Remembering Gerry, Celebrating William

Launched by two fans of the 1960s and 1970s Wrestling Heritage has grown into a community of like minded fans who have not only kept the memories alive but made startling discoveries to add to our knowledge and understanding of British wrestling. It is a shared experience and journey of discovert

One wonderful example is the discovery of Gerry Hoggarth, an almost forgotten and certainly overlooked wrestler of the 1950s. It was Heritage member William Richmond, known as Beancounter who led the way in

Discovering Gerry

Events that took place long ago can easily disappear into the mists of time. Gerry Hoggarth was one of those mostly forgotten names until 2009 and the resourcefulness of Wrestling Heritage member Beancounter. It wasn’t that Gerry wasn’t a significant figure in British wrestling; it was just so long ago.

It was in August, 2009, that Beancounter got in touch with a query about what he described as an “obscure topic.” The obscure topic was with regard to one of his local wrestlers, Mick Duffy. Duffy had wrestled on one of the two shows held around 1963 in the Village Hall at Kirkland, near Garstang. Two further shows were held in 1964. The promoter of the two shows was Gerry G. Hoggarth from Lancaster. Beancounter then began to research Preston’s Bill Tunney, who he had watched on a show at the Lancaster Kingsway Baths. The promoter, Master of Ceremonies, and referee of that show was Gerry Hoggarth.

Who on earth was Gerry Hoggarth?

Ten years ago we could offer little help other than one reference on the site and a listing of some of Gerry’s matches received from Ray Plunkett. Undeterred Beancounter did what anyone could do -he started asking questions in his local community and visited his local library to consult the newspaper archive. This unearthed more details of the Kirkland show and the next small step, the mother of one of Beancounter's colleagues meeting Gerry Hoggarth in the supermarket! A fine example of how making your interests known, however obscure they may seem, can bring unexpected results from the unlikeliest of places.

Time passed and Beancounter went on to conduct some splendid research which resulted in the Preston Pride article found in the Places section of wrestling Heritage. Until out of the blue, four years after his search had begun, another collegue of Beancounter’s told him that he knew Gerry very well.

A meeting was arranged and Beancounter’s report began with “Absolutely Brilliant!.” He went on to tell of a lovely meeting with Gerry and his wife. Gerry shared a copy of his 1952 appearance at the Royal Albert Hall in which he won the British Heavyweight Championship alongside other memorabilia. Another coincidence when Beancounter discovered a neighbour of his with whom he occasionally went walking was Gerry and Vera’s son-in-law.

The story from that time on, December, 2012, is now known by all regular readers of Wrestling Heritage. Beancounter became good friends with Gerry and Vera, visiting them regularly at their home. Beancounter’s regular reports of his visits enabled all of us to share the memories of “The Iron Man of the Lakes.” On one occasion Beancounter caught up with Gerry, who had just set out on his daily walk. Beancounter wrote:

“As we climbed slowly up the road for half a mile to a spot overlooking his beloved Lune Valley, he told me of his early days in the Lindale Smithy and how, from the age of 13, he developed his strength in the course of his work by wielding a 45lb hammer. He also asked whether your article made mention of his winning the C & W Championship Cup at Egremont Fair, which I was indeed able to confirm. I really do get the impression that despite his many subsequent successes in the freestyle code this, to his mind, was the crowning glory.“

Thanks to Beancounter’s reports to Heritage readers Gerry Hoggarth has quite rightly received his place in Britain’s wrestling history and an almost forgotten man is now one of Heritage’s most loved ex wrestlers.

Celebrating William

To add to Beancounter's embarrassment at this public recognition, we add words from Councillor Elizabeth Webster of Garstang Town Council on the occasion of William awarded with the Mayors Award in October 2020 for his incredible contribution of raising over £30,000 for local charities and large funds raised for the local community over the years

I first found out about this kind and caring gentleman when I was invited to one of his infamous fundraising bashes within weeks of becoming mayor. Before I knew it I was invited get up and say a few words and to my surprise, he gave me a cheque for £250 to get my fundraising started. I then learnt what this unsung hero actually did for the community. The gentleman I'm talking about it is William Richmond. It all started for his 61st birthday some 11 years ago. Since then he's been organising winter parties, a sausage and mash bash and summer BBQ at Garstang's Wyrebank with all funds raised for the local community.

William or Bill as he's affectionately known as has raised over £30,000 for local charities in the area. He's given hundreds and thousands away to local causes such as North West Air Ambulance, cancer charities, Garstang sports club and Team ShazzAnn just to name a few.

Thank you so much for your kindness and generosity Bill. I hope your events reconvene very soon! Well done William! I

Written by Cllr Elizabeth Webster.