Home > Rowing Profiles > Dennys, Charles John

Charles John Dennys

(1818-1898)

Charles was a farmer, stock and station agent, tallow manufacturer and wool broker. His fame and fortune arose from establishing the first wool auctions in Geelong and was a pioneer of Australian wool sales which eventually surpassed those of London by the mid 1890s.

For our interest, he was a pioneer of rowing in Geelong, being a steward of, and competitor at, the first Geelong Regatta on Corio Bay in March 1844. He was also a steward of the first horse race meeting in 1843.

Frank Strachan's biography of Dennys sums up this man of high achievement as follows: "His career showed strong talent, imagination and resolution. A successful businessman, he exploited the opportunities offered by the rich Victorian Western District, for the benefit of Geelong as well as himself, and he was an influential pioneer of the process whereby domestic sales of Australian wool surpassed London sales by the mid-1890s."

Compiled by Andrew Guerin
February 2024

Source: Frank Strachan, 'Dennys, Charles John (1818–1898)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, https://adb.anu.edu.au/biography/dennys-charles-john-306/text5149, published first in hardcopy 1972, accessed online 15 May 2022.

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, errors may exist. Please send advice of any errors or inaccuracies by email to:

Also your comments, suggestions and photos are sought to enhance this site.

The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004
These contents of this history are copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. However given that the purpose of the history is to assist rowers and rowing clubs, written permission is not required for non-commercial usage by rowers and rowing clubs provided acknowledgement is made.

Disclaimer: Whilst extensive efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied, the editors take no responsibility for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from inaccuracies contained in this work.