Original promotion poster for Bob's fight - courtesy of Dave Jack. Photograph Roselyn Fauth. This poster inspired the WuHoo Timaru Colourful Facts sheet.
In the heart of Timaru, on the very corner where he once lived and worked, a bronze boxer stands with fists raised. The statue honours Robert ‘Bob’ Fitzsimmons — the red-haired blacksmith’s apprentice who immigrated with his family to Timaru, grew up here and went on to become the first man in history to win three world boxing titles. Most of us know his sport legacy, but I think his story is more than victories in the ring... Find out how a shipwreck changed the course of his life forever, how the forges of Stafford Street gave him his fighting edge, and why Bob Fitzsimmons remains a lasting symbol of grit, ambition, and local pride.
Timaru's famous fighting blacksmith who won three world champtionships. Download: Bob Fitzsimmons Colourful Fact sheet and History Hunt.pdf
Follow Bob Fitzsimmons’ Story in Timaru
1. Grey Road & Church Street – Family Home (Tin Town). Look for the plaque where Bob grew up, the youngest of eleven children. His mother wanted him to be a minister, but he had other plans.
2. Timaru Main School (near Heaton Street. Bob went here briefly before leaving at age 12. He was bullied, broke his nose, and preferred playing football, wrestling, and boxing.
3. Strathallan Street – Isabella Ridley Shipwreck (1877). Bob planned to run away to sea, but the Isabella Ridley wrecked here. Ten men were saved by the rocket brigade as a thousand townsfolk watched. The wreck kept Bob in Timaru — a turning point in his life.
4. Stafford Street – The Blacksmith Forges (No. 295 and 257). Bob worked with his father and brother Jarrett, hammering iron and shoeing horses. This tough work built his strength and power for boxing.
5. Beswick Street (opposite the Grosvenor Hotel). Here Bob trained with his first mentor, Dan Lea, a respected local champion. Lea taught him how to fight with skill as well as strength.
6. Theatre Royal, Timaru. In 1880, at just 18, Bob won four fights in two nights here. He became New Zealand’s amateur champion — his first big title.
7. Corner of Stafford & Strathallan Streets – Bob’s Statue. Bronze statue by Margriet Windhausen (1987). Stands close to where he lived and worked, a reminder of Timaru’s world champion.
8. South Canterbury Museum See Bob’s anvil, letters, photos and memorabilia. The anvil he worked on helped forge his famous punching power.
9. Timaru Cemetery Bob is buried in Chicago, but his parents James and Jane are here. A place to reflect on where the family’s story began.
Beyond Timaru
10. Carson City, Nevada (USA) Where Bob beat Gentleman Jim Corbett in 1897 to win the heavyweight title. The entire contest was filmed and shown in cinemas around the world — making it the first feature-length sports movie and proving that boxing could help launch cinema as a global entertainment industry. For the first time, people from all walks of life — including women who were barred from live matches — could watch boxing on the silver screen.
11. Helston, Cornwall (England) Bob’s birthplace before his family emigrated to Timaru. Home to the Cornish roots of Tin Town.
From Tin Town to Timaru’s streets — how a restless boy grew up in a shared Māori and settler place
Go to the corner of Gray Road and Church Street and see if you can spot a plaque commemorating the site where Bob grew up. He was born in Helston, Cornwall, in 1863 and arrived in Timaru aged ten, the youngest of eleven children. His family settled in what locals called Tin Town, around Church Street and Grey Road, where a small cluster of Cornish families put down roots.
His mother hoped he would become a minister. The restless boy had other ideas. He went to Timaru Main School, but left at twelve after rough treatment from other pupils, a smack on the nose to be precise. He preferred being outside, playing football, wrestling and sparring. Those early scraps gave him confidence. They also gave him a crooked nose and a taste for self defense and competition...
Bob Fitzsimmons home on Grey Rd, from the book, The fighting blacksmith: A biography of Bob Fitzsimmons 1976. The plaque on the corner is all that remains.
Bob used to be a student at Timaru Main School. The Main School, Timaru, circa 1909, Timaru, by William Ferrier. Te Papa (O.051442)
A twist of fate that changed everything... The shipwreck that stopped Bob leaving and kept him in Timaru.
