GENTLEMEN
ONLY - NO BLACKSMITHS!
The First Regatta on the
Barwon River
An English crew of 1876 - gentlemen and
amateurs only!
Who would have thought that organising
a regatta could be so difficult! In 1876 in Geelong it became the subject of a
fierce debate in the press and an acrimonious fight between two clubs, with
accusations of elitism and class bias.
On 11 January 1876, Edward
Lascelles, a wealthy wool-broker and Vice-President of the Barwon Rowing Club,
called a meeting of gentlemen desirous of holding a rowing regatta on the
Barwon River, which he considered the most suitable piece of water for racing
in the Colony. The next day at the Victoria Hotel, fifteen of Geelong's
wool-brokers, lawyers and rowers gathered to decide. Edward Nicholls, Captain
of Barwon R.C. moved the motion "That is desirable that a regatta be held
on the River Barwon, leaving other matters incidental to it to be arranged by a
future meeting " and C. Brown, Secretary & Treasurer of Corio Bay
R.C., seconded. The motion was passed unanimously, one
gentleman declaring that for a good mile and a half the Barwon afforded as good
a rowing course as the Isis or the Cam.
Two days later, a letter to the
Editor of the Geelong Advertiser
revealed that another motion was to be voted on at the next meeting. This was
to adopt the English requirement that only a bona fide amateur could compete in a rowing race, defined as: A gentleman amateur had to be an
officer of Her Majesty's Army, or Navy, or Civil Service, a member of the
Liberal Professions, or of the Universities or Public schools, or of any
established boat or rowing club not containing mechanics or professionals. If
adopted, this motion would exclude all those rowers who gained their living by
manual labour, and thereby most of Corio Bay's members. The correspondent went on
to say that "Rowing has not such a
firm footing here that a class distinction is possible, and the little life
that has begun to show itself among our rowing men, would be effectually
dampened, were such a measure carried. Rowing was not instituted, and supported
for the exclusive amusement of bank or any other clerks. Let the members of Barwon Rowing Club keep as exclusive as
they please, but do not endeavour to compel other clubs to do the same. If the
Barwon Rowing Club cannot compete, or do not care to row, with "those who
gain their living by manual labour, let them have a regatta all to themselves…".
A week later Corio Bay R.C. held
their half-yearly meeting, where a motion was passed that the club would be
present in force at the next Regatta Committee meeting to object strongly to
the motion. The Geelong Advertiser
encouraged their presence: "we trust
that the members of the club will not hold aloof from the meeting, as it is
said they intend to do, or they will
have themselves to blame if any resolution obnoxious to their interest is
adopted". In the meantime, the Sydney Rowing Club had provided the new
committee with their definition of a bona
fide amateur: "they did not gain their living by manual labour, but
consisted of men engaged in legal or mercantile pursuits".
But apparently there had been a
misunderstanding. The Barwon R.C. Secretary, David Strachan, did not mean to
exclude all men who earned their living by manual labour, only those such as
blacksmiths, quarrymen and miners whose daily labour increased their strength,
placing them at a great advantage over clerks. Those who gained their living by
manual labour of a "sedentary" nature were not be excluded. The Geelong
Advertiser explained the case for the confused: It is, however, thought by some, that blacksmiths, quarrymen, miners,
and men engaged in other such out-door manual labor, should be debarred, as
their daily avocation is calculated to increase their strength, thus placing
them at a great advantage when compared with clerks and others engaged in
indoor pursuits. It must however be remembered that skill and condition have a
great deal to do with good rowing; strength, of course, must be there, but
this, if not properly applied would be comparatively useless. Thus, clerks,
etc., have better opportunities for becoming skilful; they also have ample time
on their hands which may be devoted towards getting themselves in condition.
After a hard day's work, few blacksmiths, etc., are inclined to practise
rowing; their style of work is not similar to that indulged in by an oarsman.
