Tommy Maloy: Hednesford Scamp to Bolton Boxing Champ

Click on images to enlarge. The inscription: Tom B Maloy was interesting both for spelling and the use of a middle initial.  https://www.euroantiquewatches.com/.

Every so often a friend that deals in antiques asks me to do a basic biography on someone whose name is engraved on a watch, medal or other item he has. If I can find them, I provide some basic detail that can be found in the more easily obtainable sources: such as the census, church and general register office indexes, burial registers and newspapers, for example. While this is done to add colour to the item’s past, I mainly do it as I find it interesting; indeed, I have already put on the blog stories about a watch and fob I own, as well as tracing a few old book dedications. Anyway, recently I was asked about tracing a boxing medal: a medal that was awarded to a Tom B Maloy by the B.A.B.C. for defeating a J Mann of Bolton, in two rounds, during a bout held on 9 October 1895. The obverse and reverse of the medal is shown above and below.

The boxing medal, front, awarded to Tom B Maloy in 1895. https://www.euroantiquewatches.com/.

Now, I am no expert on boxing but I know of a researcher that specialises in the sport and neither Maloy nor Mann appeared on his on-line lists of past boxers: this is likely due to the sport being in its professional infancy in 1895 (partly to do with the adoption of the ‘Queensberry rules’ and the struggle for the sport to be seen as legitimate and different to bare-knuckle prize-fighting, but also that many fighters were amateurs, as was the organisation of the sport, and there were few formally established titles).

Further, from what I understand the first official heavyweight world champion, Gentleman Jim Corbett (who defeated John L Sullivan, the then accepted world champion), was only declared in 1892 and prior to this so called ‘champions’ were often just localised, undefeated fighters. Also, the sport was not adopted by the Olympics until 1904 and even then it was not included in 1912 as the host country, Sweden, banned the sport. Maloy’s medal, to be fair, and contrary to the title of this article, simply declares he won ‘1st prize’, and does not break into the realms of him being champion of the Club, Bolton, Lancashire or all England. 

Maloy would prove an interesting challenge and, while I have to say I cannot completely prove the case, due to the fact that Thomas was not listed in any source as a professional boxer, I can honestly say that I was personally satisfied that I had tracked him down to, let us say, beyond a reasonable doubt. What I discovered led to this blog post – not just because the brief story may be of some slight interest to some people within the boxing or Bolton communities (and I would love them to add anything to this story, just politely), but it transpired that Tom B Maloy spent some of his school days in Hednesford – which is an area Wyrleyblog covers.  

The first thing to do was to pull any clues from the item itself: here being that we are looking at a boxing award presented by the B.A.B.C – which is likely a boxing club – and the town of Bolton is mentioned (hence likely making it a Bolton boxing club). A date is supplied, which can be used for obtaining a newspaper report on the bout, and two names are given, however, care would be needed as while J Mann was stated to be from Bolton, no reference was given to Maloy’s place of residence/origin (and therefore it did not automatically mean that Maloy was from the town).

Another issue to be wary of was spelling. Experience shows you that a surname like Maloy can often go through a plethora of different spellings and, indeed, this story sees several variations of Maloy in use both before 1895 and, interestingly, after it. Saying that, these fears over wild variations in spelling need to be balanced off with one potential positive – that if the engravers bothered to include a middle initial then it was not only important to Maloy but it also gave more credence that the spelling of Maloy on the medal was correct as he would spell it himself at that time. As it happened, this is what turned out to be the case as his name on the 1911 census for Bolton would be Thomas Barker Maloy.

The first port of call would be a write-up in the local newspapers covering the bout on 9 October 1895. Strangely, perhaps reflecting the status of boxing or the boxing club within the town – in that it was not considered newsworthy – or possibly simply due to spatial reasons within the newspaper around the date in question, the bout was not covered by the Bolton Evening News on or around that date. And so we move on to the two names on the medal. 

