Editing Regency era (section)

== Sport and recreation ==

=== Women's activities ===

During the Regency era and well into the succeeding Victorian era, society women were discouraged from exertion although many did take the opportunity to pursue activities such as dancing, riding and walking that were recreational rather than competitive. Depending on a lady's rank, she may be expected to be proficient in reading and writing, mathematics, dancing, music, sewing, and embroidery.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Halsey |first=Katie |date=2015-07-04 |title=The home education of girls in the eighteenth-century novel: 'the pernicious effects of an improper education' |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03054985.2015.1048113 |journal=Oxford Review of Education |language=en |volume=41 |issue=4 |pages=430–446 |doi=10.1080/03054985.2015.1048113 |issn=0305-4985}}</ref> In ''[[Pride and Prejudice]]'', the Bennet sisters are frequently out walking and it is at a [[ball (dance party)|ball]] where [[Elizabeth Bennet|Elizabeth]] meets [[Mr Darcy]]. There was a contemporary belief that people had limited energy levels with women, as the "weaker sex", being most at risk of over-exertion because their menstruation cycles caused periodic energy reductions.<ref>[http://thesportjournal.org/article/a-history-of-women-in-sport-prior-to-title-ix/ ''A History of Women in Sport Prior to Title IX'']. Richard C. Bell (2018). ''The Sport Journal''. United States Sports Academy.</ref>

=== Balls ===
One of the most common activities among the upper class was attending and hosting balls, house parties, and more. These often included dancing, food, and gossip. The food generally served included items such as white soup made with veal stock, almonds and cream, cold meats, salads, etc.<ref name="wentworthwoodhouse.org.uk"/>

=== Bare-knuckle boxing ===

[[File:Cribb vs Molineaux 1811.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|[[Tom Cribb]] vs [[Tom Molineaux]], 1811]]
[[Bare-knuckle boxing]], also known as [[prizefighting]], was a popular sport through the 18th and 19th centuries. The Regency era has been called "the peak of British boxing" because the champion fighter in Britain was also, in effect, the world champion. Britain's only potential rival was the United States, where organised boxing began {{circa|1800}}.<ref name=bke>[https://www.britannica.com/sports/boxing/The-bare-knuckle-era ''Encyclopaedia Britannica'']. The Bare-knuckle Era. Retrieved 3 July 2022.</ref> Boxing was in fact illegal but local authorities, who were often involved on the gambling side of the sport, would turn a blind eye. In any case, the huge crowds that attended championship bouts were almost impossible to police. Like [[cricket]] and [[horse racing]], boxing attracted [[gambling|gamblers]]. The sport needed the investment provided by gambling, but there was a seamier side in that many fights were fixed.<ref name=bke/>

At one time, prizefighting was "anything goes" but the champion boxer [[Jack Broughton]] proposed a set of rules in 1743 that were observed throughout the Regency era until they were superseded by the [[London Prize Ring Rules]] in 1838.<ref name=bke/> Broughton's rules were a reaction to "bar room brawling" as they restricted fighters to use of the fists only. A round ended when a fighter was grounded and the rules prohibited the hitting of a downed opponent. He was helped to his corner and then had thirty seconds in which to "step up to the mark", which was a line drawn for that purpose so that the fighters squared off less than a yard apart. The next round would then begin. A fighter who failed to step up and square off was declared the loser. Contests continued until one fighter could not step up.<ref name=bke/>

There were no weight divisions and so a [[heavyweight]] always had a natural advantage over smaller fighters. Even so, the first British champion of the Regency era was [[Daniel Mendoza]], a [[middleweight]] who had successfully claimed the vacant title in 1792. He held it until he was defeated by the heavyweight [[John Jackson (English boxer)|Gentleman John Jackson]] in April 1795. Other Regency era champions were famous fighters like [[Jem Belcher]], [[Hen Pearce]], [[John Gully]], [[Tom Cribb]], [[Tom Spring]], [[Jem Ward]] and [[James Burke (boxer)|James Burke]].<ref name=Cyber>{{cite web |title=The Cyber Boxing Zone Encyclopedia presents The Bare Knuckle Heavyweight Champions of England |url=http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/barenuk.htm |publisher=Cyber Boxing Zone |access-date=2 July 2022}}</ref> Gully went on to become a successful [[racehorse]] owner and, representing the [[Pontefract (UK Parliament constituency)|Pontefract constituency]], a [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member]] of the first [[Great Reform Act|post-Reform]] Parliament from December 1832 to July 1837.<ref name=hdm>{{cite book |last=Miles |first=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 |access-date=2 July 2017}}</ref> Cribb was the first fighter to be acclaimed world champion after he twice defeated the American [[Tom Molineaux]] in 1811.<ref>[[Pierce Egan]], ''[[Boxiana]]'', Volume I (1813).</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Snowdon |first=David |title=Writing the Prizefight: Pierce Egan's Boxiana World |year=2013}}</ref>