Without practice, therefore, they can never hope to compete successfully with
the finished oarsman of the Barwon and other clubs …
At a fiery meeting on Monday 7
February, attended by more than 40 men, David Strachan moved the following
motion: "that at this regatta the races be confined only to amateurs, and
that men who gain their living by manual labour of an outdoor and active
character, such as blacksmiths, carters, miners, quarrymen and such like,
should not be allowed to row, but that men who gain their living by manual
labour a of a sedentary kind, such as saddlers, printers, etc., be allowed to
row". Henry Antill (Barwon R.C. member) seconded the motion in order to
test the opinion of the meeting. Charles Brown then moved an amendment
"That the Melbourne Regatta Committee's definition of an amateur be
adopted instead of that proposed by Mr. Strachan". This definition
excluded only those oarsmen who had competed for cash prizes, i.e.
professionals. George Upward, Captain of Corio Bay R.C., seconded the motion
and the amendment was carried twenty-five to six. The clerks must have been
shattered whilst all those blacksmiths danced for joy.
Despite his controversial motion,
David Strachan was elected as Secretary of the new committee. A prominent
wool-broker, he was also the father of James Ford Strachan, the "crack"
oar in the winning Cambridge crew of 1870 in the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.
The remaining committee was composed of: Stephen Vine Buckland, (Barwon R.C.
President and lawyer); Mr. Hay, (Corio Bay R.C. Vice-President);C. Mudie,
(rower in 1865 with the now defunct Corio Rowing Club and an accountant), Mr.
Brown, (Corio Bay R.C. committee member); George Upward, (Corio Bay R.C.
Captain); Hugh Murray Strachan, (Barwon R.C. member and wool-broker); James
Johnstone, (Barwon R.C. member), James Murray Simson, (Barwon R.C. member and
bank manager); Mr. J. J. Buckland,
(Barwon R.C.) and C. K. Pearson, (a former member of Barwon R.C. and founding
member of Corio Bay R.C.); twelve members
with the loyalties divided roughly half and half. A sub-committee of E. Nicholls,
J. Johnstone and C. Brown were appointed to draw up the Rules and Regulations.
The rules of the Melbourne Regatta Committee were adopted, with the ominous
addition that the committee had the right to refuse any entries. The meeting
also fixed Wednesday 5th April as the regatta date, with the events
to be Maiden Sculls (clinkers), Senior Sculls, Pair-oared Race (flat-bottomed
boats), Maiden Fours (gigs), Senior Fours (gigs), Junior Fours (outriggers),
the Barwon Grand Challenge cup (four-oared outriggers) and the Barwon Plate
(eight-oared outriggers).
Crews from both clubs had already
commenced training on the river with the rowing correspondent from the Geelong Advertiser offering his critique
of the various styles - "No. 2 rowed a little wildly, and would do more
work if he kept his arms well in, and did not bend his face so near his
toes"! However, just two weeks before the big day, the Corio Bay club
received a setback. The Melbourne Amateur Regatta Committee, in response to a
letter from the Barwon Regatta Committee, had ruled that a crew winning a
Consolation Race could not again compete as a Maiden crew, thus ruling out a
Corio Bay crew who had won such a race the year before at the Geelong Regatta
on the bay. Another four was hastily put to training, minus George Upward,
their Captain.
The committee was also working hard
to ensure enough entries to be able to stage an eight-oared race. Considered
something of a novelty, the first eights race in Australia had been won just
the year before by the Civil Service Club. Both Ballarat and Civil Service
intended to send a crew after the reassurance that should the race be a
walk-over, all expenses would be paid and the entry fees returned. Most clubs
did not possess an eight, but the Ballarat Rowing Club suggested that if the
Geelong crews would like to combine in an eight, they had one spare. This
suggestion was met with a stony silence, relations between the local clubs not
being at their best.
A half-holiday was declared in
Geelong and promptly at 12 o'clock the town shut down, and 3,500 spectators
lined both banks of the river on a fine but cool day. Along the south bank
thousands followed the races on horseback and in vehicles of all descriptions.
At the finish line at the end of Bellarine Street a reserve had been set aside
for ladies and paying guests, who were treated to selections from Mr. Walker's
band. The local clubs came away at the end of the day with a win each: Corio
Bay's George Upward winning the Maiden Sculls and Barwon winning the Junior
Four (outriggers). They competed against
each other in both the Maiden and Senior Fours, Barwon making it to the final
in the Maiden and in the Senior coming second to Corio Bay's third. The Barwon
Plate for eights was won by the Civil Service Club.
Universally acknowledge to be a
splendid success, the regatta had none the less set the tone for both clubs for
many generations; Barwon perceived as elitist and white collar, Corio Bay as
egalitarian and blue collar. It had settled the difficult question of who was
allowed to row in terms of class, but the issue of gender was to take more than
100 years to overcome.
