
After having arrived at the battleground, the superiority of Paddy Flynn’s physique was obvious to all. On this occasion, Bill Savage retained the services of Harry Holt and Josh Hudson as seconds, while Alec Reid and Savage’s rival, Harry Jones, had been engaged by Paddy Flynn. As the fight began, it was Flynn who attacked from the outset and, after some exchanges, the Irishman took the upper hand in the throwing that followed until the 84th round, when Bill Savage was heavily cross-buttocked and Flynn fell upon him. At one point in the fight, the contest was temporarily drawn to a halt by a bulldog owned by a member of the Fancy, which broke into the ring and seized Flynn and then Savage by the drawers while the men were struggling with each other on the ropes. After the dog had been retrieved, the fight was able to continue. Heavily spurred on by the encouragement of his second, Harry Jones, Paddy Flynn punished Savage at will in the rounds that followed. Seeing that their man no longer stood a chance of victory, Bill Savage’s seconds gave in for him after 91 rounds and one hour and 35 minutes of hard fighting. At the end of the fight, both of Bill’s eyes and ears were dreadfully puffed up and he was conveyed to his carriage and taken away. Despite a few marks upon his left eye and nose, Flynn was not nearly as badly punished and elected to stay on the battleground to watch the following fight between Bill’s brother, Ned, and Spring the Conjuror.
Bill Savage’s performance was viewed with a great deal of disappointment and it was thought that apart from fighting badly, he had been overmatched, having ‘nothing decisive in his style of fighting’, and had exhibited the same deficiencies of his brother, Ned, in not being a ‘finishing hitter’. Paddy Flynn owed his victory to his ability in throwing; Bill Savage had been thrown in almost every round, even though Flynn had showed a reluctance to seize the advantage by falling on the Welshman with his full weight. It was to be a disappointing demonstration of skill on the part of both Savage brothers, as Ned had resorted to falling on ‘Spring the Conjuror’ with his knees to secure victory in the match that followed. Undeterred by the defeat to Flynn, Bill Savage announced himself as willing to engage Harry Jones in a contest for £25 or £50 a short time later.250 With the Sailor Boy having finally agreed to fight, deposits to bind the match were made throughout February to meet towards the end of March for £25 a-side.
On the day of the battle, 25 March 1828, the Fancy met at the New Inn public house in Staines, run by a Mr Shirley, who had also overseen the training of Harry Jones in preparation for the fight. Harry Jones was in excellent condition as a result of his exertions, weighing 10st, and was supremely confident of victory. Although Bill Savage was a full stone heavier, and enjoyed an advantage in reach, it was thought that the comparative youth and vigour of the Sailor Boy made him the favourite. Dick Curtis and Young Dutch Sam arrived at the New Inn, having been retained to second Harry Jones, although a rumour had spread that Dick Curtis had expressed a doubt that Jones would emerge victorious. With doubts being cast upon Curtis’s impartiality, Harry Jones’s backer declined his services. Feeling his honour had been undermined, Dick Curtis at once decided to throw his assistance behind Bill Savage, joining Alec Reid as Bill Savage’s second. Ned Stockman then elected to join Young Dutch Sam in seconding Harry Jones, in place of Curtis.
The party made their way to a meadow close to the town of Chertsey, where a select band of spectators watched with interest as the men entered the ring. Harry Jones was the first to throw his hat in the air as a mark of his willingness to do battle, although a gust of wind blew it out of the ring, which some thought to be a bad omen for his success in the battle to come. Bill Savage then dropped his hat within the ropes and it remained exactly where it lay, and Dick Curtis, perhaps fearing the Fancy might take it as a further indication that his impartiality had been undermined, exclaimed, ‘Blow it! I wish it had gone out’, and kicked it out of the ring and across the field.
After a cautious start, Harry Jones was the first to attack and landed hard blows on Bill Savage’s mouth, and while Bill showed a great deal of caution and judgement in stopping punches, he was often thrown violently in the close by his opponent. While Jones targeted the head of Savage, Bill showed a determination to punish the Sailor Boy’s body and had a great deal of success, although by the fourth round it was Bill who was bleeding as he came up to the scratch. More claret was spilled by the end of the round, when a smashing left hand from Jones caused further damage. Both men fought for all they were worth in the following rounds, Bill Savage continually hitting at the ribs of his antagonist, while Jones continued to punish his opponent with heavy shots to the head. As the rounds mounted, it was clear that while Bill remained as game as ever, his chance of securing victory was becoming more slender as the fight progressed. The strength of Harry Jones remained undimmed and he began to punch Savage at will until the 29th round. After one hour and two minutes of fighting, Savage was forced back on to the ropes and was hit until he went down, almost insensible. At this point, it was thought that the fight was over, but to the surprise of all, Bill Savage recovered sufficiently to again come to the scratch at the call of time.
