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In 2013 Billygoats Society Secretary Emeritus and Vice President John Adams continued writing about selected entries from the Boat Club record books:

Across the Decades 2013 –  from the Fitzwilliam Boat Club Record Books

The Boat Club Record Books cover the years 1920 to 1982 but there are several gaps, most significantly the years 1973-80. This piece consists mainly of extracts from those books. A search of other records, covering the club’s earliest years, has revealed that 2013 is the hundred-and-thirtieth anniversary of a significant event in its history – the first resurrection of Fitzwilliam Boat Club.

Fitzwilliam students had first rowed in the bumps in 1875 at the bottom of the 3^rd division, the lowest. In the period to 1879, they had mixed results, from four bumps in both Lents and Mays in 1876 to a fall of three places in both Lents and Mays in 1879. There was then no Fitzwilliam boat for several years, the Club having been wound up in the Michaelmas term 1879. In 1883 the Club was reformed and rowed once again in the Lents, starting at the bottom of the river (not under water!) and making one bump. But until 1912 there were periods when there was no Fitzwilliam Boat Club. In the 101 years since then, the only gaps in the life of the Club have been 1915-18 and 1940-45.

Ninety years ago – 1923

For the 1923 Lents the record includes “the second boat, all freshers except two, was very fast, and exhibited remarkable staying powers over the course.”  In the five seat of that boat, weighing 11st 4lb, was one W. W. Williams.

The procedure for getting a place in the Bumps at this time was very different from that now used. In the May term, the record states that the second boat “endeavoured to ‘get on’ but were beaten by Peterhouse II by 1½ secs. The next day Pothouse were, in turn, beaten, and finally the ultimate winners of the G.O. Races failed to bump off the bottom boat.”

Eighty years ago – 1933

Starting second in the 3^rd division of the 1933 Mays, the 1^st VIII bumped three second VIIIs before catching Corpus I at Grassy on the Saturday. “The Club has never before been so high in the 2^nd division, nor has any 1^st May Boat even before gained its oars.” reads the record. Like a number of other entries in the books, this note is inaccurate regarding historic detail. In 1919 the boat had finished in the same position on the river (13^th in Division 2, 28^th overall) and fifty-seven years earlier the 1876 May Boat had also made 4 bumps. But the 1933 result was still a worthy achievement.

Seventy years ago – 1943

No record – no Boat Club. Fitzwilliam had very few students during the war and there was no Boat Club.

Sixty years ago – 1953

In the 1953 Lents, the 1^st VIII made four bumps, two on the Thursday in moving from the 3^rd Division to the 2^nd, whilst the 2^nd VIII went down three places and the 3^rd VIII went down four. The Mays saw the 1^st and 2^nd VIIIs make two bumps.

The 1^st VIII was the first bumps crew for which the Club had obtained the services of Alf Twinn, the CUBC boatman, as coach. (The President and 1^st VIII cox at the time was Brian Skinner who had won a trial cap in 1951.) In the record book it states, “Alf reckoned our oar handles were red hot or ice cold.”

Fifty years ago – 1963

The 1962-3 winter was a cold one and the Cam froze. The spirit and drive within the Club at the time is exemplified by the steps taken to ensure training continued. The record for the term begins “The term presented a great problem initially – the Cam was frozen. Our one and only attempt at an outing was doomed to failure because an ice floe put a hole in the boat [a clinker]. As the first VIII was the only one that really had to get afloat, the captain took us to Earith which has tidal waters. However, after one outing there the river froze!! Finally the VIII went to St Neots where the river was ice free thanks to the Electricity Generating plant up river. All those searchings for water were essential as the VIII had to have water on which to train. There were some changes and it was necessary to let the boat settle down. We rowed for nearly four weeks at St Neots and on the afternoons that we did not go to the Ouse we were put through the rigours of circuit training and weight lifting at Fenners.”

