President's Foreword

The Barwon Rowing Club was established in 1870 for the encouragement of rowing on the Barwon River by people living in and around the area of Geelong.

The club came from humble beginnings, survived two World Wars and the Great Depression to be an outstanding contributor to a wonderful sport. Over the years it has fostered fellowship and mateship within its ranks and this philosophy is carried on by the present membership.

Many outstanding sportsmen and sportswomen have come through its ranks, with some achieving the ultimate dream of representing their country in rowing.

This book gives a detailed account of the club's history from its inception to the present day. The reader will find the contents informative with a touch of nostalgia and intrigue for the young and young at heart.

The membership is indebted to Karen for her many hours of research into the club's history. Karen was President of the club from 1986 to 1988 - she may be in fact have been the only female President of a rowing club in the world.

Well Rowed Barwon!

Michael Chandley
PRESIDENT 1993

 Introduction

At the general committee meeting of the Barwon Rowing Club held on 20 August 1985, it was suggested that a sub-committee be formed to look into the history of the club and to reproduce and update the photographs. After some discussion the following motion was put: "That a sub-committee, to be known as the Historical Committee, be formed under the chairmanship of the Assistant Secretary. The Chairman shall have the power to co-opt members to this sub-committee which shall be responsible to the General Committee". The motion was moved by Ray Lahey and seconded by Robert Gardner. The assistant secretary at the time was Jim Brady.

A few weeks later I was approached by Rob Oliver, committee member and family friend, with a view to participating in this project. At the time my daughter, Danielle, was rowing at the shed with her school and so, gradually, I came to meet members and to become involved in the social side of the club. In May 1986 1 filled a vacancy on the committee and then, to my astonishment, two months later was elected president. At about the same time I began to research the club's history.

Well, all that was six years ago and finally the history of the club is documented. Robert Oliver and Jim Brady remained enthusiastic about the project over this period, as have many other club members. My thanks go to Len Gladman for the loan of personal scrapbooks and for keeping me on the job; to Ian Laird for the generous donation of invaluable material, dating back to 1879, that his father had rescued after die 1952 flood and which his family had kept safe; to Lex Quinn and Ian Murray for the unstinting donation of their time and knowledge, particularly in relation to the Barwon Ladies Rowing Club; and to Geoff Hunter for making available documents gathered during his presidency.

The club's history could not have been written without the foresight and concern of two people: Ray Lahey ensured that minute books dating1891 to 1933 were kept safe and during his term as secretary, no researcher could dating, asked for more complete and detailed minutes: Bill Grose endowed his rowing memorabilia consisting of photographs and trophies dating back sixty years, to the club.

There are others to whom I also owe a debt of thanks. The research for the majority of this work was gathered at the Geelong Historical Records Centre where the archivist, Norman Houghton and his staff were most welcoming and supportive. My husband, Denis and daughters Danielle and Simone, supported and encouraged me throughout a very long six years - my heartfelt thanks to them.

Finally, a plea to the current rowers and members: the everyday paraphernalia of the club is tomorrow's history. Treat it with respect and care and may a Bill, Ian or Ray emerge from your ranks so that the next 120 years of a very Special club will be there for future rowers.

Karen Threlfall, January 1993

Just Starting to Race 1844-1869

From mucking about in boats to the manly exercise of rowing, Australia's new settlers brought with them the pastimes of their former homes. Rowing as a sport began in Australia at contests organised between local watermen and sailors aboard the ships in provincial harbors. Melbourne's first such regatta took place in 1841, just six years after the beginnings of white settlement. In March 1857 the first regatta on the Yarra River was held, with the competitors mainly the professional watermen who plied their boats and punts for hire on the upper reaches of the river. The harbor town of Geelong was founded shortly after Melbourne and by 1840 provided wool stores, a small commercial centre, police protection and a customs service for the small population. The first regatta in Geelong took place on Corio Bay on Saturday, 20 March 1844. There were four races; two for sailing boats, a race for whaleboats and a rowing event for four-oared cutters and gigs. There was no shortage of competitors aboard the numerous ships moored in the bay, waiting to clear the pastoral riches of the Western District of Victoria. These regattas were held irregularly over the next fifteen years and featured sailing events, although there was usually a rowing or "pulling" race.

