Joseph Darby (6 August 1861 – 22 December 1937) was a renowned English jumper from the Black Country village of Netherton, in Dudley, Worcestershire. He specialised in spring jumping (jumping starting from a stationary position) often using weights in his hands to help propel him. After taking part in competitive jumping at venues in the Midlands and North of England in the 1880s, he went on to perform at theatres in London and Paris and crossed the Atlantic to exhibit in North America. He entertained crowds by performing trick jumps and earned money in wagers with competitors. Highlights in his career included defeating the American World Champion spring-jumper in 1887 and appearing before the future King Edward VII in Covent Garden, London. After finishing his jumping career, he became a publican in his hometown.
Early life
Joseph Darby was born in Windmill End, Netherton, on 6 August 1861. His parents were Abraham Darby, a maker of nails for shoeing horses, and Martha Darby (née Foley).
When interviewed in 1889 he said that he had only received ten months' schooling at the most "and only half-time at that." He also said that he started work at the age of seven, making nails. When asked when he started jumping he replied "I was always at it when a bit of a kiddy, jumping against the other lads, and I could always beat them fair and easy."
According to an interview he gave whilst on a tour in the U.S., he commenced his working life making nails for horseshoes, before working in a colliery and subsequently unloading boats.
Early sporting career At the age of 18 he took up athletics, firstly as a professional runner over distances of 100 and 120 yards. He reportedly had success as a runner, competing 22 times and only suffering one defeat. He took up competitive jumping when aged 20 or 21. He specialised in spring-jumping where he launched himself from a standing position. He often used dumbbell-shaped weights in his hands to help propel himself for the spring jumps.
In a promotional pamphlet produced by Darby or his agent, the first competitive jump listed is a defeat of T. Hartshorn of Netherton for a £20 wager. This competition took place at the Lea Brook Grounds, Wednesbury on 8 January 1883. The contest involved a sequence of 5 standing jumps and Darby beat Hartshorn by over 2 ft., covering a distance of 20 yards 1in.
Darby's next jumping competition took place on 14 May 1883, at the same sporting grounds as for his first competition, and was against W. Hughes of Kates Hill, Dudley. Darby again proved the winner in a contest where he took 15 "rising jumps" against his opponents 15 "rising hops".
Darby's third contest was against Kirk of Ilkstone, Derbyshire, again at the Lea Brook Grounds on 24 September 1883. In his third victory, this time for £40 stakes, Darby jumped 35 ft. 8in. in a sequence of three spring jumps.
Darby now took a break from competition, working as a collier and unloader of canal boats, only returning to jumping in November 1885 when he defeated W. Fillingham of Wigan, Lancashire for £100 at the Queen's Ground, Barnsley.
On 7 December 1885, Darby lost a match to Tom Pollitt of Openshaw at the Moorfield Grounds near Manchester. For the contest, involving two forward spring jumps, Pollitt jumped first and was given a 12in start. Darby was unable to reach his opponent's mark after three jumps and so Pollitt won the £20 stake money.
On 27 February 1886, Darby took on and beat John Holland of Middleton, the contest taking place at the Moorfield Grounds, Failsworth, near Manchester. For the contest, Darby took 7 forward stand jumps against Holland's "five run hops and a jump". At this time, Darby was being trained by T. Walker of the Windmill Inn. Darby won the contest by 12 inches.
Subsequent victories for Darby were recorded. On 26 April 1886, he avenged his previous defeat by Tom Pollitt. The event took place at the Moorfield Grounds, Failworth near Manchester for total stakes of £100. The competition involved 4 standing jumps, with Pollitt being given a yard start.
On 19 March 1887, he defeated William Brown of Leeds, Yorkshire, for £50, the jumping completion taking place at the Cardigan Grounds, Leeds. The competition involved Darby taking ten forward spring jumps against Brown's nine hops and a jump, Darby's winning margin being 3in despite Brown being given a 1-yard start.
On 30 April 1887, he defeated Bill Brown of Bradford for £50 at the Victoria Grounds, Wolverhampton, the event involving two backward jumps.
On 2 July 1887 he defeated Thomas Burrows, of Nelson, Lancashire, for £50 a-side. The competition took place at the Moorfield Grounds, Failsworth and involved Darby taking seven standing forward spring jumps against Burrows' six run hops and a jump. Darby won the contest by 3 ft 5¾in.
On 29 October 1887, Darby was beaten by Daniel Dearden of Haydock, at the Swan Inn Grounds, St. Helens. For the competition, involving three jumps, Dearden had the advantage of using weights whilst Darby jumped without. However, Darby was given a two feet start.
Defeat of the American jumper Hamilton Between December 1887 and March 1888, he defeated George W. Hamilton, then the World Champion spring-jumper in three competitive matches. Hamilton, born in Frederica, New York on 28 October 1856, had jumped 14 ft 5½in with weights at Rome, Michigan, USA on 3 October 1879. The American had come to England with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show, in which he performed under the guise of "Mustang Jack". The first meeting was at the Moorfield Grounds, Manchester on 24 December 1887. The match was for £100 a-side stake money and involved ten forward spring jumps with the use of weights. Darby won the match comfortably in front of around 600 spectators, leaping over 4 ft. 5in. beyond the American's mark. The second of these meetings took place at the Leabrook Grounds, Wednesbury on 21 January 1888. At this match, the jumpers competed for £100 a side, each jumper alternately performing two stand spring forward jumps. It was reported that Darby was trained for the competition by his own brother Abel of the Malt Shovel Inn, Dudley. Darby won this competition by a distance of 2 ft 6in. For the third meeting, which took place on 10 March 1888 at the Moorfield Grounds, Manchester, the American was given a 6-inch start for the contest which involved two stand spring forward jumps but he failed three times to match Darby's distance. Darby's feats led to him being presented with championship belts including one proclaiming him to be champion of the world, which was awarded at the Dudley Fetes in 1889.
