Dixie Brown, Date of Birth, Place of Birth, Date of Death
TweetDixie Brown
boxer
Date of Birth: 27-Jun-1900
Place of Birth: Saint Lucia
Date of Death: 20-Apr-1957
Profession: boxer
Nationality: Saint Lucia
Zodiac Sign: Cancer 
About Dixie Brown
- Anthony George Charles (born 27 June 1900 in Castries, Saint Lucia; died 20 April 1957) was a boxer, commonly known as Dixie Brown.
- He worked on the construction of the Panama Canal and emigrated to Cardiff, Wales in 1919.
- In the West Country of England, he survived by working as a bare-knuckle boxer in fairground booths.
- He moved with his wife, Lily Sellick, to Bristol in 1923, and registered as a professional boxer, fighting 85 bouts in the 1920s and 1930s, as welterweight and middleweight.
- He trained at the White Horse in Milk Street.
- He could not contest any British championships owing to the colour bar then in operation.
- He had two wins, both over one-time champion Billy Green, five losses and two draws in his professional career.Brown started family life in the "tough neighbourhood" of Philadelphia Street, St Jude's.
- He was blinded in a fight in the 1930s and then moved with his family to Knowle West, Bristol after the Blitz.
- A collection was made to send him to the Catholic shrine of Lourdes in France, in search of a cure.
- He was visited by many African American soldiers during the Second World War, as they respected him as "a well known and a much admired character".
- Brown had nine children and thirty grandchildren.
- One of his grandsons used to take him to his local public house, the Venture Inn, where he had his own special chair.
- He was popular and well respected throughout Bristol.
- Brown died in 1957 and is buried in Holy Souls Catholic Cemetery next door to Arnos Vale Cemetery in Bristol.
- Bristol historian Madge Dresser described him as "a family man who founded a virtual dynasty of Bristolians of mixed heritage, all of whom remember him with fondness."
Read more at Wikipedia