The first boating club in Geelong was the Geelong Aquatic Club formed in July 1849 when Captain Ogilvie brought a suitable boat from Hobart. However, two or three more boats were needed before the members could commence training in earnest. At the end of the year the club, competing as the Geelong Amateur Boating Club, issued a challenge to any four-oared crew at die annual Geelong Regatta. However no club rose to the challenge and a scratch race between whaleboats was substituted. Immediately after the regatta a second club, known as the Tradesmen's Boating Club, was formed. Both these clubs competed only at the annual regattas held on Corio Bay.

By the mid 1850s Geelong was the fourth largest town in Australia; its population swelled by gold seekers in their thousands. The wealth generated by the miners saw Geelong transformed from a small port town to a large commercial centre. Imposing buildings were constructed for the town's benevolent institutions and industries, water and gas supplies were laid on and Victoria's first provincial railway soon connected Geelong with Melbourne. Then, in January 1859 the Geelong Yacht Club was formed. Corio Bay was more suited to sailing than rowing, for spectators lining the bay front could see only the start and finish of a rowing race and heavy seas often rendered any attempt at style useless. At the time there were suggestions in the local press that perhaps the rowers should consider a move to the Barwon River where the stretch from Princes Bridge to the Breakwater would make a fine rowing course. There were broad level banks on both sides and the wooden bridge at the foot of Moorabool Street was an excellent vantage .point for those who did not wish to follow the English tradition of running with the crews throughout the race.

Despite the popularity of sailing, by October 1859 there were four gigs seen rowing regularly on the bay. Three had been built by Blunt, a Geelong boat-builder and it was rumoured that next season an eight-oared outrigger would be built in Geelong. This was the beginning of rowing not only in Geelong but also in Australia, as the country's first rowing club,the Melbourne University Boat Club, was founded on 3 September 1859. Eight months later, over two days in May 1860, the first Melbourne Regatta was held. A Geelong crew, consisting of E. Fielding [bow], Thomas Neil [2], S. Bleasby [3], D. McCullin [stroke] and John King [cox] took first place from a Richmond crew in the Junior Four [under 18] in gigs.

However for the next two years, despite the occasional laments of the local press, particularly when the Ballarat Rowing Club was founded in 1861, no formal rowing club was established on either Geelong's bay or river. Then on 12 March 1862 the Melbourne Rowing Club was formed. Geelong's rowers were spurred on and in August of the same year Geelong's first rowing club, the Geelong Rowing Club, began with a shaky start. The first meeting called for 7 August was adjourned for one week due to a "thin" attendance. A week later, before a larger crowd, J. A. Gregory chaired the inaugural meeting with approximately twenty young men present. It was decided that a rowing club should be established on the bay, but with a view to extending operations to the Barwon River. Messrs Ross, Gregory, Green, Omerod, Hutton, Hunter and Holding were appointed as a committee to draw up the rules and a constitution. On 26 September the first office bearers were appointed: J. A. Gregory, president; Holding, treasurer; Higgott, jnr, secretary; Haworth, captain and a committee of Holding, Robins, Haworth, Morgan, C. & J. Higgott, F. Ibbotson, Green and Wilson.

Apparently the club could draw on a nucleus of experienced rowers for by October several crews were in training, with one of them earmarked for the next Melbourne Regatta. Their first boat was purchased, the Native Youth joining the Young Australia, and the club adopted a uniform of white with blue facings or trimmings. By this time the yacht club was ailing and so the rowing club joined with them in promoting the Geelong Annual Regatta to be held in early December. Plans were also made for an autumn regatta to be held on the first Wednesday in March 1863 on the Barwon River.

