Barney Aaron (21 November 1800 at

Aldgate Aldgate () was a gate in the former defensive wall around the City of London. It gives its name to Aldgate High Street, the first stretch of the A11 road, which included the site of the former gate. The area of Aldgate, the most common use of ...

– 11 July 1859 in Whitechapel, London, England) was an English bare-knuckle

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

. Aaron, the father of

Hall of Famer A hall, wall, or walk of fame is a list of individuals, achievements, or other entities, usually chosen by a group of electors, to mark their excellence or fame in their field. In some cases, these halls of fame consist of actual halls or muse ...

Young Barney Aaron Young Barney Aaron (born June 27, 1836 in Aldgate, London, England; died June 4, 1907, in Long Island, New York) was a bare-knuckle boxer. The son of Hall of Fame boxer Barney Aaron, he emigrated to the United States around 1853, and began boxi ...

, began boxing in 1819, and became a leading

lightweight Lightweight is a weight class in combat sports and rowing. Boxing Professional boxing The lightweight division is over 130 pounds (59 kilograms) and up to 135 pounds (61.2 kilograms) weight class in the sport of boxing. Notable lightweight ...

contender in the 1820s, arguably the top-rated lightweight of the era in England.Roberts, James, and Skutt, Alexander,''Boxing Register'', (2006) International Boxing Hall of Fame, McBooks Press, Ithaca, New York, pg. 14 Known as ''The Star of the East'', he was inducted into the

International Boxing Hall of Fame The modern International Boxing Hall of Fame (IBHOF), located in Canastota, New York, honors boxers, trainers and other contributors to the sport worldwide. Inductees are selected by members of the Boxing Writers Association of America. The I ...

in 2001.

Ascending the lightweight ranks, 1819–1823

Aaron's earliest victory was against the far more experienced William Connelly, whom he beat in sixteen rounds and thirty minutes in 1819. One of his first losses was against the stronger and heavier Manny Lyons, who caused Aaron to quit from exhaustion after 70 grueling rounds, though Aaron soon avenged the loss in a fifty-minute rematch victory. His wins between 1823-24 against Ned Stockton, Lenney, Frank Redmond, and Peter Warren earned him a reputation as one of the best lightweights in England. In his 6 May 1823 bout with Ned Stockton, Aaron won convincingly in an important 40-round contest at Blindlow Heath in Sussex. Alhough Lenney, his next opponent, appeared game and made a noble effort, he had little chance against Aaron, who dominated and won a decision in eleven rounds at Harpenden Common on 5 August 1823. Each boxer took £25 for their efforts. In a rematch in November at

Moulsey Hurst Moulsey Hurst is in West Molesey, Surrey on the south bank of the River Thames above Molesey Lock. It is one of England's oldest sporting venues and was used in the 18th and 19th centuries for cricket, prizefighting and other sports. This are ...

, the ''Bristol Mercury'' admitted that both boxers showed a great deal of "science" in their display, but that Aaron took most of the rounds and proved the better fighter. Drawing more attention and a larger crowd, the purse was £50 for each boxer.

Major win against Peter Warren, 1824

His victory over the taller Peter Warren on 6 April 1824 in Colbrook, England was decisive and Aaron clearly led the fighting in the last fifteen of the twenty-nine rounds. In the first, Aaron caught Warren's head under his arm and hit him in the mouth, a move then known as "fibbing" and clearly illegal in today's boxing, governed by Marquess of Queensberry Rules. In the second and strongly in the fifth, Aaron threw Warren, a move legal under Broughton's Rules, and in the seventh, Aaron achieved a knock down. In the tenth, Warren caught Aaron around the neck with his left, and hit him repeatedly with his right, though Aaron quickly escaped. Exhausted and struggling, Warren was thrown down heavily in the thirteenth. After leading the second half of the match, in the 29th Aaron sent Warren reeling to the ground from a blow to the head that resulted in a knockout. London's ''Morning Chronicle'' wrote that "Barney has shown himself to be one of the best of his weight", though the reporter considered Warren to have the greater science and ring craft in his boxing. His victory over Warren cemented Aaron's claim as the top English lightweight contender.

