[AnAmericanMother]

I was about to say that they couldn't have fought in the City of London, the magistrates would have stopped them - but I see you corrected yourself. The reason they fought on the Common was that jurisdiction was doubtful, so nobody could get a magistrate out to stop the fight.

Jem Belcher in a more formal moment. The pit bull, Trusty, was given to him by his patron Lord Camelford.

[Peter Libra]

The reason they fought on the Common was that jurisdiction was doubtful, so nobody could get a magistrate out to stop the fight

Thank you for the hitherto unseen print (by me). I thought I had seen 'em all, when I got a copy on loan of Boxiana, by Pierce Egan (1812). Sadly enough the great hero, Belcher was ruined by imprisonment for "disturbing the peace" and caught a fever in jail.

His life and early death, was a pattern for many a latter day pugilist.