Eight-Oared Rowing Championship of Australia and King's Cup, rowed at Hobart on 24 April 1948, won by New South Wales

Date1948

Object number00047860

NameCertificate

MediumInk on paper

DimensionsOverall: 334 x 260 mm

ClassificationsEphemera

Credit LineANMM Collection Gift from Warren and Helen Eddie

Terms

DescriptionAlexander Eddie had a distinguished rowing career competing for Leichhardt and Haberfield Rowing Clubs in the 1930s and 1940s. He rowed in winning Fours and Eights crews in the New South Wales and Australian Champships often with his older brother John Wilfred Eddie.HistoryInterstate rowing In Australia began in 1863 with a competition for four-oared gigs held on the Parramatta River between crews representing Victoria and New South Wales. The first contested interstate eight-oared race was held in Melbourne in 1878 between New South Wales and Victoria, and was won by Victoria. In 1885 Queensland and Tasmania joined the competition followed by Western Australia in 1897 and South Australia in 1899. Competition between the States ceased during the First World War and resumed on 15 May 1920 on the Brisbane River where the Men's Eight trophy (King's Cup) was first introduced. The King's Cup was first won by an Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) Eight competing at the Royal Henley Allied Peace Regatta in England in 1919. The Australian War Memorial retained the trophy initially refusing requests for it to be made the annual Australian Men's Eight rowing prize. After rowers petitioned King George V in 1920 a Royal Command was issued and forward to the Australian Government in 1921 by Winston Churchill, Secretary of State to the Colonies stating: 'His Majesty commends me to inform you that it is his wish that the Cup should be used as a permanent trophy and be competed for annually in the Interstate Eight Oared Race of Australia'. Alexander Arthur Eddie, known as Alec, was born in Leichhardt, Sydney in April 1918 and was educated at Orange Grove Primary and Petersham Intermediate High Schools. He steered crews at Leichhardt Rowing Club from the age of ten and was chosen to cox the New South Wales Ladies Fours in the Australian Championship when he was twelve. He was coxswain again in 1931, 1932 and 1933. During the same period his crews won three National titles in Melbourne, Brisbane and Sydney. Eddie rowed his first race with Leichhardt Rowing Club in 1935 and the following year he transferred to Haberfield Rowing Club winning his first crew race in 1936. Eddie's first senior win was in the Gold Cup Eights at the Riverview Regatta in 1937. He won the New South Wales Champion Fours in 1938 and 1939 and the New South Wales Champion Eights in 1939. He was selected and rowed bow in the 1939 Kings Cup crew which finished second to Queensland in the Australian Championships. In 1942 Eddie enlisted in the Australian Imperial Forces and served overseas. He was discharged in 1946 and in the same year won the Grand Challenge Cup at the Australian Henley Regatta. He crewed in the New South Wales State Champion Fours in 1948 and the New South Wales State Champion Eights in 1947 and 1948. Eddie also crewed in the New South Wales Olympic Test Fours in January 1948 and in the same year rowed (7) in the New South Wales Kings Cup crew that won the Australian Championship in Hobart, Tasmania. Eddie rowed against the touring New Zealand Champion Eight, beating them in the Senior Eight's at the Haberfield Regatta in 1948- 49 season. In a career spanning fourteen years with Haberfield Rowing Club, Eddie distinguished himself winning 94 races, more than any other rower. He was a member of the Haberfield Rowing Club and served as Club Secretary. Eddie married Lilian Hughes in 1942 and has two children. He died January 2000.SignificanceThis rowing memorabilia documents the career of a champion rower from the mid 1930s and into the 1940s in state and interstate competition. It is of interest as Alexander Eddie and his elder brother John crewed together in many of the events documented in this memorabilia.

Alexander Eddie distinguished himself as the rower to win the most races as a member of Haberfield Rowing Club. In a career with the club spanning fourteen years he won a total of 94 races. His brother John won 88 races over the same period.