Portrait of a Devon Wrestling Champion
Portrait of Abraham Cann - Last Champion in Devon-Style Wrestling, attributed to painter Henry Caunter, painted c.1846-1850
© Royal Albert Memorial Museum & Art Gallery, Exeter RAMM Accession No. 12/1959
Story of Abraham Cann, local celebrity
By Curator of West Exe
Abraham Cann rose to fame as the Devon wrestling champion and, ultimately, Champion of all England. Records from 1827 list him as proprietor of the Moreton Inn pub in Cowick Street. St. Thomas was a popular place for Devon wrestling. It was outside the Exeter city boundary then, and noted for other rough pursuits such as bull baiting. Both gentlemen and working men attended these events. A few meetings became quite rowdy.
Cann's outfit is typical of a west country wrestler at the time. The jacket was designed to be grabbed during the fight. Devon wrestling was unusual because contestants were allowed to kick each other's shins.
Read research into this portrait by the Curator of Art at RAMM: Abraham Cann
Read about a local family with links to wrestling and boxing: Boy Wellaway
Oil on canvas 75.8 x 63.7 cm, painted sometime between 1846 and 1850