Two of his championship belts and other memorabilia are on display at Dudley Museum
On 21 April 1888, Darby avenged his previous defeat by Daniel Dearden at a competition held at the Larkhill Grounds, Farnsworth. The event, for stakes of £50 a-side, involved three forward spring jumps. Darby jumped 39 ft. 2in. and Dearden was only able to land two inches behind Darby's mark despite being given a 2 ft start.
Stage performer and sportsman
On 6 February 1888, Joseph Darby appeared at Bingley Hall, Birmingham as part of a testimonial benefit evening given in honour of the boxer Jem Carney.
On 10 September 1888, Darby appeared in his home village at the Friendly Societies Gala on Netherton Cricket Ground in front of 4,000 people including the local MP, Brooke Robinson. After performing a number of trick jumps, Darby then broke the record for 20 successive spring jumps that had stood at 79yards 6in., although he only required 17 jumps to pass this distance, leaping 81 yards, 1 ft 6in in the process.
According to an interview he gave in a French newspaper, Darby's first stage appearance before a paying public took place in October 1888, when he jumped at the Canterbury Music Hall in London again as part of a performance given for the benefit of the boxer, Jem Carney. For the performance, which took place on 18 October 1888, in front of over 3,700 spectators, Darby took the stage after several boxing bouts had been completed and reportedly "gave the most marvellous display of jumping feats ever seen on a Metropolitan stage".
On 29 October 1888, Darby appeared at the Grand Circus, adjoining the Molineux Grounds, Wolverhampton. Despite losing his jumping clogs on the way to the venue, he still "succeeded in astonishing those present".
From 5 November 1888 to 12 January 1889, Joseph Darby performed at the Royal Aquarium, a place of entertainment in London. On his debut, he took to the stage clad in a white singlet and scarlet trousers before starting with a jump over a chair from a brick placed on end without knocking over the brick. As part of his show at the Royal Aquarium, he challenged all-comers to compete with him for a bet of between £50 and £1000. In the newspaper advertisement for his performance, 17 separate trick jumps were listed, including forwards, backwards and sideways jumps over chairs; jumping off and onto bricks placed on end without knocking them down; jumping onto and off a man's face without hurting him; jumping onto and off a seated man's head without hurting him; jumping onto a man's hat and off again without doing any damage and jumping over a horse. In addition he stated that he would break jumping records set by anyone in the world.
It was reported that during his performances at the Royal Aquarium, Darby suffered a serious injury whilst jumping over tables, snapping ligaments above and below the knee.
Awarded championship belt On 11 and 12 June 1889, Joseph Darby performed at the Dudley Castle Fetes. After his display of jumping, he was awarded a belt by Alderman Walker of Dudley Council. The belt, made of silver and with enamelled pictures on it was stated to be of £70 value and was made by Messrs. Elkington and Co. Limited of Birmingham. The money for the belt was raised by subscription and included an enameled picture of Dudley Castle, crossed dumb-bells on ivy leaves, representations of Darby as a jumper, red cornelians mounted on gilded bosses, and the jumper's monogram.
In 1889, he wrote to the editor of the Sporting Life newspaper, challenging the jumper Jose Parker to a contest for stakes between £50 and £200, with the gate money to be used for the benefit of the Guest Hospital, Dudley. The two jumpers competed in May 1890 at Dudley Castle Grounds before a crowd estimated at over 20,000. Darby's jumping pupil Short also competed at the event, which involved a variety of stand jumps. Darby won all of the events.
In November 1889, it was reported that he had broken three jumping records at the Ashton-Under-Lyne Skating Rink towards the end of October. In the single stand jump without weights, he achieved 11 ft. 8½in., beating the record by 7½in. He also broke the record for two stand jumps and for the high jump by clearing 5 ft. 6in.
On 30 November 1889, a newspaper advertisement stated that he was playing to packed houses and that he had only one available open date for the rest of the year. His sole agent was stated to be John Taylor of Windmill End, Dudley.
In December 1889, Darby was being billed as the "Champion Jumper of the Word", the "Ninth Wonder of the World" and as the "Flying Man".
In 1890 it was reported that: "Darby goes through no exceptional training unless for a special contest. He keeps himself trim by a little boxing, careful dietary, and keeping clear of alcohol almost to the extent of teetotalism."
Performs in England, Ireland and Scotland
In early May 1890, Darby was performing at Dan Lowrey's Star Theatre in Dublin. Darby's shoes were kept on display at the theatre bar in order to show they contained no springs.
In the middle of May 1890, Darby performed at the Bradford and West Riding Gala held at Peel Park, Bradford.
On 28 May 1890, at a competition held in conjunction with the Dudley Castle Fetes, Darby jumped 14 ft 2in in a single jump with weights, beating the English record.