Richard Parkyn

Last updated

Richard Parkyn
Parkyn2.jpg
Personal information
Nickname(s)The Great Parkyn
Born1774
Parkyn's Shop
DiedMay 28, 1855(1855-05-28) (aged 80–81)
Cornwall, England
Height6 ft 0 in (183 cm)
Weight235 lb (107 kg)

Richard Parkyn (c. 1772 - May 28, 1855) was a champion Cornish wrestler. He was born at Parkyn's Shop which lies at three parish boundaries, St Columb Major, St Columb Minor and St Mawgan. There was a saying at the time that Parkyn was "So great that all three parishes claimed him". He was also known as The Great Parkyn. Little is recorded about his life other than newspaper reports of his fights. "Parkyn, a friend of the Cornish hero James Polkinghorne died at Parkyn Shop where he and his ancestors resided during 170 years on 28 May 1855, aged 81 years."

Contents

Physique

According to the Sporting Magazine... "His head, a little bald on the crown, but otherwise well covered with fine bushy black hair, curling a little on his broad brawny shoulders, and his erect honest bold front and firm step, were worth travelling a hundred miles to behold. He stands six feet high, and weighs two hundred and thirty-two pounds, although as lean as a post-horse." [1]

Thomas King Chambers wrote of comparing him to a bronze statue of Hercules. The nearest approach to it which I have heard of, as attained by muscular development without awkward and inconvenient obesity, is in the instance of Parkins {sic], the famous Cornish wrestler, whose ordinary weight in his clothes was sixteen stone, eleven pounds, his height being six feet. [2]

His physique was astounding if compared to a modern equivalent such as Arnold Schwarzenegger who was 6 feet 2 inches and weighed two hundred and thirty-five pounds.

Famous bout with Jordan of Devon

WRESTLING. Saltash diversions, Cornwall, ended on Saturday, the 27th where the amateurs of wrestling were highly gratified by seeing the two great Devonshire players, Jordan and Wadling, play against two Cornish men, Parkin and Jolly, who came from St. Columb, purposely to play with them, in consequence of its being erroneously inserted in some of the newspapers that Jordan alone threw at Torpoint fair, fifteen of the best players in Cornwall. We understand these two great champions of Devonshire were both put on their backs in less than two minutes, by Parkyn and Jolly, who were declared, without the least dispute, to be the victors, and had the first and second prizes given them, and Cowling, another Cornish player, won the third prize. The Cornish gentlemen offered on the ground (in answer to a bet offered at Crediton,) to get ten Cornish men who should play against the same number of Devonshire men for any sum, from one hundred to a thousand pounds. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Austell</span> Town in Cornwall, England

St Austell is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, 10 miles (16 km) south of Bodmin and 30 miles (48 km) west of the border with Devon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Columb Major</span> Town in Cornwall, England

St Columb Major is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Often referred to locally as St Columb, it is approximately seven miles (11 km) southwest of Wadebridge and six miles (10 km) east of Newquay The designation Major distinguishes it from the nearby settlement and parish of St Columb Minor on the coast. An electoral ward simply named St Columb exists with a population at the 2011 census of 5,050. The town is named after the 6th-century AD Saint Columba of Cornwall, also known as Columb.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornish wrestling</span> Form of wrestling originating in Cornwall, England

Cornish wrestling is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’" in the Cornish dialect of English; historically, this usage is attested by Chaucer, Shakespeare and Drayton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornish hurling</span> Outdoor team game from Cornwall, England

Hurling is an outdoor team game played only in Cornwall, England played with a small silver ball. While the sport shares its name with the Irish game of hurling, the two sports are completely different.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Polkinghorne</span> Cornish professional wrestler

James Polkinghorne was a champion Cornish wrestler of the 19th century. He was born in 1788 at St Keverne, Cornwall, United Kingdom but spent much of his life at St. Columb Major, where he ran a pub called the Red Lion.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Columb Minor</span> Village in England