As a young teen, Bob was restless. According to the book written by Christopher Tobin, Bob had enough of port side life, and hatched a plan with a ship captain to run away to sea! He believed sailors became strong fighters and saw the harbour as his way out and into opportunity. But picture his freckeld face when he would have heard the news... In April 1877, the Isabella Ridley, a 233 ton barque built in 1858, which had sailed from Newcastle carrying two thousand sacks of grain and was anchored off Timaru wrecked at the foot of Strathallan Street.
A heavy sea was running, but there was little wind. The vessel didn't have enough sea room or sail power to get to safety, and began to drag her anchors. The captain tried to tact to safety, but without wind he was helpless. With 10 souls on board, he turned the ship toward the beach, and raised the signal of distress flag. The volunteer rocket brigade rushed to the resque and fired a rocket line from the shore to the ship so the crew could flying fox their way to safety. All while about a thousand townsfolk watched and cheered. Within hours the Isabella Ridley had crushed her lower timbers and smashed to pieces against the rocks in front of the Government landing services at the foot of Strathallan Street. All ten men aboard were saved, but the wreck was total. About five other vessels also drifted in that day, though none were so badly damaged.
Government landing terrace at Timaru, 1860s. Shows buildings by the waterfront. Photographer unidentified. - https://tiaki.natlib.govt.nz/#details=ecatalogue.366331
I wonder if bob saw the wreck, and how he felt finding out his plan had fallen over and his opportunity to escape with sailors was lost.
But the demise of the shop kept Bob in Timaru. Instead of life on the ocean, he was challenged to find a new opportunity here. That turn of fate eventually steered him back to the family forge on Stafford Street, where he began to hammer horse shoes, and build the strength that would help him reach workd titles as the famous Fighting Blacksmith.
Visit 257 Stafford Street – where the forge helped build a champion
Bob worked for five years at his brother Jarrett’s blacksmith shop. Hammering iron and handling horses made him strong. Stories say he sometimes fought rowdy customers, and people came just to watch. These fights helped prepare him for the ring.
Step into the South Canterbury Museum – can you find Bob’s anvil?
Visit the museum to see the real anvil Bob used. This heavy piece of metal helped build the strong arms that powered his punches.
Looking South down Stafford Street, Timaru, 1902, Timaru, by Melvin Vaniman. Purchased 2024. Te Papa (O.051719) The black smith forge is on the left side of the road.
Hammering horseshoes and working with iron built the strength of the world’s greatest puncher
Along Stafford Street you can stand where the family’s blacksmith shops once rang with hammer on iron. The Fitzsimmons forge was at 295 Stafford Street and his brother Jarrett later worked further along at 257. Bob spent years beating horseshoes, carrying iron and holding the feet of horses.
That daily grind built the heavy forearms, shoulders and back that would power his punches. People came to watch when a customer turned rowdy. Bob rarely lost those impromptu contests.
You can go for a wander to the Grosvenor Hotel on Beswick Street and imagine the saloon opposite the Hotel where Bob met a fighting mentor who would change everything. Champion boxer Dan Lea took the willing apprentice under his wing. Lea was his first serious boxing mentor in Timaru and taught him early structured boxing fighting, like how to set his feet and throw with purpose and brought discipline to the power the forge had built. With Lea’s guidance, the local lad began to look like a fighter. The nickname followed. The Timaru Terror.
There is another tale from these years that locals loved to repeat. Tom Baines, a giant blacksmith who boasted he could lift a horse, liked to call himself the original Timaru Terror and said no man could stand up to him. The thin, bald, freckled apprentice who looked as if he could not shake a jelly proved otherwise. After that, Baines stopped taking casual challenges, and Bob began to suspect he had the makings of a champion.
Close up section of photo Timaru, 1902, Timaru, by Melvin Vaniman. Purchased 2024. Te Papa (O.051719)
Here at 295 Stafford Street, Bob Fitzsimmons known as the "The Fighting Blacksmith" forged horse shoes here for his father. He learnt to box in Timaru. Bob's work at the forge developed the powerful arms and shoulders which helped him become the was the sport's first three-division world champion.
