The climbing boys!

The following is a passage from an autobiography written in 1900 by a George Elson - entitled "The Last of The Climbing Boys", and dedicated to the dying breed of sweeps apprentices.

Soon after joining my brother, he too, tired of his situation, and one morning I was left alone with Tom Bale, sweep and professional fighting man, a terror to police constables and bullies alike, a drunkard and ne’er-do-well through his love of drinking, brawling and fighting, yet, when sober, a kind, generous, good-tempered, honest man.



He belonged to the Bales of Market Harborough, where he won his first battle when but eighteen years old. Tom was a square-built man of about 5 feet 10 inches, with dark, piercing eyes, set in a comic countenance and massive head. He was wonderfully agile, could spar well, and turned the scale at about fourteen stone weight.


It was my opinion, and also that of many others, that if Tom had been a sober man, and had been taught the science of fisticuffs, he would have been champion of England, the battles fought to attain which are read and admired and mentally applauded in the male heart of hearts of the Anglo Saxon race, or why the intense anxiety to obtain the first intelligence of boxing matched, national or otherwise, the enthusiasm at military tournaments and all athletic contests demanding pluck, skill and endurance?


Although Tom did not rise to championship honours, he had the proud satisfaction of knowing that he had fought and beaten all the best men pitted against him in Northamptonshire and the adjoining counties.

The Tom Bale spoken of was the cousin to my 3x great granddad Joseph, born in Mkt Harborough in 1804.
There are three chapters in the book which feature Tom, such was the impression he must have made on the young George! I have also found other references to this man, mainly in old archive copies of the Northampton Mercury from 1840/41, referring to either court appearances or other committal procedures - quite the rebel!