Elizabeth Wilkinson

Elizabeth Wilkinson (fl. 1722–1733; alternatively referred to as Elizabeth Stokes) was an English bare-knuckle boxer and practitioner of historical European weapon arts active in the 1720s and early 1730s. She was one of the earliest known female boxers. During her decade-long career, she was often described as a "Championess" and had a reputation for having fought 45 bouts without defeat, although no official career data survives from the time. Later in her career, she engaged in bouts in which she and her husband, who was also a boxer, fought against other mixed-gender couples. She was also skilled with daggers, short swords, and quarterstaffs. She was one of the most famous prizefighters of her time, and writers including Pierce Egan and Thomas Moore celebrated her career into the early 19th century. Personal life Little information survives about Wilkinson's life outside the boxing ring. In an announcement promoting one of her matches, she claimed to be "of the famous city of London". Like most English boxers of the early 18th century, she appears to have come from a working class English background. L.A. Jennings speculated that she may have been related to the boxer Robert Wilkinson, who was hanged for murder on 24 September 1722, shortly after Elizabeth's first advertised boxing match, while Christopher speculated that "Wilkinson" might not have been her real surname and that she may have chosen it as a stage name to evoke the particularly infamous fellow boxer. Wilkinson probably married the boxer James Stokes. A 1725 promotional announcement for a fight describes her as his "much admired consort". Sometime between 1722 and 1726, she became known as Elizabeth Stokes. After her last documented fights in 1733, no further information about her life can be found in the historical record.