Between 1845 and 1851, Caunt worked as farm labourer and then became the landlord of the Coach and Horses pub at St Martin's Lane, a business that made him very prosperous until the premises were destroyed in a fire that killed two of his children.

In his final fight on 21 September 1857, Caunt fought Nat Langham at Home Circuit, where after 60 rounds both men were too exhausted to continue and a draw was declared.

He is buried outside the north transept of the Parish Church of St Mary Magdalene in Hucknall close to the grave of his two children who died in the Coach and Horses fire.

When, at the end of this oratorical marathon, Sir Benjamin sank back into his seat, a wag in the chamber shouted out: "Why not call him Big Ben and have done with it?"

However, according to the booklet written for the old Ministry of Works by Alan Phillips (1959): Like other nice stories, this has no documentary support; Hansard failed to record the interjection.

The current champion of the prize ring was Benjamin Caunt, who had fought terrific battles with Bendigo, and who in 1857 lasted sixty rounds of a drawn contest in his final appearance at the age of 42.

As Caunt at one period scaled 17 stone (238 lbs, or 108 kilogrammes), his nickname was Big Ben, and that was readily bestowed by the populace on any object the heaviest of its class.