Ben Oxlade

Victoria

Ben had his first race on the Yarra in 1862 against Punch from NSW after having arrived in Melbourne from London. He soon moved up to Ballarat and was heavily involved in rowing there, along with Thomas Gill, who became his son in law. Ben's son Harry won his first race as a 9 year old on Lake Wendouree, and was involved in rowing in Ballarat until he came down to Melbourne in 1884 where he rowed for the Civil Service Club and also for Victoria. He later became a noted coach.

Known rowing record:

1862 March 15 - Sculling race on the Yarra River against James Punch from NSW.

1867 - Ballarat Regatta, senior pair and senior four races. Despite low water levels, impromptu racing conducted

1869 - Ballarat Regatta, senior pair, bow seat - First

Sources:

The Victorian Oarsman by John Lang, 1919
The History of the Ballarat Regatta by Kate Elliott, 2009
Rev Sandy Brodine, descendant of Ben Oxlade

Andrew Guerin
January 2023

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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
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