Barwon Rowing Club Incorporated

History of the Barwon Rowing Club

The following history is taken from "Fair Play and Hard Rowing - A History of the Barwon Rowing Club 1870-1990" by Karen Threlfall, 1993

Just Starting to Race (1844-1870)

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 harbours. 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 harbour 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 1 849 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 the 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 [2j, S. Bleasby [3j, 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 hay, 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. & I. 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 13], Godfrey B. Robins [stroke], W. Dunden, coxswain; Junior - P. Graham [lj, W. Pride [21, Richard Roche [31, 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 Arid 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 the 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 1 83 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 riverbank, near the Moorahool 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 arid plans were made to bring it to the hay.

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 £291718, 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 he 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 rower’s 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 laiy 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 form a 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. Late in January the local press reported the intended arrival in Geelong of Mr. Nelson, a boat-builder from Greenland’s firm and an old Thames waterman. It was hoped that this would rekindle an interest in rowing. However the year closed with only G. Graham and J. Arthur occasionally seen in their gig rowing solitarily across the bay towards Limeburner’s Point.

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. Tinirns, 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. Henty, 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 for a 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.

The rest of the fleet duly arrived on Friday night, 19 August, when three boats; a clinker four, a pair and a comfortable’ boat for learners, came down from Melbourne by steamer. The next morning they were taken to the river and finally in the afternoon the members assembled at the new shed for their first row. Much splashing and rolling was reported but the committee congratulated themselves on attracting some fine muscular young fellows with the makings of capital oarsmen. A series of scratch races was planned for the near future and the club hoped one day soon to challenge the supremacy of Melbourne and Ballarat crews. However, on that Saturday as the young men gathered at the shed, the talk was not of rowing but of the club’s treasurer, Charles Farrell.

Presumably Mr. Farrell was not present at that first practice, for a warrant had been issued for his arrest for the embezzlement of £500 from the National Bank where he was an employee. Farrell, a South African, had worked for sixteen years in Geelong banks, originally as ledger-keeper at the Bank of New South Wales and then for 11 years as accountant at the National Bank. A few days later it became known that Charlie had married in Melbourne and absconded to Fiji with his new bride. His fellow members were stunned for this was quite a change from the gentleman who was thought of as reserved and unassuming, although ready with a genial word for everybody. He was a popular man who by virtue of his profession was invariably chosen as the honorary treasurer of sporting clubs and competitions. He had been both treasurer and president of the Corio Rowing Club. As can be imagined there was much anxiety for the funds of the new rowing club. However Farrell had sent a cheque to Edward Lascelles for all outstanding amounts before he left the colony.

A week later two more boats, a pair and a four, were delivered by steamer and the next week a splendid 330 cedar outrigger arrived for Charles Shannon. Each Saturday afternoon the fleet of eight boats could be seen out on the river as the experienced oarsmen imparted their knowledge to the aspiring rowers. Within just a few weeks this new club already possessed more boats than previous clubs had been able to afford. The prosperity of the founding members ensured Barwon a secure start, although later giving rise to charges of elitism. On Tuesday 6 September the office bearers and committee gathered again at Mack’s Hotel for the club’s first monthly meeting. Naturally the first item on the agenda was the treasurer’s report. Edward Lascelles informed the meeting that the total amount of subscriptions paid and due was £177/6/6, the outstanding liabilities amounted to £52/0/7d and that there was a credit balance of £12. Mr. Pincott was elected treasurer in place of Farrell. J. B. Wilson and E. Lascelles, as men of some standing in the community, were appointed as a deputation to convince the three municipal councils who had control of the river to assist in the removal of snags. The meeting was presented also with a plan for improvements to the boatshed which consisted chiefly of the construction of two platforms leading from each door of the shed down to the river, with a roller ladder between the platforms. This would enable the oarsmen to roll their boats to the bank and was considered to be a vast improvement on the “old” style of carrying. However, these plans were never realised for the achievements of those first two months were swept away three nights later.

The spring of 1870 had been the wettest Geelong residents could remember. On Thursday night, 8 September the Barwon River rose alarmingly and it rained all the next day. At Queen’s Park, bordering the river, a caretaker, his wife and a labourer were forced to perch throughout Friday night in a tree whilst the nearby bridge was battered to ruins. Members of the rowing club were naturally aware of the rising waters but following advice from the local residents in Barwon Terrace had chosen not to move the boats out of the shed on Friday, but instead secured them by fastening them to the boat racks. But the boatshed and its contents were bodily lifted by the swollen river and carried fifty to sixty, yards downstream.

