Edward Trickett

Edward "Ned" Trickett (12 September 1851 – 20 November 1916) was an Australian rower. He was the first Australian to be recognised as a world champion in any sport, after winning the World Sculling Championship in 1876, a title he held until 1880, when he was beaten by Canadian Ned Hanlan.

Trickett was born at Greenwich, on the Lane Cove River in Sydney. His father was a former convict and a bootmaker and his mother was Irish. The young Ned learned to scull on Sydney Harbour in New South Wales, Australia.

Records show that rowing matches between crews of visiting ships had been taking place on the harbour from as early as 1805. The "Sydney Gazette" newspaper recorded "The first Australian Regatta" in 1827 with a rowing race for 20 Spanish dollars and both rowing and sailing were established sports by 1837 when the first Anniversary Regatta was held in Sydney.

Early Rowing Career

Trickett's took part in his first race at the age of ten. It was the Anniversary Day Regatta and he finished second in the under 16 maiden sculls. At the age of fourteen he won the 12-foot dinghy title also at the Anniversary Day Regatta. He went on to defeat most of the State’s professional scullers to become Australian Professional Sculling Champion.

His occupation was noted as a quarryman and he met his wife, the daughter of a lighthouse keeper, whilst delivering stone for the construction of a new lighthouse at South Head. He was an extremely tall person for his time, being 6 feet 3 1/2 inches (1.917m) tall and would have stood out in any crowd.

By 1874 Trickett was gaining a reputation as a rower and in the Balmain Regatta of that year, he won the outrigger race and was in the winning whaleboat crew. Later that same year he placed second to Michael Rush in the Clarence River Champion Outrigger Race. At the Anniversary Regatta of 1875 he won the light skiffs race and was now the best sculler in the colony of NSW.

Champion of the World

In May 1876 the Sydney innkeeper, James Punch, who was a former sculler, took Trickett to England. He went on to win Australia's first world sporting title on 27 June 1876 by defeating the two-times champion, Englishman Joseph Sadler, for the World Sculling Championship, starting a Golden Age for Australian professional sculling. On the Putney to Mortlake course on the Thames he beat Sadler in a time of 24 mins 36 secs. Upon his return to Sydney, 25,000 people greeted him and he was wined and dined all around the state.

In June the following year Michael Rush challenge Trickett for the world championship. The scullers had raced before for the New South Wales Championship but the race was unequal because Trickett used the new sliding seat and Rush continued to use a fixed seat. Trickett retained his title, beating Rush on the Paramatta river after training daily for a month. Alan May wrote in "Sydney Rows" magazine that it was "a race that was said to have excited more interest than any other event that has ever happened in the sporting world of Australia".

The world title was held by seven Australians for twenty two of the thirty one years between 1876 and 1907. Trickett won several races over the next couple of years and earned enough money to buy a hotel. He became licensee of Trickett's Hotel and later became the proprietor of the International Hotel which was located on the corner of Pitt and King Streets in Sydney. However in June 1878, he was involved in an accident when a rolling keg of beer crushed his hand and several fingers had to be amputated. This was to affect the balance of his stroke in future races and was possibly the cause of the downturn in Edward Trickett's rowing.

He went on to defeat Elias Laycock, also of Australia, in August 1879. Laycock was without doubt one of Australia’s finest scullers but was never managed to become World Champion. The esteem in which he was held can be estimated by the fact that he was still asked to pose in a photograph of key Australian scullers at a Lord Mayoral reception in 1903 with the likes of Stanbury, Pearce, Kemp, Bill Beach, Rush, Trickett and the Towns brothers.

On Monday morning 20 November 1880 on a decidedly raw and cold day with a drizzling rain that fell at intervals; Trickett, weighing 12 st. 5 lb (78kg or 173lbs) and 6'4" tall, aged 29 yrs went to England to row against the 5'8" tall Edward ‘Ned’ Hanlan weighing 10 st. 12 lb. (73 kg or 153 lbs) aged 25 years (12 July 1855-1908) of Toronto Canada over the Thames World Championship course which ran between Putney and Mortlake. (Hanlan's parents ran an hotel in Lake Ontario). Harry Kelley piloted the Australian, and Bright performed the same office for Hanlan, but the race seemed to be over before they reached Hammersmith Bridge. Trickett lost the race to the Canadian in a time of 26 minutes-12 seconds and three lengths behind; and thus he lost his world title.

Two years later in 1882 aged 31 years he challenged Hanlan for the title but lost again to the Canadian. Ned Hanlan was to go on and become one of the greatest rowers of all time.

Trickett returned to Australia and in 1884 he moved to the Oxford Arms Hotel in Rockhampton, Queensland. It is rumoured an admirer had apparently given him the hotel.

In 1888 he raced his old foe Edward Hanlan on the Fitzroy River. Some 10,000 spectators watched Ned Trickett, then aged 36-37, be beaten and lose his money on this race.

Life After Rowing

The economic downturn in the early 1890’s caused Ned to lose his hotel. He returned to Sydney to find employment but was deeply depressed - to the point of being suicidal.

Trickett seemingly found religion after having been duck shooting on the Sabbath. It is reputed that he changed his ways and became a teetotaller. Or he found religion whilst wandering the streets of Sydney which gave him the strength to continue and then through Salvation Army contacts; he obtained employment in the Customs Services.

He lived and worked at Moama on the Murray River in New South Wales for some time and his family remained in Sydney. His work then reverted to Sydney. He remained a committed Salvation Army envoy throughout the rest of his life and became a good speaker for their cause.

Nearing his retirement, Ned visited his son Fred at Uralla in New South Wales. Fred ran the General Store and was mining gold as a hobby. Trickett helped Fred work the shaft until tragedy struck when the walls of the gold mine shaft collapsed. Trickett survived the initial injuries but died at his son’s home at the age of 65, on 28 November 1916, of injuries he had received.

He is buried in the Uralla cemetery.

A memorial to him was erected by the public subscription at Uralla in 1918.

References

* Trickett, Gordon; "Ned Trickett Champion Sculler of the World"
* [http://www.sahof.org.au/hallOfFame/memberProfile/index.php?memberID=448&memberType=general :: SPORT AUSTRALIA HALL OF FAME :: Recognising Australia's greatest athletes and providing scholarships to Australia's youth ] at www.sahof.org.au Sport Australia Hall of Fame
* Bloomfield, John, Australia's Sporting Success - The Inside Story, 2003