J Mann, despite him being described as from Bolton, cannot be traced with any certainty as to give me confidence; a Tom Maloy, however, appears in two newspaper reports that also give a clear indication that he was also from the town. The first is from the Manchester based publication the Sporting Chronicle, printed from 1871-1983, and is actually a series of advertisements from 10 December 1897 onward stating that Maloy was from Bolton and will be fighting a George Razell (the name is difficult to read) at the Stalybridge Gym Club (Manchester way) in a bantam-weight (both weighing 7st 10lb) contest over 10 rounds for a silver cup. A report in the same newspaper on 18 December said that while Maloy acquitted himself well, he took ‘a lot of punishment in the sixth round… and was furthermore attacked with cramp’ and so his ‘seconds gave in for him.’ This may have ended his aspirations of being a serious boxer. 

The second report was from the Bolton Evening News dated 9 December 1912, where a Tom Maloy acted as a second to Owen Moran of Bolton (who won the bout on points). This gave confidence that Maloy was from Bolton, at least between 1895 and 1912, and it suggested that it was likely that he had finished competing by 1912, but remained involved within the sport. Again, as it happened, the Thomas B Maloy followed here would have been 40-years old in 1912.  

Sporting Chronicle, 10 December 1897, stating Tom Maloy was from Bolton. Findmypast.

Turning to the B.A.B.C. inscribed on the medal – having demonstrated that Maloy was from Bolton (at least living there from 1895 onward) then this, with little doubt, refers to the Bolton Amateur Boxing Club. The club had been open since at least 1893 (as per adverts in the Bolton Evening News) under the care of the elaborately titled ‘Professor Nat Eccles’, who was an ‘ex-Midland Counties champion’. It was located at the Rigby Assembly Rooms on Lower Bridgman Street, Bolton.

Maloy’s personal story starts in 1866. Thomas ‘Molloy’, a coal miner on the 1861 census, although here he is named as Maloy, born of Irish parents in 1839, and from Broseley in Shropshire, married a Phoebe Barker, a one time domestic servant (on the 1861 census), born in 1843, and also from Broseley. It is from Phoebe’s maiden name that Thomas Barker Maloy got his middle name – a method which was quite common for the period (today we would double-barrel the name). The couple started a family immediately, with Mary being born in Broseley. 

1871 census for the Maloy family (seemingly Moloy in this census, but note Phoebe is spelt Feby) in Derbyshire. Ancestry.co.uk.

As succeeding census would show, Thomas Maloy became an itinerant coal miner for some twenty years or so. He, Phoebe and Mary would turn up in Low Common, in the northern Derbyshire village of Killamarsh, on the 1871 census. The couple have, by this time, a second daughter with Ann being born around the opening months of 1870 in Staveley (a one time mining town) – a few miles to the south of Killamarsh. The family name in 1871 appears to have been spelt as Moloy by the census enumerator, who also spelled Phoebe as Feby! 

Thomas Barker Maloy’s baptism entry at Staveley Church on 21 March 1872. Ancestry.

Thomas Barker Maloy was, as shown by his entry on the 1939 Register, born on 28 February 1872 in Staveley. He was baptised in the in the local church at Staveley the following month. Assuming the children were born at home, then the family seemed to have moved frequently in a localised area, with Thomas senior likely moving from pit to pit: they appear in Staveley in 1870, Killamarsh in 1871 (census), Staveley in 1872 and then Eckington from around 1874 to 1876, where children Elizabeth and James were born, before moving further south to Blackwell (near Alfreton) where Jane would be born around 1879.  

The 1881 census for the reservoir area around Littleworth, Hednesford. Ancestry.

In 1881, the couple appear in the census for the Hednesford area (near Cannock). The family lived around what was then the Hednesford Reservoir and now, since 1954, the Hednesford Raceway. The area they lived in – Littleworth – is around a mile from the town centre and the Trafalgar Inn still stands. There were several collieries locally in which Thomas senior could gain employment.

The second edition 25″OS map for the reservoir area. The exact location for the house the Maloy’s lived in is not given. National Library of Scotland.

Thomas Barker Maloy was described on the census as a scholar, so he and his siblings attended a local school – which was a requirement of the law by then. It is not clear which school the children attended. Further, the 1881 census shows the family had three lodgers – all of which were from Broseley in Shropshire: the most important was Thomas’ brother John, whose name was interestingly spelt as Maloy while the main family was spelt as Malley.