The training bore fruit. Though the Lents were cancelled in the Head of the River Race they “started 43^rd and passed four boats to finish 23^rd overall.”

The crew showed their determination in another way. “The need for a shell VIII in these head races has grown imperative over the last few years – and finally the crew themselves purchased the 1956 CUBC shell. It was launched on 11^th March by Mrs Grave and named Billygoat. It is the first shell the club has owned.”

In the May term, glandular fever removed the secretary from the seven seat in the 1^st VIII until 10 days before the races. The boat was unsettled until he returned but improved thereafter and “had three bumps on the first three nights and on the third night rowed over as sandwich boat in the 1^st Division. This position did not improve on the last night as they could not catch the Selwyn boat ahead.”

At Henley the VIII were beaten by Corpus in the eliminating heats but a last minute decision to enter a IV in the Visitors brought some success – the first ever win by a Fitzwilliam crew at the Regatta. “On the first day they drew and beat Downing easily in 8‑21 in spite of erratic steering. This was an extremely good effort since they had only been in the boat for less than a week, and general inexperience of light fours was prevalent in the crew. On Thursday they met a St Thomas’s Hospital four who beat Billy in 7-44, partly because of unfortunate steering before the booms.”

Forty years ago – 1973

In the 1973 Lents the 1^st VIII bumped Downing and Queens’ to finish in 8^th place in the 1^st Division. “The second VIII consisted of a number of experienced oarsmen with one or two of the better novices and was coached intensively with about five outings a week. They started near the top of the third division. A combination of these facts lead to them getting five bumps (as sandwich boat on Thursday) and thus gaining their oars.”

The record for the Easter term is incomplete. It begins by reporting on the coaching that term and the second paragraph reports “Tim Shaw brought the crew back under control, also working on technique of the whole stroke. The crew settled down and put up some quite good times. Freddie Page coached us” And there the report of 1973 ends at the bottom of a page: the following two sheets have been torn from the book.

These are not the only pages to have been removed: three sheets between the records headed “Henley 1967” and “Year 1968 – 1969” have been cut from the book.  Since two different removal methods have been used, the implication is surely that there have been two who decided to censor the content. One wonders who and why?

There are no more recent records in the Boat Club books but a summary of how the 1^st boats have performed over the decades to date is included below.

Fitzwilliam in the Mays
Snapshots over the decades
	Men’s  1st Boat			Women’s  1st Boat
	Progress in year	Finishing position		Progress in year	Finishing position
		Posn	Div		Posn	Div
2013	-3	13	1	+2	4	2
2003	+1	17	1	+3	9	2
1993	-1	10	1	0	14	2
1983	0	9	1	+6	16*	1
1973	-3	7	1	Fitz women first rowed in the Mays in 1980
1963	+3	1	2
1953	+2	2	3
1943	No Mays boat
1933	+4	2	13
1923	+1	3	2
1913	0	16	2
1903	No Mays boat
1893	+1	15**	2
1883	No Mays boat
*   From 1974 until 1989, women’s Mays were rowed in IVs.  In 1983 there were three divisions, each of 22 crews
**   Prior to 1887 the Lents and Mays were not held as separate events. There were three divisions: only the second and third divisions rowed in the Lents, only the first and second in the Mays.For several years from 1887, in the Mays there were two divisions of 16 boats.

In 2012 Billygoats Society Secretary Emeritus and Vice President John Adams continued writing about selected entries from the Boat Club record books:

Across the Decades 2012 – from the Fitzwilliam Boat Club Record Books

Last year saw the sixtieth anniversary of a very successful year for the Club, the winning of the Michell Cup, four Bumps for the 1^st VIII in both Lents and Mays and the first entry by a Fitzwilliam crew to Henley Royal Regatta (though that crew unfortunately just failed to succeed in the pre-regatta qualifying race).