=== Cricket ===

[[Marylebone Cricket Club]], widely known as MCC, was founded in 1787 and became [[cricket]]'s governing body. In 1788, the club drafted and published a revised version of the sport's rules. MCC had considerable influence throughout the Regency era and its ground, [[Lord's]], became cricket's premier venue.<ref>{{cite book |last=Warner |first=Pelham |author-link=Pelham Warner |title=Lord's 1787–1945 |year=1946 |publisher=Harrap |pages=17–18}}</ref> There were in fact three Lord's grounds. The first, opened in 1787 when the club was formed, was on the site of [[Dorset Square]] in [[Marylebone]], hence the name of the club.<ref name=pwl>Warner, p. 18.</ref> The lease was terminated in 1811 because of a rental dispute and the club took temporary lease of a second ground in [[St John's Wood]].<ref name=pwl/> This was in use for only three seasons until the land was requisitioned because it was on the proposed route of the [[Regent's Canal]]. MCC moved to a nearby site on which they established their present ground.<ref>Warner, p. 19.</ref>

[[Lord Byron]] played for [[Harrow School]] in the first [[Eton v Harrow]] match at Lord's in 1805.<ref>{{cite magazine |url=http://content-uk.cricinfo.com/magazine/content/67/211281.html |title=The oldest fixture of them all: the annual Eton vs Harrow match |journal=[[Cricinfo Magazine]] |publisher=[[Wisden Group]] |location=London |date=18 June 2005 |first=Martin |last=Williamson |access-date=23 July 2008 }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The match became an annual event in the social calendar.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

Lord's staged the first [[Gentlemen v Players]] match in 1806.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} This fixture provides another illustration of the class divide in Regency society as it matched a team of well-to-do amateurs (Gentlemen) against a team of [[working-class]] professionals (Players). The first match featured [[Billy Beldham]] and [[William Lambert (cricketer, born 1779)|William Lambert]], who have been recognised as the outstanding professionals of the period, and [[Lord Frederick Beauclerk]] as the outstanding amateur player.{{citation needed|date=July 2022}} The 1821 match ended prematurely after the Gentlemen team, well behind in the contest, conceded defeat. This had been billed as the "Coronation Match" because it celebrated the accession of the Prince Regent as King George IV and the outcome was described by the sports historian [[Derek Birley|Sir Derek Birley]] as "a suitably murky affair".{{citation needed|date=July 2022}}

=== Football ===

[[File:The foot-ball play by Alexander Carse maybe 1830.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Football being played in Scotland, {{circa|1830}}]]
[[Football]] in Great Britain had long been a no-holds-barred pastime with an unlimited number of players on opposing teams which might comprise whole parishes or villages. The playing area was an undefined stretch of land between the two places. The [[ball (football)|ball]], as such, was often a pig's [[bladder]] that had been inflated and the object of the exercise was to move the ball by any means possible to a distant target such as a church in the opposing village. The contests were typically arranged to take place on feast days like [[Shrove Tuesday]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Dunning |first=Eric |title=Sport Matters: Sociological Studies of Sport, Violence and Civilisation |url=https://archive.org/details/sportmatterssoci00dunn_562 |url-access=limited |publisher=Routledge |year=1999 |page=[https://archive.org/details/sportmatterssoci00dunn_562/page/n99 88–89] |isbn=978-0-415-09378-1}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Baker |first=William |title=Sports in the Western World |publisher=University of Illinois Press |year=1988 |page=48 |isbn=978-0-252-06042-7|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rkuAiv3LoR4C}}</ref> By the beginning of the 19th century, efforts were being made in the English [[public school (United Kingdom)|public school]]s to transform this [[mob football]] into an organised team sport. The earliest-known versions of football code rules were written at [[Eton College]] (1815) and [[Aldenham School]] (1825).<ref>{{cite book |title=Encyclopedia of British Football |author=Cox, Richard William |author2=Russell, Dave |author3=Vamplew, Wray |publisher=Routledge |year=2002 |page=243 |isbn=978-0-7146-5249-8}}</ref>

=== Horse racing ===

[[Horse racing]] had been very popular since the years after the [[Stuart Restoration|Restoration]] when [[Charles II of England|Charles II]] was a frequent visitor to [[Newmarket Racecourse]]. In the Regency era, the [[British Classic Races|five classic races]] had all been inaugurated and have been run annually since 1814. These races are the [[St Leger Stakes]] (first run in 1776), [[Epsom Oaks|The Oaks]] (1779), the [[Epsom Derby]] (1780), the [[2,000 Guineas Stakes]] (1809) and the [[1,000 Guineas Stakes]] (1814).<ref>{{cite book |author=Fletcher |first=J. S. |url=https://archive.org/details/historyofstleger0000flet |title=The history of the St Leger stakes, 1776–1901 |publisher=Hutchinson & Co. |year=1902 |isbn=978-0-9516-5281-7}}</ref>

