Ernest Barry

Ernest James Barry (1882 to 1968) was a British rower and Thames Waterman, five times Sculling World Champion during the early part of the 20th century and winner of the Doggett's Coat and Badge Race in 1903.

culling career

Ernest Barry was brought almost straight from novice to race at the British Championship in 1908 against George Towns who had already won the world championship four times and the British Championship twice. That day, Barry, as well as beating Towns, set up a record which lasted for many years.

In August 1910 he competed for the World Professional sculling championship for the first time. The race took place on the Zambezi River and Barry was defeated by the New Zealander, Richard Arnst, in a 3.25-milerace above the Victoria Falls, for stakes of $2500 a side, in what may have been the first serious high altitude competition. The Zambezi was selected as a compromise for the race as Arnst, who had held the Championship for three years, objected to the expense of the trip to Europe, while Barry opposed the long journey to New Zealand.

In 1912 Barry won the World Championship on the Thames and retained the title for five years. This was the first time an Englishman had held the title since 1876 and Barry's victory was hailed as "Refutation of charge of England's athletic decadence"." In reality Barry regained the championship by adopting the lifestyle of his nearest foreign competitors, including accepting £2000 of sponsorship from the Daily Mail in the form of travelling expenses.

Barry lost the World title to Alfred Felton on the same course in October 1919, but regained it in 1920 racing against Felton at on the Paramatta River in Sydney, Australia.

In October 1920 The New York Times reported:

"Ernest Barry, holder of the professional sculling Championship of the World as a result of his recent victory over Felton in Australia, finds that he will be unable to do the training required to defend his title. He hopes that his nephew Bert Barry, who is 18 years of age and six feet in height, will become defender of the title in his stead"

Ultimately his nephew Bert did go on to become Champion of the World, but not for another seven years. After Felton's loss to Barry, Richard Arnst promptly challenged and the title eventually defaulted to him because three months passed without Barry accepting a challenge.

A Royal Waterman

Barry was made a royal waterman in 1913. He saw service in the army in the First War. For two or three years in the early 1920s he was landlord of the Fox Inn in Church Street Twickenham, but had given that up by 1922, moving to No.5 Bonser Road with his wife Lottie.

The Barrys had five children. Lottie was by birth a Hammerton, a member of the large family that lived in no25 The Embankment, now the home of The Twickenham Museum. One of Lottie's cousins was Walter Hammerton, waterman and ferryman who was the victor in the Earl of Dysart vs Hammerton case of 1913-15.

Later life

After retiring from competitive sculling Ernest Barry turned to coaching. He was appointed the Royal Barge Master to King George VI, and later to Queen Elizabeth II until he retired from the position in 1952 because of ill health.ref|times

In 1953 he was invited to coach Cork Boat Club in Ireland. While not all agreed with his style and method but there was no doubt that he considerably improved the standard of rowing in the club and the crowning point was the success in the Maiden VIII Championships in Drogheda in 1957.

Barry, lived to see the end of professional sculling but was forced to sell all but two of his trophies to support himself and his daughter Thelma, who contracted poliomyelitis. ref|times

He spent the rest of his life at Bonser Road, off the lower end of Cross Deep in Twickenham, dying in July 1968 aged about 86.

References

# Obituary, The Times, July 2 1968
* New York Times, "BRITISH JUBILANT OVER ROWING RACE", July 30, 1912, p. 10
* New York Times, "ARNST RETAINS ROWING HONORS", August 19, 1910, p. 7
* http://www.corkboatclub.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=70&Itemid=50 History by Late Ted Boohig
* Wigglesworth N, "A Social History of English Rowing", 1992
* Cleaver H, "A History of Rowing", 1957