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Perry William aka The Tipton Slasher

  • Thread starter Thread starter Christopher Witcomb
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C

Christopher Witcomb

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Hi
Does anyone have good details about the family of William Perry " The Tipton Slasher " [bare knuckle boxer and champion of England in 1850s, lived 1819-1880 in the Black Country] which might help me to confirm my connection

My Grandmother Lilian Perry told me we were connected

Her father was William Perry [born in Birmingham, lived 1866-1896 in Birmingham with Eliza Kate Perry ne Long @ 2court 6house Vaughton St Aston in 1881]

His father was James Perry [born in Brum, born 1841 , married to Ellen, lived in Darwin St, Bordsley/Deritend ]
He possibly was William Perry, the Slashers son or nephew or further relative?

I spoke with Carl Chinn, some time ago when he was researching William Perry, who also had a connection routing from the same area

After all the interest has anyone got a "book of Perrys"?

Best Regs
Chris
 
perry families

Hi Chris, how is your research going, I am a Perry from aston have your seen how many there are i have been searching for my William Perry born about 1819 who lived in Fisher st Birmingham in 1851 with his family. I have not been able to find my ancestors in 1861 census or 1871 census been looking since about 2001. I found my grt grandfather Henry Perry in 1881 he was born 1849 in Fisher st but there is a big gap he also had brother william born 1846 i found lots of williams but none seem to have been mine ,has my grt grandad henry and his twin george should still have been at home in 1861 i thought i would find them but every william and his wife maryann had different children so new they were not mine. So i am still searching for mine i hope you have more luck than me. I also found there were lots of perrys with same name i also had a Lillian m perry born about 1887 she was my grandads sister when was your lillian born. I dont think im connected to the Tipton Slasher i would be well proud of that me and my husband like boxing. There was two williams born birmingham 1817 to 1819 i found one in dudley road workhouse in birmingham he had died in 1877 an edge tool striker but he wasnt mine . Just wandered in your search if you might have come across my lot my william was a brass caster he had wife mary , then emma,james,william,henry,george in 1851.:(
 
i'm a perry

Hi my name is
Michael William Joshua Perry
William Perry AKA the tipton slasher ​
is my grate , grate , grate , grate , grate , grate grandfarther and i would like to now alot more about him
so please send info to
big_mike13@hotmail.co.uk
best regs
Michael Perry ​
 
William Perry AKA The Tipton Slasher

Hi

Well first who was he:
To my knowledge he was all England bareknuckle boxing champion around 1858.
He was born about 1819 and died about 1880 and is buried in St Johns Church Kates Hill.
There is a statue of him in Coronation gardens in Tipton just nearby The Fountain Public House [which he used as a base during his boxing days].

I believe his father was Timothy and he also had a brother of same name. I believe his wife was Anna Marie and they produced a son William Edward Perry born about 1855.
There are many stories about him including him owning a monkey [which I think is true] which he used to spar with [maybe less true]. The deceased monkey was stuffed and kept on display in a relations pub according to my late Gran [Lilian Perry].
I believe he got his "Slasher" name from his boxing style with which he finished off his opponents in record time.

Rosie
I'll look back at my notes and see if I can see any of yours and you are right there are loads of them in Aston and even more in the Black Country
Interesting you found a Lilian M Perry
My gran was Lilian Maud Perry born 1893. To my knowledge she only had one younger brother named William who was born in 1895 but died in 1898.
I think Gran was related since a lot of the stories she told me as a child have been verified and my late father told me she put up money in the thirties for some sort of fund [perhaps for a grave stone?] for William Perry AKA
 
The Tipton Slasher

The details of this man are fully recorded in the 'Black Country Bugle' which is the voice of Black Country history.

I believe the editorial offices are still in Brettle Lane, Brierley Hill, I am sure you will find a complete 'run down' on this man, his family and his fighting achievements. I used to be a regular reader of this monthly paper when I lived in that area years ago, if I remember correctly every other person in Tipton is a relative of the 'Tipton Slasher'.
 
