The Boat Race 1840

The 4th Boat Race took place on the River Thames on 15 April 1840. It was the third of the University Boat Races to be held on the Thames, between Westminster Bridge and Putney Bridge. Oxford University Boat Club was formed to assist in the selection of the Oxford crew. Nevertheless, Cambridge won the race by three-quarters of a length to lead the overall record at 3–1.

Background

The 1840 race took place between Westminster and Putney bridges.

The Boat Race is a side-by-side rowing competition between the University of Oxford (sometimes referred to as the "Dark Blues")^[1] and the University of Cambridge (sometimes referred to as the "Light Blues").^[1] The race was first held in 1829, and takes place on the River Thames in southwest London.^[2][3]

Following heavy defeats in the 1836 and 1839 races, and in order to improve the selection of the crew, Oxford University Boat Club was formed on 23 April 1839,^[4] to which anyone at the university could subscribe and which was governed by the various college boat club captains.^[5] The initial letter of challenge was delivered to Cambridge from Oxford in February. After considerable discussion, mainly about the restriction of crew selection to undergraduates only, the date of the race, 15 April 1840,^[6] was agreed sixteen days prior to the race itself.^[7] The umpires for the race were Calverley Bewicke (for Oxford) and Charles Jasper Selwyn (for Cambridge), while W. H. Harrison, the Commodore of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, was the referee.^[8] The race was to take place on a five-and-three-quarter-mile (9.2 km) stretch of the Thames between Westminster Bridge and Putney Bridge.^[9][10]

Crews

The Oxford crew weighed an average of 11 st 10.5 lb (74.4 kg) per rower, 2.5 pounds (1.1 kg) more per man than their opponents.^[11] Cambridge saw former Blues Alfred Shadwell and cox Thomas Selby Egan return, while Oxford's crew also contained two veterans of the race, in Samuel Maberly and R. G. Walls.^[11]

Seat	Cambridge			Oxford
	Name	College	Weight	Name	College	Weight
Bow	Alfred Hudson Shadwell	St John's	10 st 7 lb	Jacob G. Mountain	Merton	11 st 0 lb
2	William Massey	1st Trinity	11 st 0 lb	I. J. J. Pocock	Merton	11 st 2 lb
3	Sam. Barnard Taylor	1st Trinity	11 st 7 lb	S. E. Maberley	Christ Church	11 st 4 lb
4	John M. Ridley	Jesus	12 st 8 lb	W. Rogers	Balliol	12 st 10 lb
5	George Charles Uppleby	Magdalene	11 st 12 lb	R. G. Walls	Brasenose	12 st 7 lb
6	Francis Cranmer Penrose	Magdalene	12 st 1 lb	E. Royds	Brasenose	12 st 4 lb
7	Heighway C. Jones	Magdalene	11 st 9 lb	Godfrey Meynell	Brasenose	11 st 10 lb
Stroke	Charles M. Vialls (P)	3rd Trinity	11 st 6 lb	J. J. T. Somers Cox (P)	Brasenose	11 st 3 lb
Cox	T. S. Egan	Gonville & Caius	9 st 0 lb	W. B. Garnett	Brasenose	9 st 7 lb
Source:[11][12] (P) – boat club president[13]

Race

Putney Bridge marked the finish of the 1840 Boat Race.

Oxford won the toss and elected to start from the Middlesex side of the river, handing the Surrey side to Cambridge.^[11] The race commenced from below Westminster Bridge at 1.30pm, with Edward Searle acting as the starter.^[12] With a number of steamers blocking the route, Oxford made a good start and took an early lead. The wake of the steamers caused rough water in which both crews struggled to maintain a consistent rhythm. The lead had extended by the time the crews passed below Vauxhall Bridge and was nearly three lengths by the Spread Eagle pub. At this point Cambridge began to reduce the deficit, but following a warning from Robert Coombes who was steering the umpire's boat Dolphin, Oxford's cox Garnett steered across the path of Cambridge. The Light Blues maintained their course and Oxford were forced back again. By the Red House, Cambridge had restored parity and started to pull away. Despite suffering further rough water from the wake of another steamer at Battersea Bridge, Cambridge maintained their lead and passed through the centre arch of Putney Bridge three-quarters of a length ahead of Oxford.^[14] The winning time was 29 minutes 3 seconds, and the victory took the overall lead to 3–1 in favour of Cambridge.^[11][15]

References

Notes

Bibliography

• Burnell, Richard (1979). One Hundred and Fifty Years of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Race. Precision Press. ISBN 978-0-9500638-7-4. 
• Dodd, Christopher (1983). The Oxford & Cambridge Boat Race. Stanley Paul. ISBN 978-0-09-151340-5. 
• Drinkwater, G. C.; Sanders, T. R. B. (1929). The University Boat Race – Official Centenary History. Cassell & Company, Ltd. 
• MacMichael, William Fisher (1870). The Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races: From A.D. 1829 to 1869. Deighton. 

External links

• Official website

The Boat Race Oxford University Boat Club (crews) Cambridge University Boat Club (crews) The Championship Course Results Oxford University Women's Boat Club Cambridge University Women's Boat Club Oxford University Lightweight Rowing Club Cambridge University Lightweight Rowing Club Goldie Stones Blue Boat Henley Boat Races Women's Boat Race 1927 1929 1930 1934 1935 1936 1939 1941 1973 1974 1975 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1994 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 1829 1836 1839 1840 1841 1842 1845 1846 1849 1849 1852 1854 1856 1857 1858 1859 1860 1861 1862 1863 1864 1865 1866 1867 1868 1869 1870 1871 1872 1873 1874 1875 1876 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902 1903 1904 1905 1906 1907 1908 1909 1910 1911 1912 1913 1914 1920 1921 1922 1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 Category Commons