Brasenose College Boat Club (Oxford)

Brasenose College Boat Club (BNCBC) is the rowing

Sport rowing

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

club of Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, Oxford

Brasenose College, originally Brazen Nose College , is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom. As of 2006, it has an estimated financial endowment of £98m...

in Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

, England

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

. It is the oldest boat club in the world, having beaten Jesus College Boat Club

Jesus College Boat Club (Oxford)

Jesus College Boat Club is a rowing club for members of Jesus College, Oxford, one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford...

in the first modern rowing race, held at Oxford in 1815. In addition to the 1815 "headship", the club has won both the Summer Eights and Torpids

Torpids

Torpids is one of two series of bumping races held yearly at Oxford University, the other being Eights. Over 130 men's and women's crews race for their colleges in six men's divisions and five women's; almost 1200 participants in total...

headship many times, and has recorded numerous victories in most events at the Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

. The club's colours are black and gold, with black blades. The 1st VIII, however, may wear the distinctive "Childe of Hale" colours — red, purple and gold — which are synonymous with Brasenose rowing.

Historical overview

Brasenose has a long history on the water. One of the forebears of the current first boat raced in the very first Henley Regatta in 1839. BNCBC won the Visitors' at Henley in 1851 (the first "Royal" Regatta) rowing as "Childe of Hale Boat Club" in an attempt to hide their identities. In 1868 the stroke, W. B. "Guts Woodgate"

Walter Bradford Woodgate

Walter Bradford Woodgate was a British barrister and oarsman who won the Wingfield Sculls three times, and various events at Henley Royal Regatta including the Silver Goblets five times and the Diamond Challenge Sculls once...

, of the BNCBC Stewards' Cup entry told the cox to jump out of the boat immediately after the start of the race. The crew went on to win the race but the umpire disqualified the crew. Five years later, the Regatta Stewards changed the event to one for coxless fours, with BNC crews going on to record legal wins in the event.

Past rowers include C.W. Kent, called the greatest stroke in the world in the 1890s, and BNCBC member Andrew Lindsay

Andrew Lindsay

Andrew Lindsay is a British competition rower and Olympic champion.Lindsay won a gold medal in coxed eights at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, as a member of the British rowing team....

who was part of the Great Britain Olympic 8 that won gold at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Rowing at the 2000 Summer Olympics

Final results for the Rowing events at the 2000 Summer Olympics:The event is probably most noted for Steve Redgrave's winning his fifth Olympic gold medal in as many games in the British men's coxless four. However, there were a number of other dramatic races. Both the men's and women's single...

.

A women's boat club was established with the admission of women undergraduates in 1974. The Women's VIII won blades in 2001 and is now competing with the best colleges, winning blades consecutively in Eights 2008 and Torpids 2009. Blues from OUWBC now join the list of College members to represent the University against Cambridge.

Brasenose College, Jesus College, and the beginnings of competitive rowing

The first record of a rowing race dates to 1815, with a race between Brasenose College and Jesus College on the Isis, which the Brasenose crew won.

In the early days of Oxford college rowing, these two colleges were the only crews competing, and were joined shortly thereafter by Christ Church and Exeter. Students would row to the inn at Sandford-on-Thames

Sandford-on-Thames

Sandford-on-Thames is a village and Parish Council beside the River Thames in Oxfordshire just south of Oxford. The village is just west of the A4074 road between Oxford and Henley.-Early history:...

, a few miles south of Oxford, and race each other on the way back. The races would start at Iffley Lock

Iffley Lock

Iffley Lock is a lock on the River Thames in England near the village of Iffley, Oxfordshire. It is on the southern outskirts of Oxford. The original lock was built by the Oxford-Burcot Commission in 1631 and the Thames Navigation Commission replaced this in 1793...

and finish at King's Barge, off Christ Church Meadow. Flags hoisted on the barge would indicate the finishing order of the crews. Crews would set off one behind the other, the trailing boat(s) trying to catch, or "bump", the boat ahead. The bumped boat and the bumping boat would then drop out and the bumping boat would start the next day's race ahead of the bumped boat. The aim was to become the lead boat, known as Head of the River

Head of the River

A Head of the River race is a rowing race, held as a procession race against the clock, with the winning crew receiving the title of "Head of the River"...

. For identification, crews wore college colours and emblazoned the rudder

Rudder

A rudder is a device used to steer a ship, boat, submarine, hovercraft, aircraft or other conveyance that moves through a medium . On an aircraft the rudder is used primarily to counter adverse yaw and p-factor and is not the primary control used to turn the airplane...

of the boat with the college coat of arms.

In 1822, crews from Jesus and Brasenose raced each other to become Head of the River. One Brasenose rower apparently "caught a crab", slowing the boat. The Brasenose boat was bumped by the Jesus boat, but then began to row again and finished ahead. As there were no definite rules in those days, both the Jesus and Brasenose men competed over which college's flag should be hoisted to denote the Headship. One of the Brasenose crew ended the dispute by saying "Quot homines tot sententiae, different men have different opinions, some like leeks and some like onions", referring to the leek emblem on the Jesus oars, and it was agreed to row the race again. The Brasenose crew won the rematch, and the incident has been said to be shown in an 1822 picture, the earliest depiction of an eights race at Oxford, painted by I. T. Serres (Marine Painter to George IV

George IV of the United Kingdom

George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...

