Sarah Elizabeth Cox
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oispooky.bsky.social
Sarah Elizabeth Cox
@oispooky.bsky.social
5.8K followers 750 following 4.4K posts
🥊 1880s boxing+wrestling historian
📕 THE DEVIL'S DANCE FLOOR (Duckworth, 2027)
✍🏻 Hezekiah Moscow, Alec Munroe, Sugar Goodson, Wannop, Smith, Ball &c.
🤜🏻 Advisor #AThousandBlows
👩🏻‍💻 PR @britsciassoc.bsky.social
🏖️ Clacton 💚

www.grapplingwithhistory.com
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oispooky.bsky.social
😺🌊☀️
Photo of a tabby cat sat on a path In front of houses in Jaywick blue skies above and a seagull Skies, sea, beach and green scrubland in foreground at Jaywick
January 31, 2026 at 5:23 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Took a nice photo of some cats eating brunch (some sort of rice and curry dish) on the beach in Jaywick. A lovely day! 😺😺🍛
Two tabby cats on a concrete path next to the beach. Blue sky and clouds behind. One cat is munching dinner on a low wall, the other is a perfect model in the foreground, posing.
January 31, 2026 at 2:00 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Hope this chicken that my child made yesterday cheers you up as much as it did for me 😂🐓

It was drawn from life shortly after he met an actual chicken!!!
Photo of a two year old's artwork. It is a bright yellow smudgy paint hand print with two little eyes drawn on the palm. There are two dark red feathers and a yellow feather stuck on it to represent the body.
January 29, 2026 at 1:37 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
It's nice to be niche! 💁🏻‍♀️🥊

Been asked to give the keynote opening talk at the DAM and Collections Management for Cultural Heritage 2026 conference.

I will, of course, be chatting about Hezekiah Moscow. From archive to prime time! 📦⏩📺

More to come:

henrystewartconferences.com/events/dam-c...
Screen grab of conference website showing headshots of James Mortlock HSBC, Dan Heather National Theatre and Sarah Elizabeth Cox Historian Sarah's headshot and some text from the start of her bio, saying she's the PR Manager for British Science Assoc and a boxing historian The photo of Hezekiah Moscow 1888 by Harry Carpenter, held in National Archives. A young Black or Black East Asian heritage man poses with fists raised in studio boxing shot. He is shirtless, wearing white tights. Palms on painted backdrop. Malachi Kirby as Hezekiah in A Thousand Blows. He is a tall early 30s Black man in Victorian evening attire, white shirt and yellow waistcoat, boxing watched by toffs
January 29, 2026 at 12:14 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Historical Job of the Week.

Ethel Bainbridge - Fancy Fox Making Foreswoman!

Sadly a typo. 21-year-old Ethel from Shoreditch actually managed fancy boxes. Very well, I'm sure.
Screenshot from Find My Past 1911 census digitisation which says 'Fancy fox making foreswoman'
January 27, 2026 at 6:08 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Join us for a night of discussion about Black American boxer Tom Molineaux (1784-1818) - a man who came close to being English Champ - and boxer turned business owner Bill Richmond. Plus, true histories behind Bridgerton and #AThousandBlows! 15 April. UCL. Free:

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/champion-b...
The battle between Crib [Cribb] and Molineaux. Hand coloured engraving, taken from Wiki. It shows two shirtless muscular boxers in knee length tights, a black man to the left, white to the right. The Black man is Molineaux, backed by Richmond in red waistcoat. A large crowd looks on at the scene.
January 27, 2026 at 4:45 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
December 1887. English Heavyweight Champ Jem Smith (right) and the American Jake Kilrain enjoy each other's company after a two-and-a-half-hour bare fist fight in which "the muscular giants pounded each other into pitiable and bloody helplessness".

Sketch from 'Jake Kilrain's Life and Battles'.

