EERC, founded in 1826, is one of the oldest rowing clubs in Britain and will celebrate its bi-centenary in 2026. There has been rowing on the Thames in Windsor for many centuries, but the club’s oldest record is dated January 2nd, 1826, when several young men, “residing in, and about, Eton” subscribing sixpence a week, organised themselves into a club for “aquatic excursions in the summer season” with practice on Tuesdays and Fridays at 8 p.m. We know that they wore trousers and striped shirts called ‘zephyrs’, but , whether they raced or trained, and whether they rowed in fours or pairs, we do not know.
The Newspaper Cuttings Project
The web pages in this section contain transcriptions. They feature more than 270 newspaper articles. These transcriptions are from an album in the Club archive. In January 2024, all 84 album pages were photographed, and the digital images were uploaded to Google Drive. Google auto-transcribed the image text, which has been manually verified by checking against original cuttings. Cuttings are being added gradually to the website, so please come back to see what’s new.
Cuttings Content
The newspaper cuttings mostly cover the club’s rowing exploits reported in local newspapers. These include regattas up and down the Thames, the club’s annual regatta, annual meetings, socials, and various club events.
Many articles provide detailed narratives. These narratives include the names of many former club members and local people. They also mention others from the many Thames-based rowing clubs who raced in the Windsor Regatta. So, if you think that one of your ancestors was a rower, or you’re interested in rowing history, Windsor and Eton’s history, or in history generally, you’re in the right place!
Many cuttings are dated by the original compiler. Some are undated but have been assigned a date based on an article’s context within the album.
Organisation
Cuttings have been arranged by decade and then by year.
In the 1920s, the club were rebuilding after WW1, continuing the club’s long 19th-century tradition on the Thames.
The picture is of George Pocock, probably from the 1920s.
The EERC in the Thirties is currently under construction, but is viewable.
This provides insights into how the club and the towns of Windsor and Eton prepared and responded to the war. It also show how aspects of day-to-day life continued. Events covered range from the trivial to the profound.
This is Lieutenant Richard John “Dickie” Cork DSO DSC, Fleet Air Arm and Eton Excelsior.
Other decades will be added shortly.
Text Veracity
Transcribed text is formatted for clarity and ease of reading and, intentionally, not as a textual facsimile of the original. Great care has been taken to accurately reproduce text. However, inaccuracies may remain. Please get in touch if you spot any!
Dedication
This resource is dedicated to the memory of the eight members of the Eton Excelsior Rowing Club killed in action during the Second World War:
| Sub-Lieutenant Arthur Giles Blake | Sergeant Ronald Giles |
| Sergeant Eric Albert Blore | Pilot Officer David Stewart Harrison |
| Lieutenant Ralph Rivers-Bodilly | Major Peter Augustus Edward Watson |
| Lieutenant Richard John “Dickie” Cork DSO DSC | Flight-Lieutenant Michael Myers Wayman DFC |
The lives of these men are being researched as a separate project, and results will be published in due course. Please contact us if you have information about any of them.
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank Ian Curington, without whose efforts and photographic technical expertise, this valuable local history resource would not exist. I would also like to thank Ken Sutherland of the WLHG, who made it possible for the newspaper cuttings to be published on the Group’s website.
Newspaper Clippings Index
| 1920s |
| 1930s |
| During the War |
| Miscellanea including 1 each from 1878, 1884 & 1896 |
Contact
Questions? Comments? Get in touch with the author Tom Wigley via the following contact form:
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