I had a book The Life and Times of the Tipton Slasher - Black Country Publications. As you do, I lent someone and never got back. Now, unfortunately, it's out of print. :cry:

One of the facts I remember was he died virtually penniless because he always bet everything he's won on the next fight. There was also something about him coming across Burke and Hare. He's buried under a granite slab to prevent them getting him.:036:
 
perry

Hi chris, i see your gran was lilian maud perry i found out my ancestor my grandads sister was lilian matilda perry so its a different lady. In my searching i have been sent a marriage certificate of a john alfred witcomb to a lilian maud perry in 1917 at a church in birmingham john was living at oldfield rd and lilian at digmoke st is this your rellie . On this certificate lilians father is william deceased which then let me know it was wrong one my lilians father was called henry perry .
 
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William Perry

Hi Rosie
You are absolutely right - those were my grandparents and Lilian Mauds Dad was "my" William Perry [a tin plater]. It was his father James Perry [b1841] who was somehow related to William Perry AKA Tipton Slasher . My guess is he was a cousin or nephew.

Best Regards
Chris
PS I'll keep an eye out for yours when I have another session
 
William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Some years ago I researched Slasher, but cannot put my hands on anything at the moment. I do remember some trivia though! He was also known as 'Capital K Leg' as a result of a physical deformity he had. Towards the end of his fighting career he sought the advice a sort of soothsayer who prophesied: " Slasher, you'll get all you gid in one goo, Tom Little will mek it come true". Tom Little turned out to be the much smaller Tom Sayers who pummelled Perry into a bloody defeat.
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi, I've just come across this site, has anybody found William Perry on the census or the record of his birth or marriage, I keep flipping over when searching my side of the Perry family. I was told that we to were related and allthough I can find snippets that could make a connection. I can find nothing conclusive.
any contact by other Perry researches would be apprieciated.
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Sandyback ,if you go back to page 1 of this thread Michael Perry has posted about his relative the Tipton Slasher.
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Sandyback said:
Hi, I've just come across this site, has anybody found William Perry on the census or the record of his birth or marriage, I keep flipping over when searching my side of the Perry family. I was told that we to were related and allthough I can find snippets that could make a connection. I can find nothing conclusive.
any contact by other Perry researches would be apprieciated.
Click to expand...

Hi
You can see my interest right at the begining of this thread

I have not yet made the direct connection from my familly back to William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher so I started to go the other way and collect all I could find on him .
I have collected the info from everywhere I can and I am still building the tree! [there are a lot of them]
He appears in several censuses
I believe him to be the son of Timothy [b 1790] and Sarah Perry
He had at least two sisters and 4 brothers
His brother Timothy had 9+ children and he had at least a son and daughter from his marriage to Anna Marie

Where do your ancestors come from ? How far have you got back?

Best Regards
Chris Witcomb
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi Chris, I'm stuck at 1750 due to a missing record. My lot are all traced back to the Tamworth area.in the early 1800's there was a migration away from the area. If I can make the link pre 1750 I can get to the mid 1600's. still in the same area.
If you pm me your email I'll get back to you. any chance of a link to one of the census's.
Regards
Andrew
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi

I would like to correspond with SandyB etc but I'm concerned to give my email address [I've been spammed before and have just now got a banned members message]

ADMIN : if I send an instant message [with my email address] does it appear as a post or is it only readable by the reciprient?

Rgds
Chris
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi Chris, If you click on the persons name you will see send whoever an instant message this is a personal message between you both. The only people who can see these are the admin and then only if a complaint is made and at the discretion of the administrator.
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi to all, I am related to William Perry he was great great Uncle, his brother being Thomas who was my great great grand father.

William had three brothers Thomas, Timothy, and John, and one sister Sara or Zara.

I have been researching the family tree on and off for about 10 years now.

So if I can help I will try to.
 
