William Thompson (boxer) William Thompson (boxer) William Abednego Thompson (11 October 1811 – 23 August 1880) was an English bare-knuckle boxer. Born in Sneinton, Nottingham in 1811, Thompson was one of a set of triplets named Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, after the young men in the Book of Daniel who emerged from the fiery furnace of Babylon. He was the last of 21 children born in the slums between Long Row and Parliament Street. From an early age, Thompson developed well and was noted as having an ability with sports. When he was 15 his father died and William was sent to the
Shadrach Dingle child, feeling this was disrespectful to Daniel's memory. On Arthur's first birthday, Laurel spoke to Shadrach and told him she'd never forget Daniel but she also loved Arthur. When Shadrach spoke of his memories of helping her give birth to Daniel, she reminded him that it had actually been Arthur. This helped Shadrach come to terms with Daniel's death. Through their shared grief, Laurel and Shadrach became good friends and in March 2008, Shadrach told Laurel that years before, he had an affair with a woman named Shirley Pascoe. Eventually he had decided to leave his wife as Shirley was