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Record
Entry Type
Person
Surname
Wharton
Forenames
James "Jem"
Also Known As
Jemmy the Black, Jem Molineaux, Young Molineaux, The Moroccan Prince
Place
Liverpool
Epithet
boxer
Dates
1813-1856
Gender Identity
Male
Cultural Heritage
[Black]
Biography
James Wharton was undefeated pugilist (bareknuckle boxer) active between 1833 and 1840. Having apparently learnt to box while working as a cabin boy aboard 'The Hopewell'.
Key Events
16 Dec 1851 - Wharton is a second at the fight between Henry Paulson and Tom Paddock at Cross 'O The Hands, near Turnditch. In March 1852, Wharton and 14 others (including Paulson and Paddock) were tried for the riot and assault that occurred at the event. Wharton was sentenced to 10 months hard labour.
Family Tree
Sources provide conflicting evidence as to whether Wharton was born in Tangiers, Morocco or London. He is said to have been "half-Nubian" indicating that one of his parents was Black (Nubia being one of the earliest civilisations of ancient Africa in a region in what is now Sudan).
Source
Peter Fryer (2018) 'Staying Power: The History of Black People in Britain', pp. 456-457.
'The fight between Paddock and Paulson - Commital to the Assize of the principals and four others', Nottinghamshire Guardian, 25 December 1851, p. 2.
'The late prize-fight in Derbyshire', Nottingham Review, 26 December 1851, p. 3.
'The late fight and riot at the Cross-O'-Th'-Hands, Turnditch', Derbyshire Courier, 27 December 1851
'Pugilistic riot at Turnditch: Derbyshire Lent Assizes', The Era', 21 March 1852, p. 5.
See also National Portrait Gallery, NPG L259, Portrait of Jem Wharton by William Daniels, 1839. Link: https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/portrait/mw275512
Authorised Form of Name
Wharton; James "Jem" (1813-1856); boxer
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