Tom Spring was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 bare-knuckle

Bare-knuckle boxing

Bare-knuckle boxing is the original form of boxing, closely related to ancient combat sports...

 fighter. He was heavyweight champion of England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 in 1821 until his retirement in 1824. After his retirement he became landlord of the Castle Inn at Holborn

Holborn

Holborn is an area of Central London. Holborn is also the name of the area's principal east-west street, running as High Holborn from St Giles's High Street to Gray's Inn Road and then on to Holborn Viaduct...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, where he arranged the patronage and contracts of many of the major boxing events of the period while overseeing fair play in the ring.
Spring was born at Witchend in Fownhope

Fownhope

Fownhope is a village in Herefordshire, England, an area of outstanding natural beauty on the banks of the River Wye.The village has a church, primary school, two pubs, two hotels, a fitness/leisure centre, butcher's, forge and a hairdresser's...

, Herefordshire

Herefordshire

Herefordshire is a historic and ceremonial county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes it is a NUTS 3 region and is one of three counties that comprise the "Herefordshire, Worcestershire and Gloucestershire" NUTS 2 region. It also forms a unitary district known as the...

. His true surname was "Winter" which he changed to Spring when he became a professional boxer.