Bendigo's Grave

Image: © Stephen McKay Taken: 16 Oct 2022

You didn’t know of Bendigo! Well, that knocks me out! Who’s your board school teacher? What’s he been about? Chock-a-block with fairy-tales full of useless cram, And never heard o’ Bendigo, the pride of Nottingham! Bendy’s short for Bendigo. You should see him peel! Half of him was whalebone, half of him was steel, Fightin’ weight eleven ten, five foot nine in height, Always ready to oblige if you want a fight. I could talk of Bendigo from here to kingdom come, I guess before I ended you would wish your dad was dumb. -Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Bendy's Sermon Poem William Abednego Thompson was born in Nottingham in 1811. He was universally known as Bendigo, a prize bare-knuckle fighter who became champion of England in 1839. He was unbeaten in 21 fights. He died in 1880 but is still remembered in his home city where his grave is here in St Mary's Rest Garden. The lion has weathered somewhat over the intervening years but he does look suitably sad.

Images are licensed for reuse under creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0