JOHN GULLY ACKWORTH

John Gully – and his connection with Ackworth

Some people lead colourful lives. One such person was John Gully, who was born on 21st August 1783 at the Crown Inn, Wick, near Bristol where his father was the landlord. Contemporary reports describe him as being ‘a big quiet man’. Shortly after John’s birth his father became a butcher in Bath. John worked for his father and inherited the business on his father’s death. In 1805 the business failed resulting in John’s imprisonment for debt. Whilst in prison he was visited by a friend, Henry Pearce, a well-known prize-fighter who was nicknamed the ‘Game Chicken’. An informal match was arranged between them that took place in the prison with the result that Gully’s debts were settled. On his release from jail a match with Pearce was held at Hailsham, Sussex, on 8th October 1805. The future King William IV (then Duke of Clarence) was present. After 64 rounds Gully lost the match; his performance however, was enthusiastically admired. After Pearce retired from the ring due to illness, Gully fought two successful fights with Bob Gregson, who was a giant of a man. The first fight took place near Newmarket on 14th October 1807 when Gully won £200 in 26 rounds. The second fight was staged in Hertfordshire and lasted for 1 hour 15 minutes and 28 rounds. Once again the prize money amounted to £200. These victories resulted in Gully becoming the acknowledged champion. He never fought again.
Those were the days of bare-fist boxing when a man could be knocked down time and again, no matter how long he lay on the ground, so long as he could stagger upright to take more punishment. Eventually some organisers of the boxing academies introduced ‘mufflers’. These were cloths that were wrapped around the hands. It was not until 1869 that the eighth Marquis of Queensberry originated the Queensberry rules that insisted on the use of padded gloves, three-minute rounds and strict supervision of the type of blows permitted.

Gully then turned his sporting interests towards horse racing. In 1832 his horses won both the Derby and the St. Leger and he was reputed to have won £80,000. In 1844 one of his horses won the Two Thousand Guineas. In 1846 horses from his stable won the Derby and Oaks and in 1854 his horses were winners of the Two Thousand Guineas and the Derby. Gully’s horses were trained at Danebury, Hampshire. He purchased Upper Hare Park near Newmarket from Lord Rivers but soon sold the property to Sir Clark Wood.

In 1832 he bought Ackworth Park near Pontefract, he paid £21,000 for this property which had originally been a hunting lodge. The hall was built around 1630. At one time the estate belonged to Mary Lowther who bequeathed the almshouses in Pontefract Road to Ackworth Village. One of the crops grown on his land was hemp, the fibres being used in rope manufacture. Today the park covers 180 acres of land. In 1832 Gully turned his attention to politics, standing as Liberal Member of Parliament for Pontefract. Pontefract returned two members to Parliament – John Gully and the Hon. H.VS. Jerningham.

In 1835 Gully was again returned and retained his seat until 1837. He tried again in 1841 but lost to Viscount Pollington and Richard Monckton-Milnes (later Lord Houghton of Fryston Hall). In the early fifties John sold Ackworth Hall to a Mr. Hill and moved to Marwell Hall near Winchester.

His next successful venture took place in 1862 when he purchased Cocken Hall, the Wingate Estate in County Durham plus the coalmines that were included in the estate. During his varied career he found time to marry twice and to father twenty-four children (twelve per wife).
John Gully died at Durham on 9th March 1863 aged 79. Father Lomax, the priest at the small Roman Catholic church in Ackworth, buried him at Ackworth in land, which he had purchased and had consecrated. The parson at St. Cuthbert’s church would not allow a Catholic burial service to be held in his churchyard, so when one of John Gully’s daughters died, John had no hesitation in acquiring a plot of land adjacent to the church yard for his personal burial ground.
John Gully had literally fought his way out of a debtor’s prison and made his way to the top. He died a wealthy man.

ROBERT GULLY
On the south wall of Ackworth Church is a memorial which reads:

‘Sacred to the memory of Robert Gully, son of John Gully, Esq., who, after suffering the horrors and privations of shipwreck on the Island of Formosa, in the brig Ann, on the night of the 10th of March, 1842, in which vessel he was passenger; he was, together with the rest of the crew, taken prisoner by the Chinese, and suffered the greatest privations and hardships, which he bore with the most exemplary fortitude, manly and cheerful resignation, to about the 13th of August, when he, together with about 300 other British subjects, was most barbarously murdered in cold blood by the Chinese authorities, in the town of Tywan Foo, aged 28 years. He was endeared to a large circle of friends for his manly virtues and kindness of heart. This tablet was erected by a bereaved and afflicted father.’

JOHN GULLY’S GRAVEYARD ST.CUTHBERT’S  ACKWORTH

Graveyard photo by Bill Henderson

Copyrighted but also licensed for further reuse.