Oxford Rowing; a History of Boat-Racing at Oxford from the Earliest Times
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
JBequeatbeo to laniversitp of Toronto tlbe late flDaurice Dutton, &.-&., XX.D. principal of TlinfversitB College 1901*1928 OXFORD ROWING jforfc THE UNIVERSITY HORACE HART, PRINTER TO U VA ^ * OXFORD ROWING A HISTORY OF BOAT-RACING AT OXFORD FROM THE EARLIEST TIMES WITH A RECORD OF THE RACES COMPILED PRINCIPALLY FROM OFFICIAL SOURCES REV. W. E. SHERWOOD, M.A. MAGDALEN COLLEGE AND CHRIST CHURCH TREASURER OF THE 0. U. B. C. Ojcforb anfc HENRY FROWDE ALSO AT EDINBURGH, GLASGOW, BELFAST, AND NEW YORK 1900 TO R. H. S. IN REMEMBRANCE OF OLD ROWING DAYS AND TO ALL OTHER ENTHUSIASTS OF THE O. U. B. C. PREFACE THIS Record of Oxford Rowing is a work which we have been contemplating for some years, and towards which we have been slowly collecting materials, in the hope that some one with more leisure than ourselves might be induced to undertake the task of preparing them for the press. That the idea of pub- lishing the records did not remain a mere pious wish is due to the initiative of Mr. Falconer Madan, who first roused us to active interest in the matter, and then kindly put us in the way of working in the Bodleian Library, besides placing his own valuable collection of boating records at our disposal. When, in addition to this, Sir Courtenay Knollys gave us leave to make full use of his Oxford University Boat Races, and sent the records of most of the missing years before 1837, we felt ourselves definitely committed to the task. Besides these two gentlemen, we are especially in- debted to Mr. H. T. Steward, President of the Henley Regatta Committee, who has allowed us to compare our records of Henley crews with those which he has collected to Messrs. for kind with ; Ryman help the illustrations, and for permission to reproduce several pictures; to Messrs. Hills and Saunders for like help Vlll PREFACE to to Mr. F. Williams for with regard photographs ; the interesting etching of the Eights in 1817; and to the Rev. G. J. Davie for much valuable information with regard to the period just preceding 1839. We have also to thank the Secretary of the Thames Conservancy, the Treasurer of Christ Church, Messrs. Salter Brothers, and the Keeper of the Archives for fixing various the we have dates ; whilst, amongst watermen, gained much information from Messrs. T. Tims, M. Blagrove, and David Talboys. To our friends the Rev. C. R. Carter and Mr. R. B. Townshend we are indebted for the trouble they have taken in kindly revising our manuscript and proofs re- spectively. Besides these, we have to thank many correspondents, too numerous to mention individually, to whose kind- ness in answering letters it is due that there are so few gaps in our records. We are, above all, indebted to the officers of the various boat clubs, who have placed their books so un- reservedly at our disposal. We are happy to have been able to some extent to return this kindness, by having been the means of restoring the long-lost records of one boat club to its college, and we hope that the publication of other losses may lead to yet further restorations. With regard to these records we would urge most strongly that in every case they should be duplicated, and that one copy should be kept in the college library. They pass through so many hands, and, sooner or later, they are sure to come into the custody of the careless or casual, and when lost it is impossible that they should be replaced. PREFACE IX We append a list of O. U. B. C. and college books which we have examined, with the dates from which the regular entries in each begin : President's book, containing a record of all races, 1839. Secretary's book, the proceedings of the committee, 1839- 1853. Minutes of captains' meetings (kept by the president), 1855- 1884. Secretary's book, the minutes of captains' meetings, 1885. Treasurer's book, compiled in 1876 and continued to the present time. All printed matter issued by the club since 1845. Treasurer's accounts, 1839. The list of members, 1839. The bills of the club, 1842. Various documents in the treasurer's box. Exeter treasurer's book, 1831. Exeter book, 1850, with earlier information from other sources. 