The Londoner who won two SA titles

Thomas Pedlar Palmer was born in Canning Town, London, on 19 November 1876 and fought from 1891 to 1919, participating in 81 fights and winning the world bantamweight title in 1895.

His father was a bare-knuckle fighter and because of his showmanship, Palmer was given the nickname "Box o' Tricks".

In 1904, he travelled to South Africa and on 26 May at the Wanderers Hall in Johannesburg, he beat Dan Hyman in the ninth round to claim the South African bantamweight title after referee Dan Maturin stopped the fight. Hyman was a Londoner who had settled in Cape Town a few years earlier.

In Chris Greyvenstein’s book, The Fighters, he writes: "Mystery surrounds the eventual fate of Danny Hyman, although it is known that he returned to London in 1905. There, after losing a bout to Dick Lee, it is believed that he went to his boarding house room and committed suicide."

However, according to Boxrec, he had another fight after Lee, winning on a fifth-round disqualification on 4 December 1905 at the National Sporting Club in Covent Garden.

Palmer then travelled to Cape Town and on Monday 11 July 1904, he fought to a 20-round draw with W.J. “Watty” Austin at the Camps Bay Pavilion in a bout for the South African featherweight title.

In a return match with Austin on 9 August, also at Camps Bay, he won on points and claimed the South African featherweight title.

At the time, it was common practice for fighters from all over the world to campaign in South Africa and claim the local title and then return home, resulting in the title being declared vacant.

According to available records, Palmer made his pro debut in 1891 in a bare-knuckle bout in Shoeburyness, a town in southeast Essex, England, winning on an 11th-round retirement.

He would only suffer one loss in his next 28 fights before winning on a 14th-round disqualification against Billy Plimmer at the National Sporting Club in Covent Garden in a bout which is recorded as a world and British bantamweight title fight by some.

According to the British National Sporting Club, the bantamweight limit was now accepted as 112lb.

On 1 May 1893, he won on a 17th round knockout against Walter Croot at the National Sporting Club in a bout for the English 7st – 7st 2lb title (a stone is 14lbs).

Rather sadly, Croot died of injuries suffered in his bout against Jimmy Barry on 6 December 1897 after being knocked out in the 20th round.

Palmer would make defences of the world title against Johnny Murphy, Dave Sullivan, Billy Plimmer and Billy Rochford before losing it to Terry McGovern on a first-round knockout on 12 September 1899 in America.

He would carry on fighting until his last fight on 10 March 1919 when he was stopped in the fourth round by Jim Driscoll, who had been absent from the ring for six months .

Pedlar finished with a record of 60 wins, 15 losses, four draws and two no-decisions.

Three years after Pedlar had won the two South African titles, he was back in England.

In April 1907, he was convicted of manslaughter after he killed Robert Croat on a train to the Epson Races and was released from Portland prison on Saturday, 29 April 1911.

On his release, he continued boxing, having his first fight on 7 December 1911, wining on a knockout against Darkey Haley. He had another six fights before retiring after the Driscoll fight.

At the age of 55, he was charged in Brighton with attempting to commit suicide and remanded in custody for a week for a medical report. His mental health began to decline, and he would spend his days sitting on the wooden benches along Kings Road, staring idly out over the pebble beach, beyond Brighton’s famous Palace Pier.

His step-grand-children visited him at the sea-front and supplied him with cigarettes and a few "bob" for his favourite tipple, but he did not even recognise their faces.

He was admitted to the Brighton General Hospital, suffering from pneumonia, and on Sunday 13 February 1949 he passed away at the age of 72.

At the peak of his career, Pedlar was held in high esteem by the management and members of the National Sporting Club in Covent Garden, London.

On 27 September 1897, he was presented with a personalised gold belt, with diamonds, rubies and emeralds, hand crafted and paid for by public subscription. According to some reports, it cost 1 000 guineas.

About 45 years after he was buried on the South Downs near Brighton, the belt was discovered in a safety deposit box in the Castle Square Branch of the National Westminster Bank in Brighton.

It was thought to be worth 50 000 pounds but after its origins had been traced, it was discovered that the “diamonds” were fake, and the belt was made of poor gold. It was worth only about 5 000 pounds.

Only then did it come to light that in 1899, while the belt was displayed at the Seabright Music Hall in Hackney, it was stolen. It was later returned to Pedlar; probably after the original diamonds had been replaced by fake stones.