John Gully
Encyclopedia
Early life
Gully was born at Wick, near Bath, the son of an innkeeper who became a butcher in Bath shortly after John's birth. Gully worked for his father and inherited the business on his father's death. In 1805 the business failed and as a result, Gully was imprisoned for debt.Boxing
Gully was visited in prison by a friend, Henry PearceHen Pearce
Henry Pearce was an English bare knuckle prizefighter who fought under the London Ring Rules and was the recognised English Champion from 1804 until his retirement, due to ill health, in 1807.Pearce was known as "The Game Chicken", a nickname probably derived from his habit of signing his name...
, a well-known prize fighter who was nicknamed "the Game Chicken". An informal match was arranged between them, which took place in the prison; as a result, Gully's debts were settled.
On 8 October, 1805, Gully was again matched against Henry Pearce
Hen Pearce
Henry Pearce was an English bare knuckle prizefighter who fought under the London Ring Rules and was the recognised English Champion from 1804 until his retirement, due to ill health, in 1807.Pearce was known as "The Game Chicken", a nickname probably derived from his habit of signing his name...
, before the Duke of Clarence
Duke of Clarence
Duke of Clarence is a title which has been traditionally awarded to junior members of the English and British Royal families. The first three creations were in the Peerage of England, the fourth in the Peerage of Great Britain, and the fifth in the Peerage of the United Kingdom.The title was first...
(laterWilliam IV of the United Kingdom
William IV of the United Kingdom
William IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover from 26 June 1830 until his death...
) and numerous other spectators. After fighting twenty eight rounds, which occupied an hour and seventeen minutes, he was beaten. In 1807, he twice fought Bob Gregson, the Lancashire giant, for two hundred guineas a side, winning on both occasions.
Horse racing
Gully became the landlord of the Plough Tavern in Carey Street, London. He retired from the ring in 1808, and took to horse-racing. In 1827 he lost £40,000 by backing his horse Mameluke (for which he had paid four thousand guineas) for the St. Leger StakesSt. Leger Stakes
The St. Leger Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain which is open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies. It is run at Doncaster over a distance of 1 mile, 6 furlongs and 132 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in September.Established in 1776, the St. Leger...
. In partnership with Robert Ridskale, in 1832, he made £85,000 by winning the Epsom Derby
Epsom Derby
The Derby Stakes, popularly known as The Derby, internationally as the Epsom Derby, and under its present sponsor as the Investec Derby, is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred colts and fillies...
and St Leger with St Giles and Margrave.
In 1844 in partnership with John Day, Gully won the 2,000 Guineas with Ugly Buck, and two years later he took the Derby and the Epsom Oaks
Epsom Oaks
The Oaks Stakes is a Group 1 flat horse race in Great Britain open to three-year-old thoroughbred fillies. It is run at Epsom Downs over a distance of 1 mile, 4 furlongs and 10 yards , and it is scheduled to take place each year in early June....
with Pyrrhus the First and Mendicant. In 1854 he won the Two Thousand Guineas with Hermit, and in the same year, in partnership with Henry Padwick, the Derby with Andover.
Political and business interests
Having bought Ackworth Park near PontefractPontefract
Pontefract is an historic market town in West Yorkshire, England. Traditionally in the West Riding, near the A1 , the M62 motorway and Castleford. It is one of the five towns in the metropolitan borough of the City of Wakefield and has a population of 28,250...
, he was Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
(MP) for the Pontefract constituency
Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)
Pontefract was an English parliamentary constituency centred on the town of Pontefract in the West Riding of Yorkshire, which returned two Members of Parliament to the House of Commons briefly in the 13th century and again from 1621 until 1885, and one member from 1885 to 1974.-In the unreformed...
from December 1832 to July 1837.
In 1862 he purchased the Wingate Grange estate and collieries.
Gully died at Durham
Durham
Durham is a city in north east England. It is within the County Durham local government district, and is the county town of the larger ceremonial county...
on 9 March 1863. His body was returned to Ackworth where he was interred with his daughter.
Family
Gully was twice married and had twelve children by each wife. His daughter Mary married engineer and cricketer William PedleyWilliam Pedley
William Everard Pedley was an English civil engineer and cricketer who played first-class cricket for Sussex and was later an engineer in California. He gave his name to the town of Pedley, California....
.
John Gully in fiction
Gully makes a notable appearance in Royal FlashRoyal Flash
Royal Flash is a 1970 novel by George MacDonald Fraser. It is the second of the Flashman novels. It was made into the film Royal Flash in 1975.-Plot summary:...
, in George MacDonald Fraser's Flashman series of books, and was played by Henry Cooper
Henry Cooper (boxer)
Sir Henry Cooper OBE KSG was an English heavyweight boxer known for the effectiveness of his left hook, "Enry's 'Ammer", and his knockdown of the young Muhammad Ali...
in the 1975 film version
Royal Flash (film)
Royal Flash is a 1975 film based on George MacDonald Fraser's second Flashman novel, Royal Flash. It starred Malcolm McDowell as Flashman. Oliver Reed appeared in the role of Otto von Bismarck, Alan Bates as Rudi von Sternberg, and Florinda Bolkan played Lola Montez...
.