This year sees the fiftieth anniversary of what can be argued to be an even more successful year for the Club – with similar results on the Cam for the 1^st VIII, but these achieved more than 10 places higher on the river, the winning of the Michell Cup again, and the first appearance of a Fitzwilliam crew at Henley Royal Regatta (though that crew lost its first round heat in the Ladies’ Plate).

But the crew which made the headlines in The Times in 1962 was the record breaking 3^rd VIII – with a rise of 10 places on the first day of the Lents. Difficult for you to believe this was possible? You are not alone: Lord Brabazon of Tara had trouble persuading the fellow members of his club of the truth when he told them of the rise, and wrote to the Captain of Boats for the full details so he could convince the doubters. The details appear below and a summary of the results of the 1^st boats every ten years is in Annex 1.

Ninety years ago – 1922

“A meeting of the Boat Club was held on April 22nd 1922, the Captain in the chair. Not more than 6 members were present; and no business of paramount importance was transacted; but the possibilities of going to the Henley Royal Regatta were discussed, and authority given to the Captain to make inquiries, a fuller consideration to take place at a later meeting.” As is now known, it took forty years for the possibilities to be realised.

The coaches of the 1922 Lent Boat were “A D B Pearson (First) and R E Morrison (Third)”. (First & Third were not combined until 1940.)

Eighty years ago -1932

The records for the year show that the discussion over dress continued (see last year’s snapshots). Three pages of the Record Book are occupied with details of the blazers, vests, socks, wraps, sweaters and caps appropriate for the members of various crews. “A copy of these regulations was given to Messrs Ryder, Amies, the official outfitters of the Club.

Seventy years ago – 1942

No record – no Boat Club. Fitzwilliam had very few students during World War 2.

Sixty years ago – 1952

Like 2012, 1952 was an Olympic year – and in 1952 this had a significant effect on Fitzwilliam House Boat Club.

“During the Easter vacation it was announced by the Olympic Games Committee that Brian Lloyd, this year’s President of Leander and last year’s CUBC President, had been asked to select an VIII to go to Helsinki this summer. Consequently Cambridge is being used as the trial ground and many Old Blues are back in the Town. Before the beginning of term Skinner (the FHBC President, who had won a Trial Cap at the end of 1951 as a cox and had been thereupon been elected a member of Leander) had obtained promises to coach from several of those Olympic trial oars.”

The second VIII that term made do without a potential Olympian, being coached by “Mark Attlee (nephew of Her Majesty’s Leader of the Opposition) of Queens’ Boat Club”

 Fifty years ago – 1962

In the 1962 Lents, the 1^st VIII made 3 bumps in the first division. But the Times headlines were grabbed by the 3^rd VIII. On the Thursday of the Lents, under headlines reading “Gain of 10 places on first day. Unique achievement of Lents crew”, the Times rowing correspondent wrote, “The rowing achievement of Fitzwilliam House III overshadowed everything on the first day of the Lent races at Cambridge yesterday. First they overbumped their way from fourth in the fifth division to head of it, then, half an hour later as sandwich boat at the bottom of the fourth division , they bumped[1] Lady Margaret VI passing on the way six boats each pair of which had been involved in a bump. This was a net gain of 10 places in one afternoon’s racing, which is unique in the history of rowing.” (And in those days The Times was not given to sensationalism.) After that performance, the crew made a bump on each of the following three days. Their total rise – 13 places.

In the Mays, the 1^st VIII made four bumps, the 2^nd two, the 3^rd two, the 4^th an overbump followed by 5 bumps and the 5th (Rugger) boat went down twice.

Denham Bayly Jones (Oriel & OUBC Trial Cap), who was Trinity chaplain, first coached Fitzwilliam  after the Lent Bumps (for the Bedford, Reading and Tideway Heads) and then again after the Mays for Marlow and Henley. The crew improved significantly under his guidance and at Henley, on the Friday before the regatta “in favourable conditions, we rowed a 1min 55sec Barrier – one second inside the Ladies’ Plate record.