The next day a number of members unroofed the shed and tried to recover the boats. They were forced to wait until the water level subsided whereupon the walls promptly caved in. Most of the boats were eventually rescued in repairable condition, except Shannon’s magnificent cedar outrigger which was broken in three places and a four-oared gig smashed in at the bow. A meeting was called for Monday 12 September, officially to consider the advisability of re-erecting the boatshed, hut which in reality amounted to whether or not the club should endeavour to continue. The large gathering of members, supported by a concerned general public, voted for the calling of tenders immediately for a new building and authorised boat repairs. There was a general feeling of sympathy for the club and at the meeting several new members came forward; Dr. F Shaw, J. W. Wilson and E. Lascelles paid £5 for life memberships and G. Mercer, J. Middlemiss and S. A. Bryant joined as ordinary members.

By 23 September construction of the new building had commenced and the boats were under repair. At the October monthly meeting, Capt. Martin, Dr. Stoddart and Sharpe Brearley paid up as life members and R. B. Chater, T. N. Couves, W. McMullen, J. E. Pounds, W. Nicholson and Goulding enrolled as members. The boatshed was completed and the boats repaired in time for the club’s first opening day, on Saturday 29 October. But when the day dawned the festivities were postponed due to heavy rain and fears of yet another flood. This time, as a precaution, all the boats were removed to safer ground. On Tuesday 13 November the club staged a Grand Amateur Dramatic Performance at the Mechanic’s Institute, where apparently several rowers exhibited considerable histrionic talent and the club made a welcome profit of £34.

Finally, two weeks later on 1 2 November, despite the still falling rain and amidst intense excitement, the club was officially opened with a series of scratch races. The boatshed was so crowded that members who wished to view the proceedings were forced to stand outside in two or three inches of slimy mud, getting as good a soaking as the rowers. Winners and losers alike were all greeted with hearty cheers as they came in. Apparently many spectators had to pay a sly trip to the nearby hotels to take a ‘little something” to counteract the moisture outside. Mr Walker’s splendid band entertained the crowd and a large number of the fairer sex were amongst the onlookers. It was said that had the weather been finer the river banks would have overflowed with thousands of sightseers.

The course for the opening day races was from a little above the bend opposite the Hon. Charles Sladen’s mansion in Pakington Street and down to the boatshed, a distance of a mile. A straight course could have been provided by finishing further downstream at the Government pound near Swanston Street, but it was decided in favour of the shed so that the ladies could witness the exciting last lengths. This decision unfortunately gave almost a boat length advantage to the crew on the south side of the river. The starter, Mr. Dallas, had a very lively time of it for he had to be out in the rain with nobody to console him except James Strachan, who kindly kept him company, whilst Mr Buckland, who was judging, at least kept warm between races by sheltering under the trees. There were six crews en that first opening day, composed of good, bad and indifferent rowers and they competed in two fours, one of pine aid one of cedar. The day’s races were described in lull in the pages of the Geelong Advertiser:

FIRST HEAT
Chater [stroke], G Henty, W. Guthrie and F. Macleod.
Lascelles [stroke], I. Booth, E.G. Thomas and D.A. Wilson.

The first mentioned crew was entirely supplied by the Grammar School, and a finer lot of young fellows it would he hard to imagine. They rowed in the cedar boat on the south side of the river. A good start was effected, hut the Grammar School team settled down more quickly to their work than the others, and soon after passing the flour mill forged ahead, and won comparatively easily by a length and a half. They were evidently in the best condition. Lascelles’ crew not having been much together for the previous week or fortnight. Mr. Lascelles’s crew rowed a good stroke, but were rather slow in getting forward. Mr. Chater’s stroke was one of the prettiest on the river, hut his men appeared to row rather too much with their arms, and did not swing so well together as could have been desired. They pulled 37 or 38 strokes to the minute. No. 3. Mr. G. Henty, has the making’ of a splendid oarsman, and will, with practice be a very tough customer to tackle.