Two crews were picked for the Melbourne Regatta which was to be held on 10 November 1862: Senior: Stewart Reid [1], Frank Haworth [2], C. Morgan [3], Godfrey B. Robins [stroke], W. Dunden, coxswain; Junior - P. Graham [I ], W. Pride [2], Richard Roche [3 ], H. C. Higgott [stroke], W. Dunden, coxswain and both crews trained night and morning on the bay. On the day of the regatta they travelled to Melbourne by the steamer Express, accompanied by the Young Australia. The club entered in four races: Race for boats excluding outriggers - open to those who have never won a senior race; Race for bona-fide gigs - open from stem to stem; Four-oared race, excluding outriggers and Pair-oared race, outriggers excluded. Their first race was the sixth event on the programme; the four-oared excluding outriggers. The Elswick Club offered their boat, the Dixie to the Geelong club, which they accepted. However the Ariel Club protested and during the ensuing dispute the Geelong crew lost the start and spoiled their chances of a win. Their next race was the Junior Fours for under eighteen years. The Geelong crew won in the Young Australia by three lengths but both the Ariel and Leander clubs protested the win on the grounds that they were not juniors.

The formal opening of the Geelong Rowing Club was celebrated on Monday afternoon, 17 November with an excursion into the nearby countryside and was followed by an evening supper. By the time of the Geelong Regatta in December the club hoped to enter four crews. However when the time came the regatta was a disaster. No Melbourne entries were received for the rowing races following the regatta committee's decision that all gigs must be open from stem to stem. The Melbourne crews wished to cover their boats with canvas for "safety" and so the maiden four-oared gig race became a scratch race between the Geelong club's senior and junior crews. Furthermore, no stewards or judges turned up on the day! In January 1863 the monthly meeting of the club was attended by only the president and the secretary, putting paid to the prospects for the regatta on the Barwon. One week later, a new committee was elected, including Dr. Stoddart, H. C. Harrison, E. Nicholls, J. Haworth and S. Reid. The club's financial position was said to be sound and unfinancial members were struck off. But by February's meeting no quorum could be formed. A regatta eventually was held in autumn but it was a sailing match on Lake Connewarre. The regatta, held on Good Friday, 3 April 1863, was die first regatta on the Barwon. Finally on 2 June, after only ten months, the Geelong Rowing Club was officially disbanded, only sixteen members ever having paid their subscriptions. Some members stated their intention to keep rowing within a private club. In August there were rumours of another club being formed but 1863 ended with no rowing in Geelong.

Over those tentative first years only Corio Bay was considered suitable for aquatic sports. However in April 1864 the first club located on the Barwon River was founded. Twenty members enrolled in the Barwon Boating Club and an application was made to the government for a piece of land on the river bank, near the Moorabool Street bridge, as the site for a boathouse. Fourteen members owned boats but did not row on the Barwon as there was no safe storage for their craft. However, this club was not primarily for rowing, being interested in sailing on nearby Lake Connewarre and eventually met the same fate as its predecessors. Then on 9 May 1865 a rowing club was formed under the patronage of a well known lover of aquatic sports, Mr. Heath. It was called the Geelong Amateur Rowing Club and Messrs. Gibbon, Jackson, Reeves, Wm. Shaw, jnr., W. H. Anderson, Buzzard and Wm. Tait were elected as members. Within a few days 20 more young men had expressed an interest and the secretary, Mr Farrell, had written to the Melbourne clubs for a set of rules. The club applied to the Commissioner of Customs for a piece of land on the Eastern Beach as the site for a boat shed. The club already had the use of a boat which was located on the river and plans were made to bring it to the bay.

By the end of June membership had doubled-and the name was changed to the Corio Rowing Club. Mr Fraser, a customs officer, was appointed as an instructor and the shed was completed. Within two months there was another boat and plans were afoot to locally commission a "randan" especially for middle-aged gentlemen, and a set of oars. In September their new boat was christened the Planet, joining the Comet and the Meteor, and a four-oared outrigger was ordered. Built by Greenland the Richmond boat-builder, it was a 44ft long cedar gig named the Lady Don and arrived in October.