Forty years ago – 1972

The entry in the book under Henley 1972 includes

“As the Ladies’ Plate this year has been extended to allow 32 crews to participate in the regatta proper, no qualifying races were held. We were drawn against the holders, University of London. Going off the start at 44 we had a lead of a canvas by the end of the island but were unable to increase this lead. Both crews were still rating 40 at the quarter mile signal after which UL started slowly creeping back. We checked this momentarily at the Barrier where we led by 3 feet, but they spurted and went past to lead by a canvas. With the rating down to 35 we managed to increase the power output, and the crews were level at Fawley. UL spurted again at the three-quarter mile signal and we put the rating up to 37 to counter this. The rating kept at 36-37 until the mile and one-eighth signal, with UL leading by a mere 2 feet. Going past the General Enclosure, we rated 38 and took their lead away inch by inch. As we went past the Stewards’ Enclosure we raised the rating to 40 for our usual storming finish; UL had no answer to this, and we crept away to win by 1/3 length, in the best race of the day, a fitting introduction to Henley for the seven oarsmen and the cox who had not competed there before.”

The crew met the eventual winners, DSR Laga (Holland), in the nest round and lost to them in the fastest race of the day “Grand times not excluded”.

Thirty years ago – 1982

1981-82 is the last year for which anything appears in the book. The record for that year includes, “The women’s 1^st [Lent] VIII were very unlucky not to win their oars, being foiled by a good Darwin crew on the first and fourth days [when they rowed over].”

[1]  I would have said “treble-overbumped” and this was the first ever treble-overbump on the Cam.  The feat has been repeated, but not by a crew which had already bumped on the same day. The ten places in one day remains the record, In the 2001 Mays, Homerton achieved a net gain of 13 places, two bumps on the Wednesday, an overbump Thursday, a treble-overbump Friday and a bump on the Saturday.

Fitzwilliam in the Mays
Snapshots over the decades
	Men’s  1st Boat			Women’s  1st Boat
2012	Start 9th in Div 1			Start 8th in Div 2
	Progress in year	Finishing position		Progress in year	Finishing position
		Posn	Div		Posn	Div
2002	-2	1	2	-3	12	2
1992	+3	9	1	+5	14	2
1982	+2	9	1	+1	22 **	1
1972	-3	4	1	First rowed in Mays in 1980
1962	+4	4	2
1952	-2	4	3
1942	No Mays boat
1932	+3	3	3
1922	-3	3	3
1912	-1	16 *	2
1902	No Mays boat
1892	-3	16 *	2
1882	No Mays boat
1875	First appeared in Mays
*   In early years of the Mays there were only two divisions of 16 boats. The 1892 and 1912 crews both finished at the bottom of the river.
**   From 1974 until 1989, women rowed in IVs in the Mays.               In 1982 there were 3 divisions of crews in IVs.

Note the progress of the (men’s) 1^st VIII in the twenty years 1952 to 1972 – a rise of one division in both ten year periods.

In 2011 Billygoats Society Secretary Emeritus and Vice President John Adams wrote about selected entries from the Boat Club record books. In these times of lockdown and isolation I thought they might be of interest. John writes:

Across the Decades – from the Fitzwilliam Boat Club Record Books

That the Boat Club kept a record book in the forties, fifties and sixties is known to a number of Billygoats because when students they had contributed to each year’s record, written usually by the Club secretary. What was not known was that there had been a Record Book kept in the pre-WW2 years. The book recently came to light and is currently (with the post-war book) held by the Billygoats secretary (before going in due course into the College archives). (In fact the Billygoats Secretary still has the books, extracts of which appear in many of the historic posts on this very website).

