caption death_date death_place birth_place nationality name birth_date image article_title birth_name
dixie brown , c. 1930 20 april 1957 bristol castries , saint lucia british dixie brown 27 june 1900 dixie brown.jpg dixie brown
 anthony george charles
dixie brown

anthony george charles -lrb- born 27 june 1900 in castries , saint lucia ; died 20 april 1957 -rrb- 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 '30s , 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 . ''
