Boxers clash with law of the land in bout on riverbank

Newzealand’s first boxing bout, ago, had strange repercussions in Christchurch. MIKECREANREPORTS. years

Two bare knucklers slugged it out in New Zealand’s first recorded boxing bout, near Christchurch, 150 years ago. But boxing was against the law in pioneering Canterbury and the fight had a strange sequel in court.

Dick Appleyard of Kaikoura is the great-great grandson of exLondon professional boxer Henry (Harry) Jones, who went 30 rounds with Lyttelton wharf navvie George Barton before putting him away to claim the £100 purse that was at stake. Appleyard says the 150th anniversary of the historic event should not be allowed to pass without reference.

The scene was the southern bank of the Waimakariri River, near the present motorway bridges. The fight took place on July 8, 1862. Historian Robert Logan says in his authoritative book, Waimakariri, that four posts were driven into the ground and rope strung around them to create a boxing ring.

About 600 spectators turned up. They were looking forward to the stoush and must have become rowdy as the police at Kaiapoi heard the baying crowd and three officers rode to the scene on horseback.

Logan says the police waved loaded pistols to disperse the mob and stop the fight. Some of the spectators got nasty at the prospect of being denied their spectacle. They threw objects at the officers and issued threats to their lives.

Grossly outnumbered, the policemen wisely backed down. Some minor scuffling ensued but the fight at last got under way.

‘‘Stripped to the waist, Jones and Barton fought a bloody battle for more than an hour until the former was declared winner,’’ Logan says.

News of the bout caused a storm in Canterbury society. The Press revved up the revulsion of civilised citizens with an editorial slamming the promoters for seeking gain from a disgraceful exhibition and the spectators for lusting at the sight of two ‘‘fellows injuring and disfiguring each other’’.

The editorial went on to damn prizefighting as a cause of ‘‘riot, debauchery and excess’’ that attracted only ‘‘the dissolute and depraved’’.

This said, charges had to be laid. The fighters were charged with assault and ‘‘making an affray to the terror and disturbance’’ of people present. The fight promoters, assistants and referee were accused of aiding and abetting. All appeared in the Christchurch Magistrates’ Court and were committed to the Supreme Court for trial by jury.

The jury found them guilty, though Jones and Barton got off the ‘‘affray’’ charge. The findings would normally have attracted harsh penalties but the judge was surprisingly lenient. Jones and Barton were sentenced to a month in jail.

The others were fined £10 each, except one, described as ringleader of the faction that threatened the police officers, who was sentenced to 14 days in jail. He apologised and his term was reduced to seven days.

Why was the judge so soft? It might have had something to do with the fact that spectators at the pugilistic spectacle included a magistrate, several justices of the peace, a vicar, the Crown prosecutor and diverse practitioners of the legal profession.

Accounts in An Encyclopaedia of New Zealand and on the Boxing New Zealand website differ slightly. They say the charges were dropped altogether when the court learned that so many prominent civic leaders had been among those urging the fighters on. Logan’s version is probably more accurate.

Appleyard says his great-great grandfather later moved to the West Coast, where gold had just been discovered.

Undefeated in the ring in New Zealand, Jones died on the Coast and is buried in the Blackball Cemetery.