Premises of Cecil Pattillo, photographer, in Stafford Street, Timaru. Hocken Snapshop. hocken.recollect.co.nz/24042
Timaru Theatre Royal - Before Barry Bracefeild changed the facade 1991 - https://www.heritage.org.nz/list-details/5393/5393
Now wander down to the Timaru Theatre Royal. Imagine the night at the Theatre Royal when a blacksmith’s apprentice became New Zealand’s champion
In 1880, aged 18, Bob entered a tournament at the Theatre Royal. Over two nights he won four bouts in a row and was acclaimed New Zealand amateur champion. I think this is an important detail, that his first big title was earned not in a grand arena overseas but on a Timaru stage a short walk from the statue that bears his name.
He left Timaru for Australia in 1883, and in 1890 slipped across to Sydney again to chase bigger opportunities. He did not cut an impressive figure. Skinny, knock kneed, bald, a fringe of fierce red hair and copper freckles. But once the bell rang the picture changed. He knocked out his tester, Dick Ellis. He lost to Australia’s champion Jim Hall a little later, took the lesson on the chin and kept going. The next step was America.
1912-07-24 The New Zealand amateur boxing championships - the winners of the finals. 1. G. Barr (Wairarapa, featherweight champion); 2. J. Gunn (Timaru, bantamweight champion); 3. G. Watchorn (Manawatu, welterweight champion); 4. T. Sampson, referee; 5. M. McGrath (Timaru, lightweight champion); 6. R. Fitzsimmons (Timaru, heavyweight champion); 7. S. Monaghan (Ohakune, middleweight champion). Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-19120724-0026-01. No known copyright restrictions
A framed photograph of Bob Fitzsimmons and letter signed by him, dated 1910. A typed label appears beneath the photograph, reading "Presented to the Club Hotel, Timaru by M.C. Barnett, Shaw Savill & Albion Co. Ltd". The photographer's name appears on the photograph. South Canterbury Museum 1995/45.8
A freckled, knock-kneed lad mocked as a “bald-headed kangaroo” who shocked America and the world. Bunch of bully's if you asked me, but Bob soon silenced the mockers.
In the United States his odd appearance earned him mockery. One opponent, Billy McCarthy, called him a bald headed kangaroo. By the ninth round the joke had worn thin. McCarthy was counting stars and the American press had a new fascination.
There were louder calls to match the awkward looking man who fought like a world beater against the champion Jack “Nonpareil” Dempsey. On 14 January 1891, in New Orleans, Bob Fitzsimmons knocked out Dempsey in the thirteenth round and became world middleweight champion.
Six years later, on 17 March 1897 at Carson City, he met Gentleman Jim Corbett for the heavyweight crown. Corbett was the taller, heavier favourite. Bob was behind on points. In the fourteenth, after a clinch, his wife Rose, acting as his second, shouted a simple instruction: Now hit him in the bread basket, Bob.
He drove a right hand into Corbett’s solar plexus, followed with a left to the chin and the fight was over. He was heavyweight champion of the world, the only New Zealander ever to hold that title. In 1903 he added the light heavyweight crown, becoming the first man to win world titles in three different weight divisions.
People often say he was the greatest knockout puncher of all time. His career stretched to hundreds of bouts, and the phrase the bigger they are, the harder they fall is often linked to him. For a boy from Tin Town, it was quite a journey.
The Carson City fight that became the world’s first feature-length sports film and changed how we watch forever
The 1897 Corbett fight matters for another reason. It was filmed in full, then shown in cinemas around the world. At a time when women were not allowed to attend prize fights in person, they could now watch boxing on the silver screen.
Millions who had never seen a live contest saw Bob’s right hand sink into Corbett’s midriff and change the fight. In a single contest, sport stepped from ringside into popular culture. A Timaru blacksmith helped show the world what a feature length sports film could be.
