Image shows a bare chested Rooke in right profile with one hand resting on his hip.

Image has good clarity and contrast with Rooke’s name printed on the bottom of the mount. Below his name is the photographer’s mark for Harony of Broadway, New York. Corners of mount are slightly clipped and bottom edge appears to be trimmed.

George Rooke was born in 1842 in Dundalk, Ireland. After arriving in the United States, he settled in New York City.

An online biography of Rooke reads:

“Rooke (sometimes referred to as Rook), was a one-time claimant of the bare-knuckle middleweight boxing championship. Rooke’s claim to the title came because he had challenged Tommy Chandler, the recognized champion, but Chandler had refused the bout. In the late nineteenth century, this was equivalent to vacating the title and Rooke subsequently claimed it for his own on July 17, 1872, though he made no attempt to prove his right in the ring until he was scheduled to meet Mike Donovan in Long Point, Canada. However, the fight was halted by police before it even started and the men never fought each other. After the Donovan fiasco, Rooke spent much of his time living off of his reputation and fighting exhibitions. He also owned and operated a gymnasium in New York City. On June 28, 1880, he was easily handled in an exhibition match against the much larger future heavyweight champion, John L. Sullivan. Though he was considered well “over the hill” for a boxer, Rooke continued fighting exhibitions until suffering a loss to Patsy Cardiff in 1886. He died on November 1, 1904 at the age of sixty-two in Newark, New Jersey.”

Rooke’s place of burial is not known.  [ad]

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

THIS ITEM, AS WITH ALL OTHER ITEMS AVAILABLE ON OUR WEB SITE,

MAY BE PURCHASED THROUGH OUR LAYAWAY PROGRAM.

FOR OUR POLICIES AND TERMS,

CLICK ON ‘CONTACT US’ AT THE TOP OF ANY PAGE ON THE SITE,

THEN ON ‘LAYAWAY POLICY’.