Eric Walter Powell (6 May 1886 – 17 August 1933) was an English schoolmaster, artist and

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is di ...

who competed for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an International sport, international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. Th ...

. Powell was born at

Hornsey Hornsey is a district of north London, England in the London Borough of Haringey. It is an inner-suburban, for the most part residential, area centred north of Charing Cross. It adjoins green spaces Queen's Wood and Alexandra Park to the ...

, the son of the Rev. Robert Walter Powell, the first vicar of Holy Innocents Church and his wife Mary Caroline Hankey. He was educated at Eton and

Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge or Oxford. ...

, where he was a member of the

Pitt Club The University Pitt Club, popularly referred to as the Pitt Club, the UPC, or merely as Club, is a private members' club of the University of Cambridge, with a previously male-only membership but now open to both men and women. History The ...

. He rowed for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge beca ...

in the

Boat Race Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

in 1906, 1907 and 1908. In the winning crew of 1906, he was No.7 and his elder brother

Ronald Ronald is a masculine given name derived from the Old Norse ''Rögnvaldr'', Hanks; Hardcastle; Hodges (2006) p. 234; Hanks; Hodges (2003) § Ronald. or possibly from Old English '' Regenweald''. In some cases ''Ronald'' is an Anglicised form of ...

was No. 6 in front of him. The 1908 Cambridge crew made up a boat in the eights which won the bronze medal for Great Britain

rowing at the 1908 Summer Olympics At the 1908 Summer Olympics, four rowing events were contested, all for men only. Races were held at Henley-on-Thames. The competitions were held from 28 to 31 July. There was one fewer event in 1908 than 1904, after the double sculls was drop ...

. He won 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 border ...

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thr ...

in 1912 rowing for Viking Club. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

Powell served as Squadron Commander in the

Royal Flying Corps "Through Adversity to the Stars" , colors = , colours_label = , march = , mascot = , anniversaries = , decorations ...

and later the R.A.F. Powell was a house master and art teacher at Eton, and was himself a painter of

watercolour Watercolor (American English) or watercolour (British English; see spelling differences), also ''aquarelle'' (; from Italian diminutive of Latin ''aqua'' "water"), is a painting method”Watercolor may be as old as art itself, going back to t ...

s. He was also a mountaineer and met his death at

Pontresina Pontresina ( rm, Puntraschigna) is a municipality in the Maloja Region in the canton of Graubünden in Switzerland. History and name Pontresina was first mentioned in medieval Latin documents as ''ad Pontem Sarisinam'' in 1137 and ''de Ponte Sa ...

in an Alpine accident on

Piz Roseg Piz Roseg (pronounced as ''peetse rawzech'') is a mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a p ...

Cyril Alington Cyril Argentine Alington (22 October 1872 – 16 May 1955) was an English educationalist, scholar, cleric, and author. He was successively the headmaster of Shrewsbury School and Eton College. He also served as chaplain to King George V and ...

, headmaster of Eton wrote. Roseg

Eric Powell was a man of genius which showed itself in many fields. The world perhaps knew him best as an oarsman, the winner of the Diamond Sculls, but there are others who think of his distinction in the Flying Corps, and yet more to whom his wonderful talent as an artist made a stronger appeal. To watch the marvellous speed with which he transferred to paper the beauty which he saw with an unerring eye was a pleasure of which one never tired, and in later years he was developing an accuracy of detail and a variety of technique which seemed to hold the highest promise. Of what he did for drawing at Eton it is impossible to speak too highly; and his success as one of the most popular and best beloved of house masters was so remarkable that it might have been grudged to anyone but him

Powell's sister Ellen married fellow Olympian

Harold Barker Harold Barker may refer to: *Harold Barker (rower) (1886–1937), British rower *Harold H. Barker (1889–1949), American politician *Gregg Barton (1912–2000), real name Harold Barker, American actor See also *Harry Barker (disambiguation) Harry ...

.Office for National Statistics – Marriage Indices 1909

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Powell, Eric 1886 births 1933 deaths People educated at Eton College Teachers at Eton College Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge English male rowers Olympic rowers for Great Britain Rowers at the 1908 Summer Olympics Olympic bronze medallists for Great Britain Cambridge University Boat Club rowers Royal Flying Corps officers English watercolourists Olympic medalists in rowing 20th-century English painters English male painters Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics 20th-century English male artists