SECOND HEAT
Shannon [stroke],I.E. Pounds. J. Highett and C. Hugo, [cedar boat].
R.C. Hope [stroke], S. Dickenson. D.C. Peel and A. Robertson.

Mr. Shannon, the captain of the club fully and quickly proved that he was worthy of all the confidence that had been placed in him. A good start was secured, and, getting away at once, his crew settled down to a long sweeping stroke that soon made ii evident that they would win with ease. it was certainly a splendid sight to see them come steadily up the straight run home at a fine pace, and the contrast between their pulling and that of their opponents was very marked. No wonder that it should have been so, as this was, we believe the first time that Hope had pulled with his crew, and they never seemed to allow him to finish his stroke. Shannon pulled at the rate of about 31 or 32 to the minute, which was, if anything, a little too slow. Mr. Pounds also displayed a good style.

THIRD HEAT
I. Arthur [stroke], M. Simson, G. Ware and G.Synnot, [pine boat]
E. Nicholls [stroke], F.R. Pincott. A. Anderson and G. Day.

Mr. Nicholl’s crew was backed to win at two to one, but although he was the first get away, he was quickly overhauled by Mr. Arthur, whose crew won easily by two lengths. Mr. Nicholl’s stroke appears rather short, but strong and regular; had he been at all well seconded by his men, the race would doubtless have presented a very different appearance. One of the chief features in this event was the steering of little George Blunt in the winning boat. This most diminutive individual promises, if well looked after, to become a second Sid. Edwards.It still continued to rain in torrents, and hopes were very generally expressed that no more events would be contested, and that the captain would defer the deciding heats until Saturday next, when the weather would probably be finer, and the public would he, therefore, better able to enjoy the fun. He, however, in justice to his men, felt hound to decide otherwise, if he had deferred the heat until Saturday the winning crew would have to pull twice in succession.

FOURTH HEAT
Mr. Shannon’s crew [cedar boat]
Mr. Chater’s crew.

It went sadly against the grain of Mr. Chater’s crew to go out again, more especially as they had lost their own boat, and had to pull in one to which they were thoroughly unaccustomed, and were further unfortunate in getting the worst side of the river. The rain fell, and filled the boats with water, and at starting the Grammar School team got chilled waiting at the post for their opponents to pull up. This will probably account for the very bad start, Mr. Shannon getting the best of it, and going away at a rattling pace. The losers pulled pluckily, and although they did not reduce the gap at the start they never allowed it to be increased, and Shannon, pulling 30 strokes to the minute, won by a length or two. Bow and No. 2 in the Grammar School boat were entirely new oarsmen, the former never having pulled in a boat in his life.

After the four heats the finals were reluctantly postponed to the following Saturday for the rain had not ceased all day. The next Saturday the weather was kinder for the final between Shannon’s and Arthur’s crews. The ladies again turned out in force and the fashions were said to rival Flemington race course on Melbourne Cup day. Shannon’s crew was victorious and so the winners of the first race held on the Barwon River were C. Shannon (stroke], J.E. Pounds [31, J. Highett [2], C. Hugo [how] and J. Ogilivie [cox]. Following the final race, trophies of silver mugs were awarded to the winning crew and several young ladies presented to the club a new flag, a blue St. Andrews cross on a white background, to replace the one lost in the floods. The club still has in its possession the fine silver mug won by J. Pounds on that first opening day.

Despite the advantages of the river location and the obvious popularity of the club situated on its banks, there were still efforts to promote rowing on Corio Bay. On the morning of Barwon Rowing Club’s opening day, a letter by “Nautilus” appeared in the pages of the Geelong Advertiser calling for the formation of a ladies rowing club on the bay. However the writer seemed more preoccupied with the prospect of viewing the fairer sex indulging in “graceful occupation” than in seriously advocating rowing as a sport for women.

And so the club survived those stormy first six months. The new boatshed had been officially opened and stocked with boats and the members were able to settle down to the serious business of learning to row. By the close of the first twelve months the club boasted 9 life members and 57 ordinary members, its assets were valued at £278 and Mr. Doyle of South Geelong had been appointed as caretaker. Geelong’s position as a major provincial centre had been strengthened since the gold rush days and a resurgence in local industry was creating many employment opportunities. The port was the region’s clearing house for wool and agricultural produce and Geelong was rapidly leaving behind its ‘Sleepy Hollow” reputation. The times seemed right for this club.