Why a boxer belongs on Stafford Street — from home, forge, and theatre to bronze in the heart of town
Bob died in Chicago in 1917 aged fifty four. He was later inducted into the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame. Timaru never forgot him. In 1987 a bronze statue by sculptor Margriet Windhausen was placed on the corner of Stafford and Strathallan Streets, the place where his home once stood and close to where the family worked the forge.
It is fitting that the monument stands not in a sports complex but in the ordinary streets of town, in sight of the shopfronts and the sea. His anvil is at the South Canterbury Museum. A plaque marks the site of the house on Grey Road. His parents James and Jane rest in Timaru Cemetery.
If you want to follow his footsteps, start at the Grey Road plaque, walk down to the harbour where the Isabella Ridley came to grief, turn back up to the old Theatre Royal, and finish along Stafford Street at the sites of the forges before you stand at the statue itself. You will have walked through the making of a champion.
More than his wins — lessons in grit, community, and turning hard knocks into courage
When people ask why there is a boxer in the centre of town, I think of the set of chances and choices that shaped his life. A shipwreck that stopped him leaving. A mentor who saw ability in an awkward apprentice. Years of hard physical work building strength for horse shoes. The bronze statue helps our community remember its place in Boxing and Cinema history, where Bob lived, worked, played and boxed.
Bob Fitzsimmons is more than his wins. He is a story about Timaru. About resilience, craft, and taking your chance when it comes. About listening to the people who back you. About how a small town can lift its eyes to the world and add something new. He reminds us that greatness can grow from ordinary places, that history is not only written in grand halls but in sheds and schoolyards and on stages close to home, and that who we are today is shaped by those who learned to turn hard knocks into courage. That is why the boxer stands in our main street.
He was married four times and fathered six children. Sadly, two of his children died when they were very young. His surviving children lived in the United States and England, though they did not become well known like their father. Bob himself died in Chicago in 1917 at the age of 54.
Fitzsimmons-Corbett prize fight - watching the bulletin. A huge crowd assembled outside the Tribune and the World Buildings, New York, to get the news of the progress of the prize fight between Bob Fitzsimmons and James Corbett as it was televised from Nevada. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections NZG-18970612-0758-01 No known copyright restrictions
https://youtu.be/YotGnDnWRV0?si=g5dJUVvPUyrQMcHs The Corbett–Fitzsimmons Fight” (1897) was the first feature-length sports film, running over 100 minutes and showing every round of the heavyweight title bout in Carson City, Nevada. It became a huge commercial success, earning around $750,000, and proved that cinema could make sport available to mass audiences — even though boxing was banned in many states. Shot on a special 63mm format called the Veriscope to prevent piracy, the film was later added to the US National Film Registry in 2012. Only fragments survive today, but they capture the moment when Timaru’s Fighting Blacksmith changed both boxing history and the way the world watched sport.
1915-07-22 Group of Notable Men in the Boxing World From left: Bill Lang, the Victorian heavyweight; Mr. W. F. Corbett, the well-known Sydney sporting writer; Mr. Hugh D. Mcintosh, the Australian vaudeville magnate; Bob Fitzsimmons, ex-world's champion; Tommy Burns, ex-world's champion; and Harry Nathan, the well-known trainer. Auckland Libraries Heritage Collections SDR-19150722-28-01 No known copyright restrictions
Visit the Timaru Cemetery and pay your respects at the grave of Bob's folks, James & Jane Fitzsimmons
James and Jane Fitzsimmons are buried here and will for ever be known as the parents of their youngest son, Robert (Bob) Fitzsimmons. Bob became a boxing sensation winning world titles three weight divisions. The family emigrated from Cornwall to Timaru in 1873, settling on Grey Road. If you look at the corner garden where Environment Canterbury is, you will see a plaque that notes thie spot where Bob with his eleven siblings was raised. Bob briefly attended Main School. He wanted to run away, and hatched a plan with a ship captain, but the plan fell apart when the ship wrecked over night. So eventually James went to work as a blacksmith like his father for his brother Jarret at the family forge. The heavy lifting and beating gave James incredible upper body strength. Combined with some great training, his talent for boxing soon saw him rise through the ranks to become a global sporting legend, his fights were the first to be filmed and feature lenght film was projected all over the world. This brough him huge fame as the flighting blacksmith. He died in Chicago, and his legacy is honoured with a statue in central Timaru.