Boxing decline 1824–1834

Arthur Matthewson, 1824

Aaron lost a fierce 57 round bout to Arthur Matthewson on 21 June 1824 at a ring near Colbrook, England for the impressive sum of £100 a side. Barney was said to weigh slightly over 140 pounds to Matthewson's 135 and had a two inch advantage in height. Aaron's chief second, Abraham "Abby" Belasco, and his financial backer Mr. Solomon accompanied him to the fight via coach. A major London newspaper, ''The Observer'' noted that Aaron's Jewish supporters were a majority of the crowd, comprising around sixty percent, but referred to them using the ethnic slur '' Sheenies''. Aaron led in the early betting 5-4. ''The Observer'' clearly viewed the contest as a battle between Jew and Christian, though it admitted the Jewish supporters who favored Aaron did so on account of his "strength, his courage, and unwitting perseverance" and noted that in the close early rounds, Aaron's overzealous Jewish supporters were taking the rather unrealistic odds of 40-1. In the 17th, Aaron was floored by a blow from Matthewson that ended the round. The majority of the early rounds saw no clear advantage to either boxer, but as late as the 42nd through 49th, Aaron seemed to take a clear lead. In the 47th, Aaron got Matthewson in a headlock and hit him repeatedly, a tactic known as "chancery", though Matthewson recovered quickly. As the tide turned in the 50th through 56th, Aaron received severe blows to the body and head, silencing Barney's Jewish supporters. Aaron was finally knocked out in the 59th by a severe blow to the neck that threw him to the ground and left him senseless for a period of several minutes. Touting a common anti-Semitic stereotype, the ''Observer'' implied that unlike Aaron, Matthewson had more than purely pecuniary or financial motives for his win, and noted that in their disappointment over Aaron's loss, his Jewish followers acted like dogs, not reasoning human beings. In a contrasting salute to the character of Aaron, ''The Observer'' noted that Aaron "fought with great courage and firmness", and if not for Matthewson's final blow in the 57th, may have won the bout.

Dick Curtis, and Frank Redmond

In a downward spiral on 27 February 1827, Aaron lost to the well known English opponent

Dick Curtis Richard Dye (May 11, 1902January 3, 1952), known professionally as Dick Curtis, was an American actor who made over 230 film and television appearances during his career. Early years Curtis was born in Newport, Kentucky, the son of Frank Dy ...

in fifty minutes on a stage in Andover, England. Though Arron stood to profit from the £100 purse, Curtis was a threatening opponent, and though slightly shorter, he was an accomplished boxer, two years younger, and had easily defeated the skilled Peter Warren in four previous contests. As expected, Curtis was favored in the opening betting at 6-4. Aaron fared well in the first three rounds, but the momentum slowly turned and by the fifth he got far worse in a vicious exchange where his face was clearly injured. In the ninth round, only fifty minutes into the contest, Curtis floored Aaron with a blow that reflected "his whole force", on Barney's throat knocking him out and ending the match. Aaron enjoyed his last decisive win, and took £50 for a 42 round victory against Frank Redmond on 23 October 1827, near St. Albans, England. In the 22nd and 23rd, the exhausted Redmond was down, and in the remaining rounds, despite his opponent's speed and skill, Aaron's strength prevailed, and Redmond's seconds threw in the towel in the 42nd round. His last fight was a loss to Tom Smith, a Sailor seven years younger, on 1 April 1834 for £50 a side. Aaron lost the twenty round bout at Greenstreet Green, Kent that may have been attended by as many as 1000 people, a very impressive turnout for a boxing match in that era. The ''Morning Chronicle'' noted that "Barney fought with great bravery, but his day has gone by and like the worn out post horse, he can no longer answer to the whip". On 16 March 1840, Aaron performed in an exhibition at the prestigious National Baths on Westminster Road in London. Also appearing were Deaf Smith, Peter Reid, Owen Smith and

Tom Cribb Tom Cribb (8 July 1781 – 11 May 1848) was a world champion English bare-knuckle boxer of the 19th century. Cribb was born near Bristol but moved to London before starting professional fighting. He undertook a series of fights between 1805 an ...

. On 1 March 1846, Aaron acted as Master of Ceremonies for a benefit given for future English champion

Harry Broome Henry Alfred Broome (1826 – 2 November 1865) was a boxer from the bare-knuckle fighting era who became heavyweight champion of England in September, 1851 when he defeated fellow Englishman William Perry in Mildenhall, England. He lost the tit ...

that included sparring by Broome, his brother Johnny, Joe Rowe and Johnny Walker.

Retirement careers

Support for Lionel Rothschild

Showing his support for the London working class and members of his own religion during the election of August 1847, Aaron and fellow Jewish boxer Aby Belasco led a lightly armed band of protestors with bludgeons patrolling and protecting the streets of London's East end in support of the election of the wealthy Jewish patron, and emerging politician

Lionel de Rothschild Baron Lionel Nathan de Rothschild (22 November 1808 – 3 June 1879) was a British Jewish banker, politician and philanthropist who was a member of the prominent Rothschild banking family of England. He became the first practising Jew to sit ...