St Columb Minor is a village on the north coast of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Talskiddy</span>

Talskiddy is a small rural village about two miles north of St Columb Major in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Originally a manorial settlement belonging to the Earldom of Cornwall, the place prospered in the 19th century as a centre of the wool-combing industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ludgvan</span> Village in Cornwall, England

Ludgvan is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, UK, 2+1⁄2 miles (4.0 km) northeast of Penzance. Ludgvan village is split between Churchtown, on the hill, and Lower Quarter to the east, adjoining Crowlas. For the purposes of local government, Ludgvan elects a parish council every four years; the town elects a member to Cornwall Council under the Ludgvan division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mawgan</span> Village and civil parish in Cornwall, England

St Mawgan or St Mawgan in Pydar is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The population of this parish at the 2011 census was 1,307. The village is situated four miles northeast of Newquay, and the parish also includes the hamlet of Mawgan Porth. The surviving manor house known as Lanherne House is an early 16th-century grade I listed building. The nearby Royal Air Force station, RAF St Mawgan, takes its name from the village and is next to Newquay Cornwall Airport. The River Menalhyl runs through St Mawgan village and the valley is known as The Vale of Lanherne. It was the subject of a poem by poet Henry Sewell Stokes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Wenn</span> Human settlement in Cornwall, England

St Wenn is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated six miles (10 km) west of Bodmin and nine miles (14.5 km) east of Newquay. The parish population at the 2011 census was 369.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Castle an Dinas, St Columb Major</span> Iron Age hillfort in Cornwall, England

Castle an Dinas is an Iron Age hillfort at the summit of Castle Downs near St Columb Major in Cornwall, UK and is considered one of the most important hillforts in the southwest of Britain. It dates from around the 3rd to 2nd century BCE and consists of three ditch and rampart concentric rings, 850 feet (260 m) above sea level. During the early 1960s it was excavated by a team led by Dr Bernard Wailes of the University of Pennsylvania during two seasons of excavation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Dennis, Cornwall</span> Human settlement in England

St Dennis is a civil parish and village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village is situated on the B3279 between Newquay and St Austell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Enoder</span>

St Enoder is a civil parish and hamlet in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The hamlet is situated five miles (8 km) southeast of Newquay. There is an electoral ward bearing this name which includes St Columb Road. The population at the 2011 census was 4,563.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sithney</span> Human settlement in England

Sithney is a village and civil parish in the West of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Sithney is north of Porthleven. The population including Boscadjack and Crowntown at the 2011 census was 841.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abraham Cann</span> Wrestler from Devon

Abraham Cann was an English wrestler of the 19th century.

The Jacobite uprising in Cornwall of 1715 was the last uprising against the British Crown to take place in the county of Cornwall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Linkinhorne</span> Civil parish and village in south-east Cornwall, England

Linkinhorne is a civil parish and village in southeast Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The village itself is situated at grid reference SX 320 736 and is approximately four miles (6.5 km) northwest of Callington and seven miles (11 km) south of Launceston. The parish population at the 2011 census including Downgate was 1,541

Foxhole is a village in mid Cornwall, England, in the United Kingdom. It lies within the parish of St Stephen-in-Brannel, and has a primary school.

The following is a timeline of the history of St Columb Major, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Columba's Church, St Columb Major</span> Church in St Columb Major, England

St Columba's Church is a 14th-century, Grade I listed parish church in the Church of England Diocese of Truro in St Columb Major, Cornwall. In 1860 plans were drawn up by William Butterfield, in hope of St Columb church becoming the cathedral of the future diocese of Cornwall, but the cathedral was built at Truro. A second church dedicated to the same saint is known as St Columba's Church, St Columb Minor.

References

  1. ↑ Sporting Magazine (May-Oct. 1827)
  2. ↑ Corpulence: or, Excess of Fat in the Human Body. 1850 (Page 78)
  3. ↑ Sporting Magazine. 1811
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.