It looked as though a turning point had been reached in the 37th round, when Jones had become sickened by the repeated punishment to his body and Savage was told to seize the advantage. Bill Savage’s hopes disappeared in an instant as Harry Jones vomited his stomach contents and resumed battle, going on to floor Bill with a great deal of cleverness. It was in the 53rd round that Bill’s brother, Ned, started shedding tears at the deplorable state of his brother and threw his hat into the ring as a token of Bill’s defeat. Bill refused to acknowledge that he was beaten and fought on for another three rounds, but received such heavy blows that he was unable to continue, having been left completely blind after one hour and 35 minutes of hard fighting. Caution at the beginning of the match had undermined Bill’s chances of success, the Welshman having tried to fight the Sailor Boy at distance, although he had refused to admit defeat and it was said that it was ‘impossible for a human being to have shown more game than Savage’. The ‘dreadful state’ of Bill Savage as he was led from the ring was strongly contrasted with the condition of Harry Jones, who did not shed a drop of blood during the fight and looked to all intents and purposes unmarked, although he admitted to his backers that he had been severely battered about the body by the strength of Savage’s hitting in the closes.
Bill Savage tried to fight on, despite being almost completely blinded by the ‘Sailor Boy’.
There is an interesting back-story to the fight between Bill Savage and Harry Jones, which is related by Frank J Bradley in Famous Fights Past and Present, although not recorded in any of the newspaper reports of the contest. Following the Sailor Boy’s early battles against Ned Stockman and his questionable defeat of Young Dutch Sam, a question mark had been drawn over his honesty, with it being suspected by many that Harry Jones had only made a point of winning when it had been worth his while to do so. Prior to the fight against Bill Savage, a rumour had circulated that Jones had been approached to throw the fight. Frank Bradley claims that these reports were well founded and that Harry Jones was forced to seek out the counsel of his backers after he had been offered £50 to lose the fight to Savage. His backers suggested that Jones should pocket the money and deceive the miscreants into thinking that he intended on losing to Savage until entering the ring and then defeat the Welshman. The Sailor Boy afterwards pretended to go along with the fixers and attempted to get them to hand over the money prior to the contest, but they refused to trust in the pugilist’s word, so the negotiations fell through. Having been disappointed in their initial efforts to fix the fight, the band of rogues decided to try another tactic to ensure the victory of Bill Savage.
As the backers of Harry Jones had been alerted to the possibility of foul play, they made sure to bring their own water bottles and brandy from London, concerned that someone might try to drug the Sailor Boy. Their fears proved to be well founded and in the 22nd round the water bottle of Harry Jones was skilfully swapped for a doctored bottle by one of the scoundrels. Luckily, the principal backer of Jones noticed the substitution and alerted Jones’s second, Young Dutch Sam, to their deceitful plan. When the bottle was poured out, it revealed a ‘thick, puddled mess’ which was thought likely to be a ‘poisonous narcotic drug’ that would paralyse Harry Jones, winning the villains the stakes and the bets. The supporters of Jones were furious that someone had tried to tamper with their man, and the bottle was put to one side so that the contents could be analysed after the fight. Unfortunately, in the excitement of the later rounds, Dick Curtis accidentally broke the bottle, so the truth of its contents was never established.251
The fight between Harry Jones and Bill Savage would be the last big fight in which Bill Savage would appear in the London Prize Ring, and although he would occasionally second other pugilists, and appeared at the Fives Court, there would be no further contests of note. In May, a potential opponent named ‘Sabes’ came forward, offering £30 to £25 to try to secure a match, although nothing would come of it.252 Bill Savage’s last recorded fight took place on the evening of 23 September 1828, against ‘Pick, the Bristol Youth’ at Battle bridge, as a consequence of a dispute that had started in a public house. Bill’s gameness was as much in evidence as ever, although both men were reportedly out of condition and after a hard battle lasting an hour and three quarters for a mere £3 a-side, Pick was declared the winner.253 While Bill Savage hoped to reverse the decision in a rematch, staking a sovereign to try to induce Pick to meet him, Pick forfeited, despite Savage’s desire to make a fresh contest for £25 a-side.254
With no challengers or paydays on the horizon, Bill Savage would appear to have gone back to his day job as a London cab driver. He was summoned to Bow Street court in August the following year to answer charges of dangerous driving by a hackney-coach driver. The coach driver alleged that Bill Savage had been driving his horse at a gallop in the opposite direction, when one of Bill’s wheel shafts had apparently come loose and pierced the breast of his horse, penetrating its heart and instantly killing his steed. Witnesses to the affair were quick to defend Bill Savage’s innocence, stating that the coachman had been racing against another, trying to impress a ‘girl of the town’ that was seated beside each of them, so the charges against Bill Savage were dismissed.255
Despite having never won a prize fight of consequence after his victory against Brimstone Jack, Bill had been viewed as a talented wrestler and perhaps a boxer of greater technical ability than his brother, Ned. Sadly, with the departure of Bill Savage from the ring, and the disgrace of his brother, the careers of the ‘Welsh Savages’ were quickly forgotten in the chronicles of the prize ring, beyond the footnotes recording their ill-conceived turn-ups against Dick Curtis and Alec Reid.256 The next Welsh pugilist of prominence would do a great deal more to restore the reputation of Welsh prize fighters on home ground. William Charles of Newport would appear to be the first Welshman to have been widely supported by his countrymen as having been the ‘Welch Champion’ in the long years that had passed since Ellis Pannwr had first raised his clenched fist.