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Lancashire’s Canadian Hero
Born with the birth name of Alfred Hodgson we so much wanted to prove that the man who became wrestler Jack Wentworth was British born and not Canadian as many sources claimed. Heritage’s Ron Historyo got on the case. Despite numerous erroneous sources regarding his date of birth, including some official documents, Ron was able to prove beyond doubt that Alfred Hodgson was born in Britain on 30th October, 1907. Possible place of birth was Barrow In Furness as the family were living there at 13 Vernon Street, when they completed the 1901 census.
The family left Liverpool on 24th June, 1910, on board The Virginian, destination Quebec. In the 1911 Canadian census John and Georgina Hodgson, and their six children were living in Wentworth, Ontario.
Alfred Hodgson started wrestling as an amateur in his teenage years, wrestling in the works team at the Firestone Tyre Factory where he worked in Hamilton. British publicity at the time states a professional debut in 1929, a last minute replacement for a wrestler who failed to appear.
Jack Wentworth (as he was by then known in wrestling circles) was soon on the boat to England where he established himself as one of our top wrestlers of the 1930s. He sailed to Southampton and remained in Britain for most of the decade. We have unconfirmed reports that he came to Britain and was wrestling in 1933, with our earliest confirmed record being knocked out by Dave Armstrong at the Blackfriars Ring in April 1934. In the way that only wrestling fiction can provide on his return to Blackfriars, just two months following that defeat, he was likened to Jim Londos and described as the Empire’s leading contender for the World Heavyweight title.
He travelled throughout the country, meeting many of the well known names in the business – Iron Duke, Jack Pye, Tony Baer and King Curtis amongst them. He was only 5 feet eight inches tall and weighed around thirteen stones at the time, but Jack was a solid and powerful wrestler, with great stamina from swimming and football. Jack was learning his professional trade during these formative years in Britain. Results were mixed, and included a draw with Billy Riley, but there was plenty of his work coming his way.
On 8th October, 1935 Jack left Southampton, homeward bound for Montreal for a short three month visit. He was back in British rings by the end of January 1936, continuing where he had left off, and now bulked up to around fifteen stones. On one noteworthy occasion he picked up Anaconda, slammed him to the mat and followed through to take the first fall after just fifteen seconds! There were quite a few Canadians that wrestled in Britain during the 1930s, which might account for Jack being billed as Australian in some halls.
In 1937 he travelled to South Africa, where he stayed for two years. In 1939 with war approaching he returned to England. In Britain’s 1939 Register (a pre war census) Alfred and Winifred Hodgson were listed as a married couple living at 35 Thorpe Road, East Ham. They shared the home with Thomas Chappell (a scavenging foreman), his wife Lillian, and Irene Gurry, a dress machinist.
Jack Wentworth continued wrestling until 1940 when he returned to Canada on board the Duchess of Atholl bound for Montreal. In North America he worked mostly in Ontario with regular travels to the southern United States.
Jack returned to Britain, with a group of his protégés that included his son Robert, in 1954 and again in 1958. This brought a new generation of opponents that included Count Bartelli, Gerhardt DeJaeger and Ray Hunter.
In 1958 he opened a wrestling gymnasium in Hamilton, Ontario, one of his many proteges being Ivan Koloff. The passenger list of the 1954 liner stated his occupation as wrestler, whilst by 1959 on his return (accompanied by wife Winifred) it had changed to gym instructor.
Jack Wentworth died on 29th March, 1984, and was buried in Eastlawn Cemetery, Hamilton.
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Page added 29/03/2026
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