The earlier book begins with a record from June 1921 – so it is now possible to publish a annual series of historical snapshots beginning in a period beyond the ken of any living Billygoat, starting with:

Ninety years ago – 1921

The records for 1921 are minutes of three meetings. Two were mainly concerned with the style of dress for members. The meeting in October 1921, after ruling on when subs should be paid, “Further decided to ask the Amalgamated Clubs [the forerunner of the JMA] for a new Eight and two new sets of oars, one racing, the other of second quality. The following order of Colours was fixed :-

1^st May Boat   Blazer (red or white or both) with crest & letters, Scarf, Zephir, Socks & Cap

2^nd May Boat  Red Blazer, with crest & letters, Zephir & Socks

1^st Lent Boat   Red Blazer, with crest only, Zephir & Socks

2^nd ditto           Red Blazer, with pocket only, Zephir & Socks

3^rd ditto           Red Blazer, without pocket, Zephir only

All other members wear white shorts, white zephir and dark coloured socks.”

No socks for 3^rd boat members!

Eighty years ago – 1931

The crew list for the 1^st May boat which bumped 1^st Trinity IV and Trinity Hall III includes at 3, weighing 10st 13lb, A L Sadd. After graduating Alfred Sadd went out to the Gilbert Islands with the London Missionary Society. He was martyred on Tarawa Island in August 1942.

Three crews were entered for the Fairbairn Cup Race in November. The 1^st VIII, which started 26^th and finished 14^th (ahead of 8 first boats), had A L Sadd at 2 and was coxed by F J Stratton (his first appearance in the records).  F J Stratton became Sir John Stratton. He was our first President and a major benefactor of the Billygoats (as well as Fitzwilliam Society, Fitzwilliam Society Trust Ltd and the College). In the 1960s when chairman of the Fatstock Marketing Corporation, he occupied a suite in the Dorchester during the week, returning to his estate in Sussex at the weekend.

Seventy years ago – 1941

No record – no Boat Club. Activities had been suspended at the beginning of the Michaelmas term in 1939.

Sixty years ago – 1951

In 1951 the Club was active and successful. In the 1951 Lents, the 1^st VIII made 4 bumps “although it was felt they took far too long to make their bumps” (at Grassy, First Post Corner, the Plough Reach and Ditton Corner). The 2^nd VIII made 3 bumps and the 3^rd VIII rowed over, went down, rowed over, then bumped the crew that caught them on day two.

Two crews rowed in the Tideway Head. Of 214 finishers, the 2^nd VIII finished 66^th but the 1^st VIII was 113^th as only six men rowed for most of the course. Six having broken his slide at Barnes Bridge, he and five “were passengers for four miles”. Cedric McCarthy, now living in Cumbria, was at bow in that boat. In the 2^nd VIII, Ian Mortimer, now in Spain, was at 7 and Ken Smith, Life Fellow of Fitzwilliam, was stroke.

For the Mays, Ian Mortimer and Ken Smith were promoted to the 1^st VIII and Cedric McCarthy went to 7 in the 2^nd VIII. The 1^st and 3^rd VIIIs both made four bumps and the 2^nd VIII two.

The Club won the Michell Cup by CUBC. Presented in 1923 in memory of Dr. R. W. Michell, the cup is awarded to the Boat Club with the best performance on the Cam during the academic year.

Following the Mays, the 1^st VIII won two rounds in Marlow Regatta before losing in the semi-final to Pembroke, the eventual winners of the Marlow Eights Challenge Cup.

The VIII was the first Fitzwilliam crew to enter Henley Royal Regatta. They were required to row in the elimination heats before the regatta proper. Sadly, they were beaten by King’s in 7min 15sec, the fastest Ladies Plate elimination heat. Their time was faster than any of the winners of the other eliminating heats. Now, of course, a different and fairer qualifying selection method is used – the time over the course.

Fifty years ago – 1961

In the 1961 Lents, the 1^st VIII made 5 bumps, the last from the bottom of the 1^st Division when King’s was caught at the gunsheds. At last a Fitz crew was in the first division!

The 2^nd VIII made two bumps but the 3^rd VIII was over-bumped and then bumped three times.