Bob’s parents, James and Jane Fitzsimmons, are buried here. While Bob was buried in Chicago, this is a place to remember where his story began.
Jane and James Fitzsimmons Grave in Timaru - parents of Bob Fitzsimmons Boxer - Photo Roselyn Fauth
Before he became a world champion in three weight divisions and a pioneer of modern boxing, Robert Fitzsimmons was a knock-kneed, red-haired blacksmith’s apprentice in Timaru. Raised in the South Canterbury town after emigrating from Cornwall, Fitzsimmons forged both his strength and his fighting spirit in the local forges and sparring rings. His remarkable journey from Timaru to the pinnacle of international boxing made him not just a sporting legend, but a lasting symbol of grit, ambition, and local pride.
The Corbett–Fitzsimmons Fight (1897) – Facts
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The film depicted the heavyweight title fight between James J. Corbett and Bob Fitzsimmons, held in Carson City, Nevada on St Patrick’s Day, 17 March 1897.
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Directed by Enoch J. Rector, it originally ran for over 100 minutes, making it the longest film ever released at the time and the world’s first feature film.
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The complete film no longer survives; only fragments remain today.
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Content included:
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A five-minute introduction featuring John L. Sullivan, Billy Madden, referee George Siler, and both boxers entering the ring.
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All 14 rounds, each lasting 3 minutes with 1-minute rests.
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The climax: Fitzsimmons’ solar plexus knockout punch on Corbett in round 14.
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A 10-minute epilogue showing the crowd storming the ring.
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Rector used the Latham loop and three cameras shooting on 63mm nitrate film, making it also the first widescreen film (aspect ratio ~1.65:1).
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Around 48,000 feet of film stock was brought on location; 11,000 feet were exposed.
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The ring was briefly cut down to 22 feet to suit the camera but restored to 24 feet by the referee.
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It was the first motion picture to depict a championship prizefight.
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Its screenings functioned as the first pay-per-view media event in boxing: it earned more through film exhibition than the live gate.
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Despite prizefighting being illegal in 21 US states, efforts to ban the film mostly failed.
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Women were banned from live fights, but not from screenings.
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Bob’s wife Rose Julian Fitzsimmons attended the match in person with female companions.
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In Chicago, about 60% of the audience for the film was women.
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The film gave women access to the “forbidden sight” of semi-nude male athletes in close combat.
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Comparisons have been made between this female audience response and the later popularity of Rudolph Valentino films in the 1920s.
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Financial arrangements:
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Initially Rector gave 25% of profits to William A. Brady and Corbett.
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Fitzsimmons and manager Martin Julian protested.
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Revised deal: each boxer and manager received 25%, with Rector, Dan Stuart, and Samuel J. Tilden Jr dividing the remaining 50%.
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Estimated revenue: about $750,000 during several years of distribution.
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The film was shot exclusively under Rector’s contract; British cinematographer Birt Acres attempted to send a cameraman but was blocked.
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In 2012, it was added to the US National Film Registry as “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.”
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A Corbett Dollar commemorative coin was issued in brass, showing Corbett’s bust on the obverse and the inscription “For the Championship of the World. Carson City Nev. March 17, 1897” on the reverse.
Timaru, 1902, Timaru, by Melvin Vaniman. Purchased 2024. Te Papa (O.051719)
Section of photo Timaru, 1902, Timaru, by Melvin Vaniman. Purchased 2024. Te Papa (O.051719)
https://collections.tepapa.govt.nz/object/2314850?page=1&rtp=1&ros=1&asr=1&assoc=all&mb=c
1900 Stafford Street, Timaru, with people standing in the street, horses and carts and people on bicycles. The Press (Newspaper) :Negatives. Ref: 1/1-008716-G. Alexander Turnbull Library, Wellington, New Zealand. /records/29947735
Bob Fitzsimmons - Timaru's champ (17 Jan 1976). Aoraki Heritage Collection, accessed 21/04/2025, https://aorakiheritage.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/1638