{{Short description|British boxer and politician (1783–1863)}} {{About||the artist|John Gully (artist)|the New Zealand cricketer|John Gully (cricketer)}} {{More citations needed|date=July 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=June 2015}} {{Use British English|date=June 2015}}

thumb|right|John Gully, 1860 '''John Gully''' (21 August 1783 – 9 March 1863) was an English champion prizefighter who became a racehorse owner and, from 1832 to 1837, a Member of Parliament.

==Early life== Gully was born at Wick, near Bath, the son of an innkeeper who became a butcher in Bath shortly after John's birth. Gully worked for his father and inherited the business on his father's death. In 1805, the business failed and as a result, Gully was imprisoned for debt.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

==Boxing== Gully was visited in prison by a friend, Hen Pearce, a well-known prizefighter who was nicknamed "the Game Chicken" in bare-knuckle boxing circles. An informal match was arranged between them, which took place in the prison; as a result, Gully's debts were settled.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} On 8 October 1805, Gully was again matched against Pearce in a fight watched by the Duke of Clarence (later William IV of the United Kingdom) and numerous other spectators. After fighting twenty eight rounds, taking an hour and seventeen minutes, Gully was beaten. In 1807, he twice fought Bob Gregson, the "Lancashire Giant", for two hundred guineas a side, winning on both occasions.<ref name="EB1911">{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Gully, John|volume=12|page=715}}</ref> The foremost prizefighting reporter of the period, Pierce Egan, recorded their battle of 14 October 1807:<ref>David Snowdon, ''Writing the Prizefight: Pierce Egan's Boxiana World'' (Bern, 2013).</ref> :‘Gregson’s strength was manifest to his opponent, who endeavoured to ward off its potent effects by his thorough knowledge of the science, and Gulley put in another dreadful facer, which made the claret fly in all directions, when Gregson fell' (''Boxiana'', vol. I).

==Horse racing== Gully became the landlord of the Plough Tavern in Carey Street, London. He retired from the ring in 1808, and took to horse-racing. In 1827 he lost £40,000 by backing his horse Mameluke (for which he had paid four thousand guineas) for the St. Leger Stakes. In partnership with Robert Ridsdale, in 1832, he made £85,000 by winning The Derby and St Leger with St. Giles and Margrave.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1844 in partnership with John Day, Gully won the 2,000 Guineas with Ugly Buck, and two years later he took the Derby and The Oaks with Pyrrhus The First and Mendicant. In 1854 he won the 2,000 Guineas with Hermit, and in the same year, in partnership with Henry Adwick, the Derby with Andover.<ref name="EB1911"/>

==Political and business interests== Having bought Ackworth Park near Pontefract, he became Member of Parliament (MP) for the Pontefract constituency from December 1832 to July 1837. He was elected to the first post-Reform Parliament.<ref name=hdm/> In 1862 he purchased the Wingate Grange estate and collieries.<ref name="EB1911"/> A street in Wingate, County Durham is named after him.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Gully died in Durham on 9 March 1863 aged 79. His body was returned to Ackworth where he was interred with his daughter.<ref name=hdm>{{cite book |last1=Miles |first1=Henry Downes |title=Pugilistica: the history of British boxing containing lives of the most celebrated pugilists |date=1906 |publisher=John Grant |location=Edinburgh |pages=182–192 |url=https://archive.org/stream/pugilisticahisto01mileuoft#page/182/mode/2up |accessdate=2 July 2017}}</ref>

==Family== Gully was twice married and had twelve children by each wife.<ref name="EB1911"/> His daughter Mary married Thomas Pedley. Their son was the engineer and cricketer William Pedley.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}

==John Gully in fiction== Gully is a real-life character in ''Royal Flash'', one of George MacDonald Fraser's ''The Flashman Papers'' series of books. He was played by Henry Cooper in the 1975 film version.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

==References== {{reflist}}

* {{Rayment-hc|date=March 2012}}

==External Sources== *[https://books.google.com/books?id=9YYoAAAAYAAJ Chapter on Gully in ''Boxiana, or Sketches of Ancient and Modern Pugilism'' volume 1, 1830, Pierce Egan] *[https://archive.org/details/pugilisticahisto01mileuoft/page/182/mode/1up Chapter on Gully in ''Pugilistica, the History of British Boxing'' volume 1, 1906, Henry Downes Miles] * {{Hansard-contribs | mr-john-gully | John Gully }}

{{S-start}} {{s-par|uk}} {{succession box | title = Member of Parliament for Pontefract | with = Henry Valentine Stafford-Jerningham, to 1835; | with2 = John Savile, Viscount Pollington, to 1835–1837 | years = 1832–1837 | before = Henry Valentine Stafford-Jerningham and<br />John Savile, Viscount Pollington | after = Richard Monckton Milnes<br />William Thomas Stanley-Massey-Stanley }} {{S-end}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gully, John}} Category:1783 births Category:1863 deaths Category:English male boxers Category:English bare-knuckle boxers Category:British racehorse owners and breeders Category:Owners of Epsom Derby winners Category:Members of the Parliament of the United Kingdom for English constituencies Category:UK MPs 1832–1835 Category:UK MPs 1835–1837 Category:People imprisoned for debt