At Bedford Head, the 1^st VIII won the clinker pennant and the 2^nd VIII was third in the clinker division, beating Downing (in a clinker) and King’s (in a shell). Both crews rowed in the Reading Head – where the 1^st VIII came 2^nd in the clinker division with the 2^nd VIII fifth.

In the Mays, the 1^st and 3^rd VIIIs both rose 4 places and the 2^nd VIII made one bump.

The Michaelmas term began with “a dance in the Dorothy Café, to which guests from other College Boat Clubs were invited. Blazers were worn and it proved a colourful and enjoyable evening.” Four VIIIs rowed in the Fairbairn. One of those crews and three members of another were novices – another novice crew rowed “in the Clare Novice Race”.

Forty years ago – 1971

There are no records in the book for the Lents and Mays of 1971.

In the Michaelmas term, the Light IV of S G I Kerruish, R A Greatorex, T H Fowler, and J A Hart were beaten by Selwyn and the Clinker IV of P J Norton, P M Howard, S J Cutler and J Waite, coxed by G D Glover lost to Downing.

The two Fairbairn crews did not do well. “Bouts of illness and other incidents dogged this [1^st] crew, which never realised its potential.” The two novice crews had some success. The A crew lost in the first round to the eventual winners, Churchill, and “so found themselves relegated to the ‘Little Regatta’. Once here, however, they raced extremely well …” They won two rounds before losing in the final to Clare. This crew were awarded the crockpots.

Thirty years ago – 1981

There is no record in the book of the activities of women’s crews in 1980-81 and no records at all for the Club in the year 1979-80. So, though Fitz women have had boats on the river since the 1980 Lents, their second term of residence, the earliest record in the book of a woman crew member is that of Hilary Farnworth, cox of the 1981 3^rd Lent boat. The next is of her as cox of the 1981 2^nd May boat – both men’s boats but the record does not mention gender.

In the 1981 Lents, the 1^st VIII was bumped on the Wednesday after hitting the bank at Grassy. After that, they rowed over and then made two bumps to finish in 5^th place on the river. In the Mays the boat made two bumps, finishing in 11^th place on the river.

But the real triumph of the year was at Henley, where the writer reports “we improved dramatically under the expert guidance of Bob Winckless. The morning outing, for example, would consist of 200 hard strokes, no more than 15 at a time. In this way we moved the boat at higher speeds.” Entering the Ladies Plate, the crew was not required to qualify. They beat Nottingham University by 2 ¾ lengths in the first round, and Emmanuel by ⅓ length in the second round. They “lost easily to Trinity College, Hertford, USA on the Saturday. We rowed badly…. This was disappointing but there was some consolation in being the longest surviving Oxbridge college crew.”

1981-82 is the last year for which anything appears in the record book. In the Michaelmas term, for the first time in the Club’s history two Vice-Captains are elected. Chris Goldsack is Men’s Vice-Captain and Sally Howes is Women’s Vice-Captain (Doug Webb is Captain of Boats). Hilary Farnworth is now cox of the 1^st VIII. The others are men, but again no mention of gender for the boat: it is “the 1^st VIII” – unlike other boats which are recorded as being 1^st Women’s IV, 2^nd Women’s IV, 1^st Men’s Novices and 1^st Women’s Novices.

The two novice crews did well in the Clare Novices’ Regatta (the men reaching the third round, but in that race they hit the bank and so lost; the women lost in the first round of the Cup competition and so took part in the Plate event where they were the losing finalists). Both crews were then entered for the Reading University Novices’ Regatta where the “crews proved to be the second fastest crews in their respective events.” The men lost in the semi-final (presumably to the eventual winners in view of the view expressed in the preceding quotation) and the women lost in the final of the Cup competition.

The final record for 1981 reads “Women’s Trials    –      S van Kleef is in the Blue Boat”. A typical Fitzwilliam understated way of recording a major success.

There are no records in the book after 1982.