Bill Richmond was a British boxer, born into slavery in Richmondtown, New York. Although born in Colonial America, he lived for the majority of his life in England, where all his boxing contests took place. Richmond went to England in 1777, where he had his education paid for. He then apprenticed as a cabinetmaker in York.

Lieutenant General Hugh Percy, 2nd Duke of Northumberland was an officer in the British army and later a British peer. He participated in the Battles of Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Long Island during the American War of Independence, but resigned his command in 1777 due to disagreements with his superior, General William Howe.