[[National Hunt racing]] began in 18th century Ireland and developed in England through the Regency era. There are tentative references to races held between 1792 and 1810.<ref>{{cite book |title=The Daily Telegraph Chronicle of Horse Racing |editor-last=Barrett |editor-first=Norman |location=Enfield, Middlesex |publisher=Guinness Publishing |year=1995 |pages=9–12}}</ref> The first definitely recorded [[Hurdling (horse race)|hurdle race]] took place on [[Durdham Down]], near [[Bristol]], in 1821.<ref>Barrett, p. 12.</ref> The first officially recognised [[steeplechase (horse racing)|steeplechase]] was over a cross-country route in Bedfordshire on 8 March 1830.<ref>''Sporting Magazine'' (1830), May and July editions.</ref>

[[Aintree Racecourse]] held its first meeting on 7 July 1829.<ref>{{cite web |date=9 April 2019 |title=And they're off – a brief history of Aintree racecourse and the Grand National |url=https://www.ageconcernliverpoolandsefton.org.uk/and-they're-off-a-brief-history-of-aintree |website=Age Concern Liverpool & Sefton }}{{Dead link|date=March 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> On 29 February 1836, a race called the [[1836 Grand Liverpool Steeplechase|Grand Liverpool Steeplechase]] was held. One of its organisers was Captain [[Martin Becher]] who rode [[The Duke (horse)|The Duke]] to victory. The infamous sixth fence at Aintree is called [[Becher's Brook]]. The 1836 race, which became an annual event, is recognised by some as the first [[Grand National]], but there are historical uncertainties about the three races between 1836 and 1838 so they are officially regarded as precursors to the Grand National. Some sources insist they were held on Old Racecourse Farm in nearby [[Maghull]] but this is impossible as that course closed in 1835.<ref>[http://www.tbheritage.com/TurfHallmarks/racecharts/Steeplechase/GrandNationalEarly.html "The Birth of The Grand National: The Real Story".] Mutlow, Mick (15 June 2009). Thoroughbred Heritage. Retrieved 9 July 2020.</ref> The first official Grand National was the [[1839 Grand National|1839 race]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Wright |first=Sally |date=3 April 2020 |title=An early history of Aintree racecourse |url=https://www.timeform.com/horse-racing/features/generic-feature/an-early-history-of-aintree-racecourse-342020 |website=Timeform}}</ref>

=== Rowing and sailing ===

[[Rowing (sport)|Rowing]] and [[sailing (sport)|sailing]] had become popular pastimes among the wealthier citizens. [[The Boat Race]], a rowing event between the [[Cambridge University Boat Club]] and the [[Oxford University Boat Club]], was first held in 1829 at the instigation of [[Charles Merivale]] and [[Charles Wordsworth]], who were students at Cambridge and Oxford, respectively. Wordsworth was a nephew of [[William Wordsworth]]. The first race was at [[Henley-on-Thames]] and the contest later became an annual event on the [[River Thames]] in London.<ref name="The Boat Race origins">{{cite web |url=http://theboatrace.org/men/origins |title=The Boat Race origins |publisher=The Boat Race Limited |access-date=1 July 2022 |archive-date=7 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141007044923/http://theboatrace.org/men/origins |url-status=live }}</ref> In sailing, the first [[Cowes Week]] regatta was held on the [[Solent]] in August 1826.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1820-1840 |title=Icons, a portrait of England 1820–1840 |access-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070922055840/http://www.icons.org.uk/theicons/icons-timeline/1820-1840 |archive-date=22 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Track and field athletics ===

[[Track and field]] competitions in the modern sense were first recorded in the early 19th century. They are known to have been held by schools, colleges, army and navy bases, social clubs and the like, often as a challenge to a rival establishment.<ref>[http://www.iaaf.org/aboutiaaf/history/index.html History – Introduction] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100501210531/http://www.iaaf.org/aboutiaaf/history/index.html |date=1 May 2010}}. [[IAAF]]. Retrieved 2 July 2020.</ref> In the public schools, athletics competitions were conceived as human equivalents of horse racing or [[fox hunting]] with runners known as "hounds" and named as if they were racehorses. The [[Shrewsbury School|Royal Shrewsbury School Hunt]], established in 1819, is the world's oldest running club. The school organised [[Paper Chase (game)|paper chase]] races in which the hounds followed a trail of paper shreds left by two "foxes". The oldest running race of the modern era is Shrewsbury's Annual [[Steeplechase (athletics)|Steeplechase]] (cross-country), first definitely recorded in 1834.<ref>{{cite journal |title=On the Scent of History |journal=Running Times |date=December 1998 |page=28 |author=Robinson, Roger}}</ref>