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OK, my turn to ask a question: It's about nicknames.

Ninja_Stoker

War Hero
Moderator
Doubtless the question has been asked & answered before, but the hopeless search function on the site makes it difficult to find an answer.

My query is where do the origins of the following well-known nicknames come form?

Pincher Martin

Spider Kelly

Jimmy Green

Knocker White

Sharky Ward

Tanzy Lee


Yes I know I should know, shame on me, but sad to say I've either forgotten or never actually knew. I'm guessing Knocker & Tanzy were boxers.

Thanks.
 
Whoops, how embarrassing :oops:

Didn't realise there was a thread about the same sort of thing in Newbies.

OK, strike off Jimmy Green - thanks for that one.
 
Spider Kelly

Nicknames of Jim Kelly, American featherweight boxing champion (1938-39) and his son Billy Kelly champion at the same weight (1955-56).

Tanzy Lee

No specific details on where it originates, but understood to be a 19th-Century Gypsy bareknuckle boxer.

Pincher Martin

Admiral Sir W.F. Martin was Commander-in-Chief on the Mediterranean station in 1860. He made a name for himself (and for his namesakes) by detecting crimes and abuses.

Sharky Ward

After the nickname of John Ward (Yusuf Rais) (c. 1553 - 1622) an English sea captain turned Barbary Corsair, Ward was based in Tunis, where he died of plague. Precise origin of his nickname 'Sharkey' remains unknown.

Knocker White

A Miller's assistant. The assistant's job was to ensure the various hoppers and chutes were free-flowing and clear and would therefore knock all the accumulated flour away to allow it to flow without blocking. His day normally ended with him being white from head to toe from being covered in flour hence the nickname.

Tug Wilson

Derived from the nickname of a former First Sea Lord (1909-11) Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Kynvet Wilson, also awarded the VC when fighting with the Naval Brigade at the Battle of El Teb in 1884 in the Sudan during the Mahdi rebellion. Admiral Wilson's nickname reputedly comes from an incident when he repeatedly ordered a battleship to try and come alongside and in exasperation offered her Captain a tug to assist.
 
Tug Wilson

Derived from the nickname of a former First Sea Lord (1909-11) Admiral of the Fleet Sir Arthur Kynvet Wilson, also awarded the VC when fighting with the Naval Brigade at the Battle of El Teb in 1884 in the Sudan during the Mahdi rebellion. Admiral Wilson's nickname reputedly comes from an incident when he repeatedly ordered a battleship to try and come alongside and in exasperation offered her Captain a tug to assist. Pasted from Sgt P.
I had the priviledge of knowing a Ret'd Naval Engineer Officer (Wally Ramsey) As a Middy in Gibraltar pre WW1 he remembered the incident. Admiral Wilson signalled the battleship and stated that if he couldn't berth the ship he personally would use a battleship as a tug to assist him.
 

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