).

To this day, Brasenose and Jesus Men's 1st VIIIs compete in an annual race on the Isis for the 1815 Challenge Plate. Brasenose is the current holder, having won by 1 length in 2010.

BNCBC and the "Childe of Hale"

John Middleton, the "Childe of Hale," was a 17th-century giant, standing over nine feet tall, from Hale in Lancashire. He accompanied his landlord, Sir Gilbert Ireland, to the court of James I, where he took on the King's champion wrestler and won. Sir Gilbert, later Lord of the Manor of Hale, was a member of Brasenose College at the time, and he brought Middleton to College on his return from court, where two life–size portraits were painted of him wearing his "London costume" - a fantastic outfit of red, purple and gold. When, in 1815, the students came to establish a Boat Club, it was this story and tradition that was used as inspiration. The Childe of Hale has since been a role model for generations of rowers and a portrait still hangs in the college. By tradition, the First VIII is always called "The Childe of Hale," and the First VIII colours are those of the Childe's London costume.

Brasenose at the Henley Royal Regatta

The first ever Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta

attracted four entries and it is recorded that:

The Etonian Club were dressed in white guernseys with pale blue facings, rosette sky blue. Brasenose had blue striped guernseys, blue cap with gold tassel, rosette yellow, purple and crimson. Wadham wore white guernseys with narrow blue stripes, dark blue cap with light blue velvet band, and light blue scarf, and Trinity College were attired in blue striped guernseys, rosette French Blue.

Brasenose has won a number of championships at the Henley Royal Regatta, including the Diamond Challenge Sculls

Diamond Challenge Sculls

The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England...

; the Stewards' Challenge Cup

Stewards' Challenge Cup

The Stewards' Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's coxless fours at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs. Two or more clubs may combine to make an entry....

(in which Brasenose College Boat Club invented the coxless four; see details below); the Ladies' Challenge Plate

Ladies' Challenge Plate

The Ladies' Challenge Plate is one of the events at Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. Crews of men's eight-oared boats below the standard of the Grand Challenge Cup can enter, although international standard heavyweight crews are not permitted to row in the...

; the Silver Goblets and Nickalls' Challenge Cup; and the Thames Challenge Cup

Thames Challenge Cup

The Thames Challenge Cup is a rowing event for men's eights at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from a single rowing club. Boat clubs from any university, college or secondary school are not permitted, neither are squad...

; in addition to winning the Grand Challenge Cup

Grand Challenge Cup

The Grand Challenge Cup is a rowing competition for men's eights. It is the oldest and most prestigious event at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England. It is open to male crews from all eligible rowing clubs...

in composites with Leander Club

Leander Club

Leander Club, founded in 1818, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in the world. It is based in Remenham in the English county of Berkshire, adjoining Henley-on-Thames...

several times in a row in the 1890s.

More recently, Brasenose College Boat Club gave 1994 Temple Challenge Cup

Temple Challenge Cup

The Temple Challenge Cup is one of the eights races at Henley Royal Regatta at Henley-on-Thames on the River Thames in England. It is open to male crews from universities, colleges or schools. Combined entries from two colleges of the same university, or from different schools, are allowed...

winners Imperial College

Imperial College Boat Club

Imperial College Boat Club is the rowing club for Imperial College and has its boat house on the River Thames in Putney, London, United Kingdom. It was housed from 1919 in Thames Rowing Club but has had its own boathouse since 1938. The club has been highly successful, with many wins at Henley...

their closest race of the regatta.

Brasenose and the invention of the coxless four

Walter Bradford Woodgate

was larger than life. He once wagered he could walk the fifty-seven miles from Stones Chop House in London

Westminster

Westminster is an area of central London, within the City of Westminster, England. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, southwest of the City of London and southwest of Charing Cross...

's Panton Street (near Leicester Square

Leicester Square

Leicester Square is a pedestrianised square in the West End of London, England. The Square lies within an area bound by Lisle Street, to the north; Charing Cross Road, to the east; Orange Street, to the south; and Whitcomb Street, to the west...

) to Brasenose in time for breakfast. The leading oarsman of his age, he won eleven Henley titles in the 1860s, including three in two days in 1862, when he narrowly missed a fourth victory after dead-heating the final of the Diamonds. In a cause celebre, he introduced the coxless IV to this country, when he got his Brasenose cox, Frederic Weatherly (later a well-known lawyer and writer of the song "Danny Boy

Danny Boy

-Background:The words to "Danny Boy" were written by English lawyer and lyricist Frederic Weatherly in 1910. Although the lyrics were originally written for a different tune, Weatherly modified them to fit the "Londonderry Air" in 1913, after his sister-in-law in the U.S. sent him a copy. Ernestine...

