A Short History of Bairnsdale Rowing Club
Chapter 2: Interclub competition and the Easter Regattas
The first Bairnsdale regatta comprising Victoria wide inter club competition is recognised as being in 1891. The Bairnsdale and Sale regattas were popular features of our oarsmen's holidays at Easter, and were looked forward to as a good wind up to the regatta season.
The winners at the 1891 regatta were diverse and were:
Maiden Eight – Mercantile RC
Maiden Four – Mercantile RC
Maiden Gig Four – Melbourne City RC
Maiden Pair – Banks RC
Maiden Scull – W Hobson of Bairnsdale RC
Senior Scull – E R Ainley of Yarra Yarra RC
Senior Four – Yarra Yarra
The club enjoyed more success at its regatta in subsequent years.
The rowing club enjoyed the 1890s as its hey-day with the annual Easter regattas drawing good entries from Melbourne are further afield and good crowds. John Lang's records of the regatta show a break between 1894 and 1905 regattas for reasons which are not explained. One can only assume that the depression in Victoria caused by the land boom and crash kept people away from sport and travel.
Of historical interest was the Bairnsdale RC 1894 women's eight pictured below. It is certainly the earliest women's eight known to the authors and certainly a very early women's rowing race.
[images of the 1894 women's eight]
John Adams in his history of the district added the following: “ Local teams did very well in these regatta and included such stars as W G Payne, A L Archer, F D Richardson and Albert Lind, the latter winning an award in 1900.
“The Easter Regatta became a major attraction in the new century and large crowds continued to be drawn to them. In the pre-war years, stars included Doug and Lance Laird, W Mosley, R Fendley and C J Cooper. The Lairds went on to Melbourne to become rowing champions there. Another memorable figure of the time was the caretaker of the boatshed, Noah Lightfoot, for who the shed was affectionately known as 'Noah's Ark', and perhaps an ark it may have been in flood times when the shed was surrounded by water.”
Albert Lind went onto be a noted politician, Minister and Deputy Premier. He was knighted in 1951 and continued to be a member of the lower house until 1961. Sir Albert died on 26 June 1964, survived by his wife and eight children. Greatly honoured throughout East Gippsland, he was accorded a state funeral at Bairnsdale where he was buried.
Well known poet Henry Lawson often stayed in Bairnsdale and was well known to the rowing club where he clearly had an affinity. The following poem was allegedly written by him in May 1907 and contains many references to the members and champions of the club of that time.
[poem or images of it]
The Easter Regattas were conducted from 1905 to the outbreak of World War 1 in 1915. Melbourne clubs continued to enjoy the Easter holiday in Bairnsdale.
[image of 1906 Mercantile in camp at Bairnsdale]
[image of maiden eights in 1910]
During WWI, the aforementioned Christopher J Cooper joined up in 1916 and served in pay corps in London. Given he was a rower, he joined other non-combatant service personal in the Wattle [Rowing] Club. This group of rowers competed against England in 1917 with Cooper stroking the winning crew. This race was important recreation for headquarters personnel based in London during the war. These races were quite different from the 1919 King's Cup crews which comprised soldiers who had fought in the war.