Further Antedatings of "Hooligan"

[Shapiro, Fred]

hooligan (OED 1898)

1894 _Hampshire Advertiser_ (Southampton) 20 Oct. 2 (British Newspapers 1600-1950)  As stump lecturers, vote, and bicycle riders women are nearly equal to men; but they should stop there, and not attempt to imitate the Hooligans, who are a race of Southwark Hottentots with a mission to make the lives of respectable citizens unbearable.  When, therefore, a number of young women in Westminster band themselves into a society of Female Hooligans everybody must agree that they are advancing too far. ... They and their companions met an old gentleman returning from market in Ebury Bridge-road, hustled him about, took his walking-stick and hit him over the head with it, scattered the contents of his basket over the roadway, and then assaulted two constables who came to his rescue.

1896 _Morpeth Herald_ 27 June 6 (British Newspapers 1600-1950)  For some time past numerous complaints have been made in the neighborhood of Camberwell and Peckham of the conduct of a number of "Hooligans," mostly well-dressed, who in the dusk of the evening, are in the habit of throwing obstacles under the wheels of cyclists, but more especially females, the result being many serious "spills."

[NOTE:  British Newspapers 1600-1950 also has citations back to January 1892 referring to "The Hooligans" in listings of theatrical amusements, but it is not clear what this referred to.]

Fred Shapiro

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org