Downing
College Boat Club was established in October 1863. Despite the
College's founding in 1800, the college did not admit undergraduates
for the first 21 years, due to financial difficulties, and even in 1863
only had 14 undergraduates!
Richard
Henn Collins, a 21-year old Irishman called a meeting of these
14 undergraduates to discuss forming a boat club. The motion "Let there
be a boat club" was proposed and unanimously passed. Brickwood
(Captain), Bradbury and Collins formed the first committee, and set
about finding a boat and rack space.
It was not until the Lents 1864 that Downing made its racing
debut. The
crew moved up 2 in the Lents, and up 5 in the Mays. You would not
easily recognise the crew as a Downing crew, with only four of the crew
actually matriculating at Downing. There were also no official colours,
and Downing raced with violet blades, decorated with black maltese
crosses in 1864. In 1866, the blades were painted green and silver,
perhaps to match the colours in the college crest. In 1866, Lankester
persuaded the Club to adopt black and magenta. Since then, all Downing
sports clubs have adopted black and magenta.
Despite the college being very poor, there was plenty of support from
the fellows; the tutor Dr Perkins, inebriated after a Club dinner,
stumbled in the gutter on St Andrew's Street. When someone offered
help, he shouted "Don't mind me, I can swim; save the women and
children first." The first boat owned by the Club was named "Jay Pea"
after this man.
10th on the river was an 80 year high unfortunately, and Downing
slipped into the second division from 1887, not to return until after
the Second World War.
When in 1893, the owner of the current Downing plot died; the
then-Tutor, Rev'd J Saunders bought the plot for the Club from his own
finances for a sum of £240. An appeal was launched to raise the funds
to build the first Downing Boat House, which ended up costing £650!
This was actually a significant extension on the existing boat house on
the site. The new Boat House was officially opened in the May Week of
1895.
DCBC's lowest patch must have been in 1897, when the captain was sent
down and the rest of the committee resigned. No suitable replacements
were found, and the President signed off the minute book "Finis DCBC".
The Club was not dormant for long, however, and continued to receive
support from old members who periodically bought new boats. In 1902,
The Master of the time also cleared off the arrears of the Club from
his personal finances. In 1903, the Club discussed a motion to
put on a College Ball, which
was successfully carried, and over the next few years, the Boat Club
ran the college balls.
In 1920, Downing's 2nd VIII qualified for the first time, and both
crews won blades, resulting in a very lively dinner, and a bonfire
composed of several doors from around college!
The Boat House was rebuilt in 1938, and fitted with hot water for the
first time. At the re-opening, Mrs Gray (daughter of F. G. Pilley, of
the Pilley Scholarship) said "Let us have some more rowing blues, and
although I am told it is a mathematical impossibility, I would like to
see you Head of the River one day. Good luck!"
After the Second World War, DCBC broke back into the first division,
and by 1960, Downing had 7 boats racing in the Mays. The novice section
of the Club was particularly strong in this period, winning the Clare
Novice Regatta in 1965 and 1967. At the other end of the spectrum, in
1963, Downing had its first blue since 1869. The 1971 crew collectively
funded £230,000 towards the cost of the new Boat House ensuring their
influence lasts beyond the last memory of their exploits on the river.
In 1979, Downing finished 6th on the river and had its best Henley
result, finishing runners-up in the Ladies Plate. The following year
the crew rowed over every day, but the year after got blades and moved
up to 2nd on the river. 1982 was the first time Downing finished Head
of the River, probably before most current rowers at DCBC were born. In
1983 the crew rowed over all three days before being bumped on the last
day by LMBC. In 1984, Downing came back ready for the challenge and
went Head of the Lents and Head of the Mays, stroked by Dominic Reid -
our first Double Headship.
The women put their first crew on in the Lents 1981, which remained
fairly stationary until 1987 when the crew began a meteoric rise,
getting blades for the next three years.
The Club wasn't always well-funded: in 1897, the minute books show
that there was motion to introduce a subscription fee to cover "tea
things" at the Boat House; while in 1904, a motion was put forward to
purchase a new brush and comb for the Boat Club! Nor was it
particularly forward-thinking at times: "Mr Dunnicliff brought forward
a motion concerning shorts, which was out of order and in parliamentary
language a portion of the house deemed it necessary to remove Mr
Dunnicliff." The Club moved from "trousers and socks" to "shorts and
stockings" in 1910.
The women have made
particular progress lately, taking their first Headship in the Lents of
2004, and defending it successfully in 2005.
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