1861. Queen's accounts, 1834 ; book, Balliol book, 1837 '> accounts, 1835. Brasenose book, 1837. Pembroke, 1842. Worcester, 1844. Wadham, 1845. Oriel, 1850, with extracts from 'the former account-book' going back to 1842. Trinity, with extracts from various sources from 1826. C. C. C., 1858. Christ Church secretary's book, 1860; president's book, 1860. Magdalen Hall, 1863. University, 1865. Magdalen, 1869. Keble, 1870. New College, Vol. II, 1875. St. John's, 1877. Merton, 1880. x PREFACE The books of Lincoln and Jesus are lost, as also are the first volume of the New College records and the earlier books of Merton. The college boat clubs would be very grateful for any information with regard to these missing books. These books vary greatly in completeness and in plan. Some, such as Exeter, confine themselves entirely to the of of the like Brasenose rowing members college ; others, and Pembroke, notice everything in the Oxford boating world. University look on life and on rowing as a huge joke, or rather did so regard it until they had laughed themselves from the top to the bottom of the river, but of late years they have become more serious, though with occasional flashes of the old spirit. Another club is most solemn in its records, and president after presi- dent has written a treatise on the whole art of rowing. There is a great advantage in this variety, and we cannot but lament a tendency of late years in almost all the books to become more terse and business-like. It is the obvious to one generation which is of intense interest to another, and there is some fear that the obvious will soon cease to be recorded. One thing that has made all these records most delightful reading is the spirit of true sport which per- vades them. Defeats are recorded, but only that the causes may be discovered, and with the determination to set them right next year. Disasters are felt not so much for the individual's sake as for that of the college, and triumphs are rejoiced over as those of the crew and whole society, the personal element being entirely absent. Equally impersonal are the accounts of disputes, which must arise in the racing from time to PREFACE xi time. This is a fact which has very much surprised us, knowing how deeply adverse decisions are always felt, and how incapable men are, from esprit de corps, of appreciating these decisions at the time they are made. We expected in consequence to find many bitter com- ments on rival crews and Boat Club committee, but they are almost entirely absent, or where entered have been subsequently erased with the greatest care. There is but one exception to this rule of impersonality one unpardonable sin, and this is breach of training. Another characteristic is the readiness at all times of the various clubs to help their rivals, should accident of any kind befall them, and their unwillingness to profit by such accidents. They will strain every nerve to secure a bump by fair rowing, but should the bump come to them by other means it is unwillingly accepted or possibly not claimed at all, whilst should a boat be broken, one of the other crews at once comes forward with the offer of another to take its place. We saw last year the third boat on the river lying off the Boat-house, whilst the second boat was having some repairs done at the last moment, and refusing to go down to the start lest races should without their this the begin opponents ; and incident is typical of the spirit which pervades the whole atmosphere of boating as revealed in the records. Perhaps a word should be said as to the dedication of this book. During thirty years' connexion with the club we have served with so many good men and true, that we felt it would be invidious to single out any one of the officers of the O. U. B. C. before the rest. We have therefore followed our natural instinct, and put down the initials of the man with whom more than with Xll PREFACE any one else our own boating days were spent, and to whom our heart has especially gone out as we read the various records of that time. To those who remem- ber those ancient days, his initials will recall one of the keenest and heartiest boating men of our time; to others of later date they may stand as representing first the lifelong friendships we form on the river, and, secondly, the men who, after all, are the backbone of Oxford rowing the keen college captains. It is these men who by their cheery enthusiasm attract men to the river, and by their untiring devotion to duty keep them there. Their task has never been an easy one, and it is getting more difficult as other forms of exercise are multiplying, and as the fashion increases of men con- tenting themselves with watching others toil and doing nothing themselves. There are signs, from diminished entries for the Torpids, and from rumours which one hears from time to time of difficulties in making up crews, that the high-water mark of boating enthusiasm, which was reached some five or six years ago, is, for a time at any rate, passed.