"), to jump overboard at the Henley start in 1868. While Weatherley narrowly escaped strangulation by the water lilies, Woodgate and his home-made steering device triumphed by 100 yards and were promptly disqualified. At Oxford the Reverend Woodgate's son earned pocket money by writing sermons. As a fresh-faced Brasenose freshman, he appeared as Lady Barbara in the College play, partook liberally of the wine and four kinds of punch at dinner afterwards, woke in his petticoats, and attended chapel with the rouge still on his cheeks. And two years later he founded Vincent's Club, "an elite social club of the picked hundred of the University, selected for all round qualities; social, physical and intellectual".

A special Prize for four-oared crews without coxswains

Coxless four

A coxless four is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for four persons who propel the boat with sweep oars.The crew consists of four rowers, each having one oar. There are two rowers on the stroke side and two on the bow side...

was offered at the regatta in 1869 when it was won by the Oxford Radleian Club and when Stewards’ became a coxless race in 1873, Woodgate “won his moral victory,” the Rowing Almanack later recalled. “Nothing but defeating a railway in an action at law could have given him so much pleasure.”

Brasenose and "Childe of Hale Boat Club" went on to record legitimate victories in the event.

Headships at Torpids and Summer Eights

Brasenose holds the record for most consecutive headships in Torpids

Torpids

The Childe of Hale made a strong bid to regain the headship in the 1990s, bumping as high as second on the river in Torpids and fourth on the river in Summer Eights.

Brasenose and the Boat Race

Brasenose has a rich tradition of representation in The Boat Race

The Boat Race

The event generally known as "The Boat Race" is a rowing race in England between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambridge University Boat Club, rowed between competing eights each spring on the River Thames in London. It takes place generally on the last Saturday of March or the first...

and in the other Oxford-Cambridge races. Below are the names of Brasenose students past and present who have won "blues" or colours competing for OUBC and the other university boats.

OUBC Blue Boat

M.P. Plotkowiak (2007, 2009)
J.W. Scrogin (2004)
D.B. Perkins (2002)
A.J.R. Lindsay (1997, 1998, 1999)
R. Blanda (1997)
R.H. Manners (1993)
J.O.B. Sewall (1961)
E.V. Vine (1954, 1955)
E.C.B. Hammond (1953)
W.J.H. Leckie (1949)
W.W. Woodward (1948)
J.C. Cherry (1936, 1937, 1938)
S.R.C. Wood (1936)
R.W. Holdsworth (1931, 1933, 1934)
R.A.J. Poole (1931, 1932)
C.M. Johnston (1930, 1931, 1932)
J. de R. Kent (1932)
G.M.L. Smith (1931)
A. Graham (1929)
J.C. Morphett (1929)
Sir J.H. Croft (1926, 1927, 1928)
H.C. Morphett (1928)
G.H. Crawford (1926)
G.J. Mower-White (1923, 1924, 1925)
W.P. Mellen (1923)
P.R. Wace (1923)
N. Field (1910)
H.C. de J. du Vallon (1901)
H.R.K. Pechell (1896, 1897, 1898)
W. Burton Stewart (1894, 1895)
J.A. Ford (1892, 1893)
C.W. Kent (1891)
F. Wilkinson (1891)
W.F.C. Holland (1887, 1888 1889, 1890)
H.R. Parker (1887, 1888, 1889)
L. Frere (1888)
F.J. Humphreys (1884, 1885)
E.L. Puxley (1883)
R.H.J. Poole (1880, 1881)
H.P. Marriott (1875, 1876, 1877, 1878, 1879)
T Edwards-moss (1875, 1876, 1877, 1878)
J.P. Way (1874)
H.W. Benson (1874)
M.G. Farrer (1873)
J.M. Clintock-Bunbury (1871)
F. Crowder (1866, 1867)
D. Pocklington (1864)
R. Shepherd (1863)
W.B. Woodgate (1862)
W. Champneys (1861)
H.F. Baxter (1859, 1860)
W. Houghton (1849, 1852)
R. Greenall (1852)
K. Prescot (1852)
J.J. Hornby (1849)
F.E. Tuke (1845)
J.J. Somers-Cocks (1841)
G. Meynell (1840,1841)
W. Lea (1841)
E. Royds (1840, 1841)
W.B. Garnett (1840)
J.J. Somers-Cocks (1840)
R.G. Walls (1839, 1840)

ISIS

J.L. Carlson (2010)
E.P. Newman (2010)
A.N. Keats (2005)
T.H. Baker (2001)
T.J. Whitaker (1993)
K.W. Kobach (1991, 1992)
E.M. Martin (1983, 1984)

OULRC Blue Boat

M. Neve (2010)
B. Bell (1998)
D. Brocklebank (1997)
J. Bailey (1995)
D. Bridges (1995)
R. Weeks (1944)
D. Long (1990)
D. Horner (1989)
P. Drew (1988)
W. O’Chee (1987)
J. Hawkins (1986)
J. Kirwan (1986)

OUWLRC Blue Boat

Dom Shields (1998)
Roma Backhouse (1993)
Sarah Phipps (1993)
Karen Ball (1992)

External links

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