Who was Jack Thompson??

[Tinnie]

Foley and Thompson


Can anyone tell me more about Jack Thompson?

He seems quite a prominent figure around the 80's and 90's, a personal friend and business associate of Foley and Mace, when Foley fought he frequently had Thompson as one of his seconds, notably in his victory over Abe Hicken for the Championship of Australia.

Other than that i know very little, someone has mentioned to me he believed Thompson was an American and former fighter himself.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

[Boilermaker]

Foley and Thompson


Can anyone tell me more about Jack Thompson?

He seems quite a prominent figure around the 80's and 90's, a personal friend and business associate of Foley and Mace, when Foley fought he frequently had Thompson as one of his seconds, notably in his victory over Abe Hicken for the Championship of Australia.

Other than that i know very little, someone has mentioned to me he believed Thompson was an American and former fighter himself.

Any info would be greatly appreciated.

I cant tell you too much at all. His real name appears to have been John Thompson as opposed to Jack, as that is how his name seems to have been menioned in connection with the police reports regarding the Hicken championship fight where he was involved, as you mention. I ahve also seen a John Thompson mentioned as referee of fights around this time. Thosmpson was also a bookmaker, which probably explains how he first linked up with Mace.

Here is a link (with little other info) to his victory over a man named Christie in a prizefight in June 1877.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... by=dateAsc


And here is a report with a little more detail of the Christie fight. With some court evidence given by Jem mace. It seems that Christie was an athlete. Thompson appears to have got substantially the better of the fight, which probably isnt to surprising by the sounds of things.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... by=dateAsc

Here is some accounts of a spar he had with a local Older Maitland fighter who he outclassed, and it also mentions that he has an exhibition with Jem Mace on this date as well.

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... by=dateAsc

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... by=dateAsc

And that was another version of a spar with Mace where the exhibition was said to be wonderful. It is quite clear that Thompson was one of Mace's pupils and toured with him as a prize fighter.

this one has Jack thompson as an amateur when he fought Christie but has him signing to fight Abe Hicken for $1000. He must have had some decent ability to fight Hicken.
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... by=dateAsc

And as a matter of interest, Thompson was the official Second for Foley when Foley fought William Miller. Interestingly, the second for Miller in that fight was none other than Christie, who had earlier fought Thompson!
http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... by=dateAsc

I hope that information inerests you, as i found it all quite interesting.

[Tinnie]

Thanks B.

Had a quick flick through yr articles, will have a good read of them when i get home from work tomorrow.

I must admit i'd not heard of John Thompson. The Thompson i've been interested in seemed to be a quartet with Larry Foley, John Christie and Jem Mace promoting early exhibitions and events of the queensbury rules. I have thought this to be Jack Thompson.

I just came across this write-up naming a Joe (bookmaker) and brother Jack (boxer) Thompson as the former owners of the establishment Mace bought in Melbourne. I thought Christie may have been the financial giant of the four, its seems Thompson could have been. Not had a good look through the site yet, there might be some good info for your Mace thread in there.

http://www.jemmacelifehistory.co.uk/page26.html

[Boilermaker]

http://trove.nla.gov.au/ndp/del/article ... rchLimits=

Here is a bit more info about Christie and Thompson. The Thompson loss was Christie's only loss and it seems that this was avenged later. Christie also claims to have been sick for this fight and quite a bit below his usual fighting weight.