The world famous matador 'El Ingles' who was from Westcliff

Vincent Hitchcock was for many years the only professional matador from England. He entertained crowds in the Spanish arena from 1949 up to the 1960s and killed more than 100 bulls during his career.

He was tossed many times, repeatedly gored and almost lost his life on several occasions.

Hitchcock, who grew up in Clifftown Parade, became known as ‘Vincente, El Ingles’. He saw his first bullfight when he was serving with the Merchant Navy. He had been ill with appendicitis and was recovering in a Spanish hospital when he decided to distract himself for the day by attending a bullfight. He fell instantly in love with the bloodsport and was determined to become a matador.

He enrolled in a strict bullfighting school in Seville where he learnt the ropes of the traditional Spanish sport- back then considered a popular and thrilling form of entertainment.

• READ MORE: Rossi legacy: the roots of Ugo's Pizza Bar in Leigh date back to 1901

Vincent’s first appearance in the ‘plaza de toros’ came when he was just 21 where he ended up killing two bulls in an arena in La Linea, Cadiz. He performed in front of a crowd of 12,000 people who cheered and applauded him. At the end. they carried him on a chair through the town, despite him having been gored and badly injured.

A report from the fight said: “They gave the twenty-one-year-old Englishman a rousing reception and, at the end, he was presented with the tail and ears of one of his bulls by the president of the bullring, a coveted honour only rarely accorded to the matador.”

Less than a week later Vincent was practising on the ranch of his friend Juan Belmonte (himself an ex- matador) when he was gored by a steer. He was taken to hospital in Andalucia with a three-inch wound to his leg which had just missed the major femoral artery.

Vincent is gored by a bull in Madrid in 1950 (Image: Unknown)

Despite a painful and gory start to his career, Vincent was soon back in the ring. He would go on to perform regularly at arenas in Madrid, Seville and Cordoba - always dressed in the traditional toreador pink, silver-braided costume, with pink stockings and montera hat. Of course he was never without his ‘muleta’ – red cape.

Although matadors historically carry a red cape it is for entertainment purposes only – and to mask the blood stains. Bulls are colour blind.

Despite his world wide celebrity and success in 1950 Vincent was booed at a fight in Madrid when he failed to kill his bill quickly enough at the end.

Vincent was the son of a Hatton Garden jeweller from Westcliff. As a youngster he was sent to the Brentwood School, but was expelled for setting fire to a classroom. He later went to the Chigwell School.

Mr Hitchcock senior along with his wife, Vincent’s mother, were none too pleased with their son’s choice of career and refused to see him perform.

His mother once told a reporter: “A bullfighter in the family, I’ve never heard of such a thing. If we were Spanish it might be alright but we are not, we’re English and I don’t want me son sticking swords into bull for a living.”

His father had hoped Vincent would become a doctor: “We have never been keen on him taking ip bullfighting. I am proud of his courage but not the life he has chosen,” he once admitted.

• READ MORE: When Southend’s lifelike seafront wax works gave visitors thrills and chills

His parents said Vincent was obsessed with Spain as a youngster and particularly with bullfighting. He would practice being a matador at home, using his mother’s silk scarf as the cape, while his niece pretended to be the bull.

Vincent was married twice and he and his second wife settled in Faversham, Kent in the mid 1950s where he opened his own bullfighting school on his extensive farm.

He was inundated by letters from fans and young men came from all over the world to enrol in his school.

It seems Vincent had trouble controlling his passionate temper, however, which is not surprising considering his choice of career. In 1956 he was fined five shillings for being drunk in the street in London. Another time he was fined for shouting obscenities at his father-in-law in public.

Vincent recovers in hospital after being gored by a steer while practising at the ranch of his bullfighter friend Juan Belmonte. His manager sits by his side (Image: Unknown)

When his daughter was born in 1954 to wife Jacqueline, Vincent appealed to the UK public to borrow a matador’s embroidered cape to christen her in, as was the tradition with bullfighters. He had left his own one in Madrid.

In 1960 Vincent was itching to get back in action in the arena and he prepared for a fight in Cordoba in front of a crowd of 10,000 - his first for several months.

“My first fight will be the testing time,” he said. “I have had a long lay-off and although I did well on my come-back at the end of last season, I have still got to prove myself once more to the satisfaction of the thousands of fight-fans in Spain.”

Vincent ended up killing three bulls during the fight but was injured after being gored. By the end he could barely speak and was covered in blood.

In 1956 Vincent published his biography ‘Suit of Lights’ which became a big seller across the globe.

Vincent Hitchcock died in 1976 from cancer at the age of just 48.

Thankfully, as the world has progressed when it comes to animal welfare issues, parts of Spain have today outlawed bullfighting, however it still takes place regularly in major cites such as Madrid, where bullfighting season runs from March until October.