Three four-oared crews and a pair competed at the 1865 Geelong Regatta. On 2 May 1866 at Mack's Hotel the club held its first annual meeting with 20 members present. Captain Heath was re-elected president and Farrell as treasurer, with P. Rose stepping down as secretary and replaced by Reid. The club had finished its first year with a credit balance of £29/7/8, four boats had been purchased and a new boatshed built. The Planet and the Comet, one a four and the other a pair, were to be sold and two new gigs ordered from Greenland. In December 1866 the club competed at the Geelong Regatta in the Senior Four-oared gig race with a crew of G. Graham [stroke], Ivey, Arthur and Nicholls with A. Hobday as coxswain.

Rowing was proving extremely popular, so much so that on Friday, 29 March 1867 at the Eureka Hotel, a second Tradesman's Rowing Club was officially inaugurated. At a meeting held a fortnight later, Mr Wood as vice-president, Mr Roche as captain, Mr Taite as secretary, Mr Ford as treasurer and Messrs Rippon, Gough, Collins and Graham as a managing committee were elected. Then, in November 1867, caught up in the excitement of an impending royal visit, the Prince Alfred Rowing Club was formed. The Geelong Regatta was to be visited by the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred, and Geelong was agog at its first royal visit. Roche, Ritchie, McDuff and Arthur were approved as a crew for the new club at the Melbourne Regatta and Irwin, Snr., Irwin, Jnr., Fox and McCallum for the Geelong Regatta. By 8 November, 30 persons had joined, some from the Corio Club. The Prince Alfred Club had two boats, the Galatea and the Southern Cross. The royal visitor duly arrived in early December and whilst the visit was a huge success with the townspeople, from the rowers point of view it was a dismal failure. The Duke merely walked onto the Yarra Street wharf and off again, not showing the slightest interest in the rowing events nor the club named in his honour. The Corio Club had not entered a crew, despite the addition of two test-string gigs and a pair-oared sculling boat to its fleet. The boathouses had been improved and the landing stage lengthened to cater for their 42 members, but at the end of its third year the club had surplus funds of only 6s/3d, whilst its liabilities were £35. For the club's fourth year, C. E. Farrell was elected president, Wm. Rose as treasurer and John Arthur as secretary.

Despite the formation of the two new clubs to join the established Corio, rowing as a sport was ailing. The new clubs were formed to compete only in the rowing race held during the Geelong Regatta and the members of the Corio Club were said to be lazy and indifferent, gathering together just a few weeks before a regatta at Melbourne or Ballarat. Two months after the royal regatta, the Corio Rowing Club was finished; on 25 January 1868 its boats and sheds were put to public auction. Four unidentified rowing enthusiasts bought the club's effects for £32. These four gentlemen formed themselves into the Geelong Rowing Club and by the end of February were holding scratch races. McDuff, R. Roach, J. Kett and Arthur were the No. 1 crew and H. Horn, G. Miller, J. McDuff and M. Fox were the No. 2. Their first race was on the Yarra River in April where the local press reported that they were booed and hooted by spectators on their way up to the start. Heavy seas on Corio Bay for the preceding week had meant they had no practice and they lost to the Civil Service Club by two lengths.

In May 1868 some members from the Geelong Rowing Club decided to form a branch on the Barwon River as more than 25 interested young men lived too far from the bay to attend practice. Late in May a meeting to form the new branch, to be known as the River Barwon Rowing Club was held at the Barwon Bridge Hotel, when the 25 men promptly signed up. It was proposed to erect a shed within the month.

But by the beginning of 1869 all four clubs; the Prince Alfred, the Tradesmen's, the Geelong and River Barwon, existed in name only. At the Geelong Regatta held late in January 1869 the four-oared race was contested by two Melbourne clubs, Melbourne and Argus, Geelong rowers being unable to forma crew to compete on their home ground of Corio Bay. In contrast, the 1869 Melbourne rowing season was opened with ten clubs and 200 oarsmen participating in an impressive river procession.

Here's a Health to the Barwon 1870

Rowing in Geelong for the next 18 months was confined to casual outings for those devotees who had access to the boats of the city's failed clubs. Then, on Wednesday, 22 June 1870 the Geelong Advertiser carried the following notice:

A meeting of Gentlemen desirous of forming a rowing club on the Barwon river will be held at Mack's Hotel on Wednesday the 22nd inst., at half-past four o'clock when all interested are requested to attend. Edward H. Lascelles.