👊🏻
Black pen sketch on brown paper from 1888. It shows two muscular white male boxers nude and reclining in adjoining baths, steam rising. Kilrain smokes a cigarette. Jem has his legs crossed, a towel held at a convenient angle. They have a bottle of wine between them. Looks really lovely!
January 27, 2026 at 9:01 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
A silly thing but you know what cheers me up when things aren't cheery at ALL? Wine, yeah. But ALSO my absurd 1961 Primrose Yellow bathroom suite and tiles. Peeling vinyl floral wallpaper couldn't be saved, sadly. I painted the walls and ceiling, the floor tiles were a cheapo DIY. Please enjoy 💛🍌🍋
A small English bathroom from 1961. It's about 6ft x 6ft and has a lemon yellow bathtub, loo, sink, with matching colour tiles, wall paint and ceiling, plus dark yellow and brown patterned floor tiles, and a peach and white striped shower curtain.
January 26, 2026 at 7:37 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
"THIS IS A VERY GOOD BOOK, SO WHY DON'T YOU TRY IT?"

Just found something in the British Newspaper Archive which means I can now legitimately say I've been a published historian, writer and critic for 32 years, despite being 'only' 39-years-old 😆

Ahahaha!!!!

My first book review:
Clip from a 1994 Book Corner column in the Luton News and Bedfordshire Chronicle, headline Whiz back in time to new pals, a review by seven year old Sarah Cox, who lives in Eaton Bray and attends Lark Rise Lower School, Dunstable. "VILLA BELOW THE KNOLLS - Michael Dundrow. This is a very good book, so why don’t you try it? It's about a ten-year-old boy who wishes to go to Roman times. A magic brooch takes him there. I was interested in reading this book as it is set in the Roman dwelling which stood in what is now a field opposite Totternhoe church. We drive past there every day on the way to school and often take our dog, Katie, for walks near there. The boy is called John and with the brooch he can travel back to any period he chooses. But little did he know that he would be in danger. Read this book and you will whiz through time and find new friends in Roman Britain. It’s ideal for children aged seven, eight or nine, and my brother, Thomas, who is nine, is reading it now. It's not that well illustrated, but it's a very exciting story, so go down to your nearest book shop and buy it. - Villa Below The Knolls, published by The Book Castle. Dunstable, costs £3.99.
January 24, 2026 at 12:44 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
I would put a purse of gold on any one of these lads for the win 🤜🏻🤛🏻
Photo of a sepia photo of some white hard looking lads from the past and their large shovels
January 23, 2026 at 10:36 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Baby Rodney's mum Cassandra 🥹
TWO SPANISH MASTIFFS. One is a bit smaller and a more orangey shade.
January 23, 2026 at 11:01 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
Meet local Clacton celebrity Rodney. Full name, Rodney The Plonker. RODNEY THE PLONKER. I would vote for him as MP, go into battle for him (or on him), and sacrifice all my worldly goods and probably life. An honour to have crossed paths (I was looking for WiFi, he was having a puppachino).
A colossal golden Spanish mastiff dog rests on the floor of Clacton Starbucks (sorry for being in Starbucks, there are not many WiFi options here). He is the most beautiful creature in the world.
January 23, 2026 at 10:48 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
Needed a speaker headshot for a forthcoming professional conference that wasn't quite obviously taken at 9pm on Clacton High Street after three wines like my other one. Ended up looking like, uh, Dolly Parton and Lemmy Kilmister's bastard child? Oh well. This is what a historian looks like etc 😂🖤🦂🤘🏻💋
Selfie of a tall 39yr old woman with shoulder length black hair and a fringe to hide her forehead wrinkles. She's wearing a black charity shop Zara cowboy style shirt covered in silver studded tassels, red lipstick and stupid large gold scorpion earrings.
January 23, 2026 at 9:26 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
Celebrating the forthcoming blue plaque to Tom Molineaux and Bill Richmond at the National Gallery, I'm proud to be joining a panel with Tony Warner (Black History Walks), Roberto Nigro, Luke G. Williams & S.I Martin at UCL! 👊 Apr 15 - FREE tix #AThousandBlows