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Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi Carl

I so far cannot yet connect myself to William Perry [although my gran "Lilian Perry" always said she/ we were related]

I would like to correspond further with you [send me an instant message with your email and we can discuss directly]

I have got William having brothers Timothy b 1818 [same name as their father] , Thomas b 1814 and John b 1822 and Zarah b 1828 !

I have info on son Timothy' familly but absolutely nothing on John or Thomas [clearly at least Thomas survived childhood!]

I believe there was also Sarah but I have nothing about her

The info on brother Zarah suggests he married Honnor and produced at least two sons: William [no surprise in name !] b 1860 and David b 1860

I would be interested to know more about John and Thomas - especially if either came to Birmingham and had a son James b1841 in Birmingham [who is my great great grandfather]

Very Best regards
and thanks for your post
Chris Witcomb
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

There is a new book about the slasher available at the wednesbury bookshop 0121 502 4622. shops e-mail is geoffsandhurstdr@blueyonder.co.uk.

Just as an interesting piece of info. The stuffed monkey is now in the basement of the black country museum
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi the information on here regarding william perry is really helpful. I understand that my family are related to william on my great great grandmothers side. Her Surname was Broughton, if anyone could help with the info that ties william in with the Broughton family i would be most grateful. We are doing a family tree and can trace back as far as grt grt gran but the part that links her to him is the bit we are struggling with. thank you ;)
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

The Tipton Slasher opened a pub in Spon Lane when he retired from prize fighting; it was called “The Champion of England”. It stood on a site by Chances Glass. He sold the pub and all his possessions to back himself in a comeback fight in June 1857 against Tom Sayers. He lost the bout after 2 hours of hard fighting. He died a pauper in Wolverhampton Workhouse in 1880; he is buried in Kates Hill Churchyard. He was born in 1819.
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

On the slashers death certificate it says he died at Gibbet Gate, Bilston and his son William Edward Perry was present at his death. The causes of death are listed as Alcoholism and Pulminary congestion.
Gibbet Gate being a toll gate on Gibbet lane. Was there a workhouse at this site??
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Just found William Edward Perry on the 1881 census, He lives at Gibbet Gate Toll house with his family.So either he had the Slasher at his home or they didnt want Workhouse on the certificate..
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

hi thanks to all for the replies. we are aware from what we know thru the family connection that willaim died of alcaholism at home. it is the link between william perry and the broughton family that we are stuck on with our family tree. kind regards
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi Melinda, If you post the info about your GGGGrandma, dates places ect in the section on this site called 'help, advice, hints and tricks' The very good people that use this forum site will help you out. I have hit a few brick walls myself with missing family members ect, and they have really heped me out, One gent even found a photo of my G Grandpop in the birmingham post for me. include as much info as you can about her and what you know so far. You never know they may come up trumps..
 
Re: William Perry aka The Tipton Slasher

Hi I am William Perry's Great Great Great Nephew down the line of his brother Thomas.
So- just to clear a few misconceptions: William did not die in the Workhouse (but as a matter of interest, if someone did die there, the family would have no choice over what was written on the Death Certificate! ) He died at his son's home - the Toll House in Gibbet's Lane (now Ward st) Bilston next to Stow Heath Lane. It is still standing and now a Barber shop (previously a Bookies which no doubt William would have appreciated !!) - though altered in appearance. However, some features are still identifiable from Willam's time.
Like many folk of the day, alcohol was part of life with water being virtually undrinkable- William had a hard life and in the absence of painkillers, booze was often the only substitute. It may have contributed to his death but was not the primary cause of it although it features on the Death Certificate He had worked hard - fought hard - and no doubt lived hard. Life was not kind for the Working man or woman! Remember, due to the nature of the work in 19th Black Country such as in the heavy Industry, beer allowances were the norm.
I have a 'Then & Now' photo of the Bilston Toll House if any one is interested - and I firmly believe it should have a Blue Plaque attached to it
 
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