At Mack's Hotel that afternoon a gathering of fourteen gentlemen elected Edward Lascelles as honorary secretary, Charles Farrell as treasurer and Edward Lennon, Charles Shannon, F. Pincott, F. Shaw and J. Arthur. as a temporary committee. Of these men, only Shannon and Lennon had not been involved with Geelong's earlier rowing clubs. Lascelles and Shannon were young men just starting out in the profitable wool-broking business in Geelong, whereas Lennon was headmaster of the Flinders National School and Frederick Pincott was a solicitor. All four were well educated and occupied positions of respect and status within the close-knit community. The committee was to draw up a report on the establishment of a club, to be known as the Barwon Rowing Club and were authorised to collect donations for the building of a boatshed and the purchase of boats.

The meeting that afternoon enrolled as members James Strachan, M. Montgomery, J. M. Simson, A. C. Hugo, H. T. Riddle and F. Martin. Subscriptions were set at one guinea with an entrance fee of half a guinea. Upon the donation of £5 James Wilson, a wealthy landowner, became the first life member. The Geelong Advertiser wished the venture every success. It approved of the river location, noting again that the north-easterly winds on the bay had prevented previous clubs from training for up to a week. With only two days a week usually suitable for rowing these notorious north-easterlies had contributed to the failure of previous rowing ventures and to Geelong's poor position amongst the colony's rowing clubs. The heavy expense involved in setting up a rowing club was mentioned also and an appeal made to the general community to contribute generously to the club. However, the town could boast at least one world class rower in James Ford Strachan, who had been described in the London papers as the best oarsman of the Oxford and Cambridge boat race crews the year before. The anonymous winner of several Thames regatta races was reported also to be showing a keen interest in the new club.

The very next day, Thursday, the committee assembled and then set out to select a site for the club's boatshed. They agreed upon a piece of Crown Land on the north bank of the Barwon River, close to the bridge on Moorabool Street. Over the weekend 30 young men enrolled as members; amongst them were represented some of Geelong's respected and ruling class families: W. Timms, J. Simpson, W. Burrow, J. R. Morris, A. S. Park, W. Guthrie, G. Hitchcock, R. C. Hope, C. A. Mount, A. S. Robertson, H. A. Morrison, A. W. Anderson, A. G. Rose, S. Brearley, G. Day, H. Roebuck, R. Cornish, R. Blunden, A. G. Peel, A. Robinson, E. Landon, Wilson, S. Anderson, Templar, E. Custot, G. Henry, T. McLeod, J. Booth, M. L. Dennys and C. Smith. Joining as life members were H. S. Lewis, A. Buchanan, T. Austin and J. L. Currie.

Two weeks after the notice in the paper had appeared, the first general meeting of the Barwon Rowing Club was held at Mack's Hotel, on Friday 8 July. The club's first office bearers were S. V. Buckland as president, C. Shannon as captain and a committee of F. R. Pincott, J. Arthur, F. R. Shaw and P. W. Rose. Joining the select group of life members were the Hon. John Cumming and P. Russell, members of Parliament, S. V. Buckland, P. Huddart, John Wilson, A. Volum and John Ware. Plans were enthusiastically discussed for a Barwon Regatta and Mr. Strachan was expected to arrive in Geelong shortly from overseas to stroke the "crack four' of the colony. It was also planned to provide the club members with pleasure boats for picnic parties, an idea designed to broaden the appeal of the club.

The temporary committee had ready for the first general meeting a plan fora boathouse which was designed by the local architectural firm of Davidson and Henderson. The meeting approved the plan and authorised the calling of tenders for immediate construction. The response of Geelong's young male population was gratifying and there was a feeling of confidence that this club would succeed. Indeed, within a month the government had granted permissive occupancy of the site and a single-storey timber building of two bays had been erected. By 1 August the new boatshed was complete. Although it held only two boats, a four and pair-oared gigs, it was spacious enough to allow for the new boats which were expected any day.