Frank Gadsby

Frank Calladine Gadsby (19 December 1881 – 7 February 1958) was a British competitive diver and swimmer. He was nicknamed "Peggy" on account of having only one leg, after having it amputated following an accident when aged four. He learnt to swim under the instruction of Professor Touhy, who also taught King George V.

Gadsby was a fishmonger and a publican before taking up competitive diving. His exhibition diving started around 1911 and continued into the 1940s. He declared bankruptcy in 1913, with unpaid debts of £300. He performed stunt dives in films, as well as in front of royalty. Despite retiring around 1949, Gadsby continued to perform diving displays, by that time being over the age of 60, on some occasions replacing his son Leslie who was injured. He continued to dive into his 70s, once saying "I can do it still if anyone likes to dare me."

With his wife Nellie Crossland, he had two sons, including Leslie who was also a diver. Gadsby died in February 1958.

Early life Frank Calladine Gadsby was born on 19 December 1881 to parents James and Charlotte. He was baptised the following month. According to the 1891 United Kingdom Census, he was born in Basford, Nottingham, and was the second of four children, behind an elder sister. At the age of four, one of his legs had to be amputated after an accident following a dislocated hip. Gadsby would later perform a diving exhibition for King George V.

Later in September 1913, he swam from Formby to Southport Pier, which was described by a local newspaper as being "a remarkable swimming performance", covering most of the distance by trudgen stroke with water of a low temperature. Gadsby was accompanied by a dinghy and went a mile off course around a third of the way into his swim due to the tide. He previously swam from Hastings to Eastbourne, which he considered to have been easier due to calmer tides.

In 1920, he was reportedly a swimming instructor on the Cunard Line Imperator, at a time when he was described by The Wichita Beacon as having "achieved a world reputation as a swimmer". In 1924, he was fined 5 shillings by a court in Skegness, having been stopped by a police inspector due to having no light on his bicycle. Gadsby did not attend court, claiming he was engaged in a performance. He was described by The Leicester Mail in 1927 as being "the champion one-legged swimmer and diver of the world". He became the diving and swimming master at Butlin's seaside resorts around 1946. In a 1929 interview, he reflected on this dive, describing it as what he believed to be his most sensational feat, particularly as it was only his second time in an aeroplane. After jumping from the plane wearing a lifebelt and a parachute, he dropped for around four seconds before the parachute opened, describing the experience as being "much easier than the usual way of diving".

As well as public exhibition diving, Gadsby also performed diving in films, working in around 20 by 1929.

During the 1930s, he toured with his group "Dare Devil Peggy's Water Circus", alongside Olympic divers, sometimes booked at considerable expense to the organisers. Gadsby's work as a stunt diver continued throughout the 1930s, such as in September 1938 when he dived with his cloak set alight into a portion of pool water also in flames. In a promotion for a 1948 circus event where he was to dive into a tank of fire, he was described by the Ealing and Acton Gazette as being the "world's greatest high diver".

Gadsby reportedly had a previous close encounter with near death or injury, when he dived from the bridge of the RMS Berengaria and barely cleared a barge. yet continued to dive into his 70s, once saying "I can do it still if anyone likes to dare me" and "the hardest part of the act is climbing up all those rungs with one leg. I can come down alright."

He also replaced his injured son in December 1953, performing a high dive at a fair ground in Carlisle. After retirement, he moved from Hyson Green to Eastwood, Nottinghamshire.

Personal He married Nellie Crossland on 20 June 1907 in Nottingham, England. Together they had two sons, Leslie and Ken.

Popular culture In 2000, a hotel in New Brighton, Merseyside, was renamed "Peggy Gadfly's" for a number of years, in reference to Gadsby who was known to dive off New Brighton Pier.

Gadsby inspired the character The Diver in the BBC radio comedy It's That Man Again.