Sports exhibition
Sport in Hackney looks at the types of sports people have enjoyed playing or watching in Hackney and runs from the late eighteenth century up to the present day. Here are a few images from the exhibition -
 | DeerfootBefore London was chosen as the host city for the 2012 Olympics, you may not have associated Hackney with international athletics. However, in 1862 Deerfoot, the celebrated American Indian runner, arrived in Britain. During his stay he competed all over the country, but his most important races took place at the well known track at the White Lion in Hackney Wick. |
In the Autumn and Winter of 1861-2 he had three major races there and broke the world record for the greatest distance run in one hour. Despite beating many of the best British runners he became very popular with the crowds, and as many as 10,000 people flocked to Hackney Wick to watch him. The last time Deerfoot raced in Britain (and in Hackney) was in May 1863, when John White, the “Gateshead Clipper”, finally beat him. White ran the first six miles of the race in 29 minutes fifty seconds – a British record which was not broken for over seventy years! |
 | Stoke Newington Cycling ClubDuring the second half of the 19th century the number of sports-related clubs increased greatly, both in Hackney and in the country as a whole. |
| Local clubs sprang up for all different types of activities. This photograph, which dates from 1886 or 1887, shows the Stoke Newington Cycling Club pictured outside their headquarters at the Swan Public House in Upper Clapton. Unfortunately we do not own the original of this photograph, but we have a copy which someone kindly donated to us in the 1970s. This is now stored in our images collection. |
 | Stoke Newington Occupational Centre Cricket ClubThis photo, probably from the 1920s, is one of five of the cricket team demonstrating batting and bowling techniques. |
However we have not yet been able to track down what the Stoke Newington Occupational Centre actually was, or why they took these rather unusual photographs. The five photos were transferred to the Archives from Stoke Newington Library some years ago and can be found in our images collection. The above photos and more sports images are available to view at the Archives searchroom (please see below for address and opening times). |
Page updated: 17 Jan 2008