www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/champion-b...
Sketch of Bill Richmond watching Molyneaux - two Black Georgian boxers - at the fight billed as 'The Battle Between Cribb and Molineaux' 1811
January 22, 2026 at 9:42 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
£14.99 each 😂
Cover of a book called A Thousand Blows season 2 TV series review - a clear engaging guide to understanding the story and its impact. It is by a man called Dick. A probably AI generated image shows a large muscular black man punching a white man with a beard. Cover of The Craft and Making of ATB. More god awful AI garbage. It is by a man called Michael.
January 21, 2026 at 9:24 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
Returning this week to working on Jem Smith for my book, and it's funny how many times boxing journalists 100+ years ago referred to him as having stubby short little arms (not ideal for a boxer, post-bareknuckle era). I've studied his photo many, many, times... can't say I even noticed. Hmm.
Sepia studio boxing portrait photo of Jem Smith the 1880s English Heavyweight Champion. He is a 5ft 7-ish muscular white guy in his 20s with close-cropped shaved hair. He poses shirtless with (too-short) arms raised and fists clenched. Jem knows how to fill out a pair of white cotton tights, I'll just leave it there.
January 20, 2026 at 1:14 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Big well done to me for forgetting the Alt Text on the picture illustrating a story about a blind boxer. Sorry, it was 6am posting. Now with:
Black and white copy of a sketch of a male Black American Victorian boxer in his twenties, he is muscular and posing with arms crossed, wearing white knee length shorts, a dark striped sash/colours at waist, socks and light lace up shoes. He's got a lovely face and stares into the distance.
January 20, 2026 at 6:45 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
An 1890 National Police Gazette woodcut of Illinois-born boxer (& baseballer, race-walker) Albert Pearce, a man @cycologies.com and I believe to be the first Black cyclist in UK competitions after arriving in 1882. He was blinded boxing in his 30s and died in middle age at Fulham Workhouse, London 💔
January 20, 2026 at 6:22 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
Well done to all concerned 😂

#AThousandBlows 🥊
Screenshot from some random film website which says A Thousand Blows is ranked fifth in the top 10 Disney shows this weekend, behind a bunch of stuff I've never heard of because I don't have Disney and literally watch my own show illegally, and ABOVE BLUEY. Bluey!!!? I have highlighted 'Bluey' and written omg underneath.
January 18, 2026 at 11:10 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Glad to be at a point in my life where I no longer feel the need to eat soup and exercise a lot to meet society's standards, the male gaze, the Skinny Tok (?), or the Zara concept of a Medium.

It's so I don't get stuck in these bastards.
Photo of some evil padded spinning poles in a soft play centre that you have to squeeze through running after your toddlers on a netted high walkway. There's parrots on them.
January 18, 2026 at 5:38 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Yesterday around 11am 🐔

As an aside, CHRIST that suit 😂
Nigel Farage looking perfectly healthy carrying a box of chicken on a red carpet outside a chicken shop yesterday morning Nigel Farage looking perfectly healthy carrying a box of chicken on a red carpet outside a chicken shop yesterday morning surrounded by dodgy looking minders.
January 18, 2026 at 12:27 PM
oispooky.bsky.social
Who do you reckon won between these two?
Close up shot of two Farage henchmen. The bald one on the right in particular looks like a nasty piece of work.
January 18, 2026 at 9:49 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
Jaywick is sadly a bit notorious for fly tipping. At least sometimes, however, it's also art. Definitely did a double take! 😳😂🦵🏻
Photo of a bag for life covered in skull pattern dumped on the side of the path. Inside is the top of a witches broom stick. Sticking out is a white skin colour plastic mannequin leg and foot.
January 17, 2026 at 11:53 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
Sad to report that I missed Farage opening Flappy Joe's chicken shop in Jaywick because, well, I forgot. Know you were all desperate for it. Have a photo of the beach and my mate (King of Jaywick) instead. It's a lovely day! No coat needed or anything! Still some Farage lackeys here in flatcaps.
Photo of a beach in Clacton on walk to Jaywick with dramatic clouds and blue sky Sarah stroking a ginger and white cat she says hi to often, he fell off the table just after and looked a bit sheepish.
January 17, 2026 at 11:36 AM
oispooky.bsky.social
This house is SO gorgeous and neat from the outside and the inside is just... um... 🤷🏻‍♀️😂 Who doesn't want a dodgy Sex Bath Conservatory though!!!

www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/8...
Very retro 60s/70s Clacton bungalow with a neat crazy paved drive and lawn
January 17, 2026 at 10:37 AM