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Tom Sayers (15 or 25 May〔Both dates have been suggested, but there is no firm evidence either way.〕 1826 – 8 November 1865) was an English bare-knuckle prize fighter. There were no formal weight divisions at the time, and although Sayers was only five feet eight inches tall and never weighed much more than 150 pounds, he frequently fought much bigger men. In a career which lasted from 1849 until 1860, he lost only one of sixteen bouts. His lasting fame depends exclusively on his final contest, when he faced American champion John Camel Heenan〔''The Times'', 6 January 1864. "Carmel" is an erroneous spelling of Heenan’s middle name.〕 in a battle which was widely considered to be boxing’s first world championship. It ended in chaos when the spectators invaded the ring, and the referee finally declared a draw. Regarded as a national hero, Sayers, for whom the considerable sum of £3,000 was raised by public subscription, then retired from the ring. After his death five years later at the age of 39, a huge crowd watched his cortège on its journey to London’s Highgate Cemetery. ==Early years== Tom Sayers was born in May 1826 in a slum in the Brighton alley of Pimlico (now Tichborne Street) not far from the Royal Pavilion. He was the youngest of the five children of William〔Marriage certificate of Thomas Sayers and Sarah Henderson, St Peter’s Church, Islington, Middlesex, dated 8 March 1853. This ends the uncertainty regarding the first name of Sayers senior.〕 Sayers (33), a shoemaker, and his wife Maria, ten years her husband’s senior. At the age of six, Tom became a Jack in the Water, earning a few coppers performing small duties for holidaymakers and fishermen on Brighton beach. Claims that he attended school in 1836 may be unfounded,〔For the case that Sayers attended school, see (Middle Street School. ) *For the case against, see Manson, p. 28.〕 and he was barely literate. At the age of thirteen, he went to London, where he stayed with his sister Eliza and her husband Robert King, a builder. Sayers became a bricklayer, and for the next seven years shuttled between his home town and the capital. He is known to have worked on the London Road viaduct outside Brighton, and may well have taken part in the construction of London’s King’s Cross Station. In 1846, he finally settled in the capital, taking up residence in the notorious slum of Agar Town, just north of where St Pancras Station now stands. It was around 1847 that he set up home in a more salubrious part of Camden Town with Sarah Henderson.〔Marriage certificate of Thomas Sayers and Sarah Henderson, St Peter’s Church, Islington, Middlesex, dated 8 March 1853. The claim that he married a widow named Sarah Powell is without foundation.〕 Only fifteen years old, Sarah was unable to marry without her father’s permission, and her daughter Sarah (1850-1891), and son Tom (1852-1936)〔Sarah Sayers birth certificate, registered 10 July 1850; Tom Sayers birth certificate, registered 7 October 1852. Sarah Mensley (married name) death certificate registered 6 March 1891; Tom Sayers death certificate registered 27 January 1936〕 by Sayers were consequently illegitimate. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Tom Sayers」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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