Frank Parks Explained

Frank Parks
Birth Date:March 1875
Birth Place:London, England
Death Place:Hampstead, London, England
Known For:British amateur heavyweight champion
Height:5' 11"

Francis George Parks (March 1875  - 22 May 1945) was a British amateur heavyweight boxer.[1] He joined the Polytechnic Boxing Club in 1892, and won the Studd Trophy in 1902. He also won a bronze medal at the 1908 Summer Olympics.[2] [3]

Biography

He was born in March 1875 in London, England, to George Parks and Eliza Ann Barrington.[4] [5] [6] Around 1896 he married Ada Sarah Waller in London and they had the following children: Maud Lilian Parks (1897–1983), Francis George Parks (1898–?); Rose Gladys Parks (1900–?), Ivy Mary Parks (1904–?), and Olive Eva Parks (1907–1991).[7] He was the ABA Heavyweight Champion in 1899, 1901, 1902, 1905 and 1906.[8]

In 1911 he and Reuben Charles Warnes went to the United States with the Amateur Boxing Association of England to fight in Madison Square Garden in a series of exhibition bouts.[9] In one of the 1911 matches in the United States he lost to William Spengler in three rounds on a referee's decision.[10]

He died on 22 May 1945 in Hampstead, in a car crash.[11]

Championships

Legacy

A plaque in the shape of a laurel wreath was dedicated to Frank Parks by the Polytechnic Boxing Club "as a token of admiration by his many friends for his high example and untiring effort for the welfare of club for 52 years". The plaque is dated 7 November 1946.

See also

Notes and References

  1. Sources tend to confuse and conflate the two brothers. There is a "Frederick Mostyn Parks" listed in Sports Reference as the Olympic medalist. There is "F. Parks" and "Frank Parks" listed in The New York Times for the exhibition matches in the US. The obituary by the Polytechnic Boxing Club is about "Frank Parks". Other sources use a pastiche of information on each in their records. On January 2, 2011, Elaine Penn, the University Archivist for the University of Westminster wrote: "I have just discovered that Fred and Frank Parks are brothers. I quote from the Poly Boxing Club report in the Polytechnic Magazine for December 1908 (page 173), regarding an Open Competition promoted by the City Police AC: 'Fred. Parks (Frank’s brother) was our other member who showed up most conspicuously, as he beat three men in the earlier bouts and succumbed in the final only through not having enough physical strength to meet a comparatively fresh man who had just had the benefit of a bye. We must say that we were delighted with the manner in which Fred boxed during the whole of the evening, and we feel certain that before long he will become a boxer with reputation very little short of that held by his brother Frank.' "
  2. Web site: Frank Parks . Olympedia . 20 March 2021.
  3. News: Olympic Boxing. Sporting Life . 28 October 1908 . 29 December 2021 . British Newspaper Archive. subscription .
  4. George Parks and Eliza Ann Barrington in the 1881 England census
  5. Web site: Frank Parks (1875-?) aboard the SS St. Louis. May 13, 1911. 2010-12-21. First Name: Frank
    Last Name: Parks
    Ethnicity: Great Britain English
    Last Place of Residence: London, England
    Date of Arrival: May 13, 1911
    Age at Arrival: 36y
    Gender: M
    Marital Status: S
    Ship of Travel: Saint Louis
    Port of Departure: Southampton.
  6. Joanna Parks writes: "I believe he had 5 kids - Francis George Parks born in 1898 in Marylebone, London (husband's grandad) and Ivy, Olive, Rose and Maude but I have no dates on them. I haven't even been able to find his wife."
  7. Francis George Parks (1875–1945) at Ancestry.com
  8. Web site: ABA Heavyweight Champions . 2010-12-17 . Fred [sic] Parks (Polytechnic ABC) . .
  9. News: English Champions Arrive. Quintet of Amateur Boxers Ready for Bouts of Pastime A.C. . Evidence of a real international amateur boxing series became manifest last night with the arrival on the steamship St. Louis of the quintet of English ... Parks, the mammoth of the party, is another five-time winner of the English title, with victories achieved in 1899, 1901, 1902, 1905, and 1906. .... . May 14, 1911 . 2010-12-17 .
  10. News: English Boxers Show Up Strongly. Only One Britisher Fails to Outpoint His Opponent in Special Tournament . . . May 28, 1911 . 2010-12-21 .
  11. News: Frank Parks . Frank Parks who has died following a fatal accident at his Hampstead home on 22 May. He was an Associate of the Polytechnic, having become a member in 1892. Well known in business and Masonic world, he is best remembered for numerous successes in boxing in the early years of the century. He entered first competition at Polytechnic in 1892. Won English Championships in 1899 and repeated the same feat in 1901, 1902, 1905 and 1906. Won the Studd Trophy in 1902 and the French Championships in 1905. ... . . June 1, 1945 . 2010-12-20 .

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