The Wingfield Sculls is a

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically ...

race held annually on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, on the Championship Course from

Putney Putney () is a district of southwest London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth, southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Putney is an ancient paris ...

Mortlake Mortlake is a suburban district of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames on the south bank of the River Thames between Kew and Barnes. Historically it was part of Surrey and until 1965 was in the Municipal Borough of Barnes. For many cen ...

. The race is between

single scull A single scull (or a scull) is a rowing boat designed for a single person who propels the boat with two oars, one in each hand. Racing boats (often called "shells") are long, narrow, and broadly semi-circular in cross-section in order to mini ...

ers and is usually on the Saturday three to four weeks before the Scullers Head of the River Race which is the same race in reverse, attracts more international entries and is held in November every year. Due to tide changes on the

Tideway The Tideway is a part of the River Thames in England which is subject to tides. This stretch of water is downstream from Teddington Lock. The Tideway comprises the upper Thames Estuary including the Pool of London. Tidal activity Depending on ...

, the race may therefore be in October or in November.

History

The race was founded on 10 August 1830, at the instigation of barrister Henry Colsell Wingfield. The idea for the race was suggested at a dinner after a sculling race and following this a subscription dinner was held at the Swan in Battersea, where money was raised to fund the event, the rules were decided and a date was set.Wingfield Sculls Record of Races
/ref> The initial conditions were that the race should be run on the half tide from

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, B ...

against all challengers, annually on 10 August forever (10 August being Wingfield's birthday), though the first race actually went from the Red House, Battersea to Hammersmith. The Wingfield Sculls, the

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 England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders w ...

at Henley Royal Regatta and the London Cup in the

Metropolitan Regatta The Metropolitan Regatta is an international rowing regatta. It takes place on Dorney Lake, Buckinghamshire near Eton next to the River Thames in southern England. It attracts crews from schools, clubs, and universities from around the United K ...

made up the "Triple Crown" of the three premier men's amateur single sculling events in the United Kingdom. Following the first Wingfield Sculls race, a separate Championship of the Thames for professional scullers was held for the first time in October 1831, which ceased in 1957 due to a decline in prize purses from betting in the sport and on the merger of the 'amateur' and 'professional'/'manual trade' former

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differentl ...

-based categories of rowers.

Henry Wingfield

Henry Colsell Wingfield, born 1805, an

Old Westminster (God Gives the Increase) , established = Earliest records date from the 14th century, refounded in 1560 , type = Public school Independent day and boarding school , religion = Church of England , head_label = Head M ...

, married Jane Nicholls in

Margate Margate is a seaside town on the north coast of Kent in south-east England. The town is estimated to be 1.5 miles long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay and Westbrook. The town has been a significan ...

, Kent in 1828. Henry Wingfield ("the First" of 3 Henrys) was the grandson of a rich hatter (felt hats), the son of an attorney and was raised at St James's Parish,

. He and Jane lived at 37

Great Marlborough Street Great Marlborough Street is a thoroughfare in Soho, Central London. It runs east of Regent Street past Carnaby Street towards Noel Street. Originally part of the Millfield estate south of Tyburn Road (now Oxford Street), the street was named ...

near Oxford Circus — now rebuilt as a

Coffee Republic Coffee Republic is a British coffee bar and deli franchise chain founded in 1995. History Coffee Republic was founded in 1995 by brother and sister team Bobby and Sahar Hashemi, opening its first site in London's South Molton Street. In 19 ...

and O'Neill's Irish Bar. They had two children. In 1842 Jane divorced Henry for adultery. Henry stayed long enough to bury his beloved daughter Emma 10 months later, in a new grand family grave at Kensal Green, Kensington and then emigrated to Prince Edward County — now part of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

— which juts into

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

. He farmed near Picton near

South Marysburgh South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

for 20 years, sometimes visiting England. In 1861, Henry Wingfield sold his farm and — wishing to spend his last days in England, embarked for

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

. At noon on 4 June 1861, 4 miles off the north point of Newfoundland in fog, his ship, the

SS Canadian SS ''Canadian'' was a British passenger ship which struck an iceberg and sank in the Strait of Belle Isle north of Cape Bauld () while she was travelling from Quebec, Canada to Liverpool, United Kingdom. Construction ''SS Canadian'' was la ...

, struck an iceberg and the Wingfield Sculls founder and about 30 others of the passengers and crew of 300 succumbed to the cold and waves of the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...

.Based on research by Jocelyn Wingfield, International Historian, Wingfield Family Society.

Results

Women's race

The 2007 event on 25 October saw the revival of the women's championship which, except for the years between 1939 and 1948, had been an annual event from 1929 until the early 1970s, when the Women's Amateur Rowing Association amalgamated with the ARA. The Wingfield Family Society have been involved with the Wingfield Sculls for the last 10 years (and a few years ago presented the Wingfield Sculls Committee with a new giant flag). It has also funded and presented a silver Trophy – based on Henry Wingfield's original 1830 Trophy – for the revived Women's Wingfields. The closest living relative to Henry Wingfield, Clare Morton (the g-g-great granddaughter of Henry's Uncle John Wingfield) presented both the trophy to the winner of the 2007 race,

Elise Laverick Elise Mary Sherwell ( Laverick, born 27 July 1975 in Rustington, West Sussex) is a British rower. She won bronze at the 2004 Summer Olympics in the double scull with Sarah Winckless, and again at the 2008 Summer Olympics with Anna ...

( Thames RC), and a framed montage of extracts about the "Life of the Wingfield Sculls Founder" to

Wade Hall-Craggs Oliver Wade Hall-Craggs (born 9 January 1966) is a British rower and Olympic sculler. He is the former head coach at Durham University Boat Club, a position he held between 2000 -2021, in this time he mainly coached the heavy-weight men. He repr ...

, the Honorary Secretary of the Wingfield Sculls Committee. ;Results The last champion to win a hat trick on the Tideway was Margaret Gladden, she held the title from 1966 to 1971.

References

Bibliography * Cleaver, Hylton, ''A History of Rowing''. * British Amateur Rowing Association Almanacks, 1898–2007. {{DEFAULTSORT:Wingfield Sculls Mortlake, London Rowing on the River Thames Recurring events established in 1830 Water sports in London 1830 establishments in England

History

Henry Wingfield

Results

Women's race

See also

References