to membership in the House of Commons for the city of London. Aaron and his followers were referred to with disgust in a letter to the English newspaper the ''Liverpool Albion'' as "the lowest class of Jews in the east of London", and condemned for injuring the cause for which they marched. Though he won by a large margin, receiving 6792 votes, Rothschild would not be allowed to serve in Commons without taking a vow as a Christian upon a New Testament, which as a Jew, he refused to do. The House of Commons then wrote the Jewish Disabilities Bill allowing Jews to serve in Commons by taking a modified oath, but it was repealed repeatedly by the House of Lords, and though serving for a year in Commons and winning subsequent elections by larger margins, Rothschild did not officially take the oath of office as a Jew until 1858, a year before Aaron's death. There were accusations that Lionel Rothschild's family bought votes, and paid Aaron and his band to patrol the streets during the voting week in August 1847, but this was never proven, and seemed unlikely as both sides of the vote were large in number. The family did expend capital to bring East end voters, many supporters of Aaron, to the polls free of charge. Rothschild's candidacy was supported by Benjamin Disraeli, a rising voice in the House of Commons since 1837 and its most prominent Jewish member. Both Rothschild and Disraeli believed the English government could form an alliance with the working classes of London, who at the time had limited social mobility, and lacked the right to vote. Aligned with Aaron and his brethren, Rothschild hoped to bring Jewish emancipation into the broader platform of the civil and religious liberties promised by his Liberal party. Disraeli was eventually successful in extending the vote to certain members of the English male working class in the Reform Act of 1867, the type of legislation that Aaron and his band may have marched for twenty years earlier.

Ringside attendant

In his retirement, he acted as a ringside attendant for important fights. During this period he acted as a second to John Barleycorn in 1839. Later he acted as an attendant in the English championship fight between Ben Caunt and Bendigo, the boxer William Thompson, in Suffolk in September, 1845, a long brutal bout where Barney was forced to hold back angry spectators in several rounds. He later worked as a fishmonger, and may have worked for a period as a Constable in London, once apprehending two men who were suspected of robbing houses in his neighborhood of Houndsditch.Seconded in "The Great Fight Between Caunt and Bendigo", ''The New York Daily Herald'', New York, New York, pg. 1, 4 October 1845 He was one of a number of Jewish boxers of the era whose popularity is credited with helping improve the social standing of Jews in England at a time when anti-Semitism was common. Despite his boxing success, Aaron never lived far from the poverty of East London and its struggling Jewish population. He died at the age of 58 in East London's Whitechapel.

Selected bouts

, - , align="center" colspan=8, 7 Wins, 4 Losses , - , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Result , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Opponent , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Date , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Location , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Duration , align="center" style="border-style: none none solid solid; background: #e3e3e3", Notes , - , Win , William Connelly , 1819 , ---- , 16 rounds, 30 mins , , - , Loss , Tom Collins , 19 May 1823 , Moulsey Hurst, Surrey, Eng. , Stopped due to injury, 30 minutes , , - , Win , Ned Stockton , 6 May 1823 , Blindlow Heath, Sussex, Eng. , 40 rounds , , - , Win , Lenney , 5 August 1823 , Harpenden Common, Eng. , 11 rounds , , - , Win , Lenney , 11 November 1823 , Moulsey Hurst , 21 rounds , Lenney was outmatched and quit the fight , - , Win , Frank Redmond , 30 December 1823 , Moulsey Hurst , 29 rounds , Aaron dominated til Redmond's seconds stopped the bout , - , Win , Peter Warren , 6 April 1824 , Colbrook, England , 29 rounds , Threw Warren twice and gained decisive knockout , - , Loss , Arthur Matthewson , 21 June 1824 , Near Colbrook , 57 rounds , Appeared to lead in late rounds 42-49, but fell
behind in later rounds and was knocked out in 56th , - , Loss ,

, 27 Feb 1827 , Andover, England , 50 minutes , For £100, Aaron knocked out in brutal loss , - , Win , Frank Redmond , 23 Oct 1827 , Near St. Albans, England , 42 Rounds , , - , Loss , Tom Smith , 1 April 1834 , Greenstreet Green, Kent, England , 20 Rounds , Last fight

Personal

* He was the father of British-born American boxer

, also entered in the Boxing Hall of Fame. * His great-grandson was American playwright and theater director

Moss Hart Moss Hart (October 24, 1904 – December 20, 1961) was an American playwright, librettist, and theater director. Early years Hart was born in New York City, the son of Lillian (Solomon) and Barnett Hart, a cigar maker. He had a younger brother ...

Notes

External links

Barney Aaron on the IBHOF website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Aaron, Barney 1800 births 1859 deaths People from Aldgate People from Whitechapel Bare-knuckle boxers Boxers from Greater London International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Jewish boxers English male boxers Lightweight boxers English Jews