Ariel view of the old reservoir area today. National Library of Scotland.

We know that the family stayed within the Hednesford area for a few years at least, as the last of the couple’s children were born there: Emily Sabina arrives in late 1881, and she would later sadly pass away at the age of 15-years in 1897, while May Clara would then arrive in 1883. Saying that, it is worth noting at this point that the 1911 census would show that Thomas and Phoebe did have ten children during their marriage, of which six were still alive that year. Clearly a family that were no strangers to sadness. 

The 1891 census shows the family in Skegby, Nottinghamshire. Ancestry.

In 1891 the family (now spelt Molloy), having moved again, are in the Skegby area in Nottinghamshire; although this is not too far from their old stomping ground in north Derbyshire. Thomas is still a coal miner, as is now both Thomas Barker Maloy (aged 19) and his younger brother James (aged 14). Thomas Barker’s uncle John – interestingly spelt as Maloy again – is still lodging with them. Living in Stanton Hill, as the census shows, suggests that the Maloy men were working at the Sutton Colliery.

The Sutton Colliery, Stanton Hill – likely where the Maloys were working in 1891. Unknown.

At some stage between 1891 and 1895 (as Maloy’s medal was dated to 1895) Thomas, Phoebe and the family moved to Bolton. It now has to be said that the only Thomas Maloy’s in Bolton at this time are Thomas senior (too old to box) and Thomas Barker Maloy (making him 23-years of age when he beat Mann). We know that Tommy Maloy was beaten by Razell in 1897 – but other than that we have no further bouts attributed to him, although there must have been more. 

The fairly newly weds in the pre-kid days of 1901, Bride St, Bolton. Ancestry.

Thomas Barker Maloy settled down when he married Florence Roughsedge in the early months of 1900. Florence, as the 1939 Register shows, was born in August 1876. By 1901 Thomas senior was, at 61, employed as a watchman in a cotton mill, while Thomas Barker Maloy (which is how they are spelt, albeit now from different households, on the census that year) is a yarn twister also at a – and possibly the same – cotton mill. Thomas Barker and Florence Maloy, also a cotton worker, are living in Bride Street in Bolton. I believe that just prior to the census being taken, Thomas Barker Maloy’s brother James died at the age of 24-years.

The Barker Maloys, further up Bride Street (number 35) in 1911 Bolton. Ancestry.

Over the next decade the family, still living in Bride Street, would have four children (two of which were born around the Chesterfield area, likely as there were friends or family to support Florence after the birth (remember, it is the area where the Maloy family had lived on and off from the 1870s): Thomas Roughsedge Maloy (preserving the tradition of the first born male taking the mother’s maiden name) was born in May 1902 in Bolton, James Arthur Maloy was born in 1903 in the Chesterfield area, Henry (Harry) was born in 1906 in the Chesterfield area, and Arnold was born in 1910 in Bolton. 

Born in 1910, Arnold Maloy’s baptism entry in Bolton in 1911. Findmypast.

Thomas senior and Phoebe both passed away with a short period of each other – around November 1918 (online burial indexes via deceasedonline.com show Phoebe (this time, spelt Maley) was buried in mid-November, while the General Register indexes show Thomas died in the October to December of that year).

Florence passes in 1941. deceasedonline.com.

Later, certainly by the 1930s when all four of their lads got married, the Thomas Barker Maloy family seemed to have taken to styling their surname as Mayloy. Thomas Barker would see Florence, his wife, pass away in February 1941. He married again the following year – to an Annie Battersby, from Bolton.  Thomas Barker Maloy passed away at the age of 87, and was buried on 29 January 1960; his second wife, Annie, followed him to the grave six months later (she being buried on 11 July 1960).   

The one-time boxer lost his last fight in January 1960. deceasedonline.com

As I said at the start, the boxing medal cannot be proven as to belonging to this Tom B Maloy, however, it almost certainly is as there appear to be no other candidates. It seems to me that Thomas Maloy senior, perhaps due to a lack of education, allowed any number of informal spellings of the family surname. It seems likely that Thomas Barker did decide on the Maloy spelling, although for some reason he, Florence and the children later adopted the spelling of Mayloy.  

I hope this quick post was of interest.