Ann Glanville (1796–1880) was a Cornishwoman who achieved national celebrity for rowing a four-oared watermen's boat.

Early life

Born in Saltash in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

as Ann Warren or Warring, she married John Glanville, a waterman from a line of watermen. They had fourteen children and when John fell ill, Ann continued her husband's trade to support the family.

Rowing success

Ann formed a crew of four female rowers who took part in local

regatta Boat racing is a sport in which boats, or other types of watercraft, race on water. Boat racing powered by oars is recorded as having occurred in ancient Egypt, and it is likely that people have engaged in races involving boats and other wate ...

s; she was noted for her large stature and for her crew who dressed in white caps and dresses. Their success led to competitions all over the country; one event at Fleetwood was watched by

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in 1901. Her reign of 63 years and 21 ...

, who congratulated Ann when they won by beating an all-male crew. The most famous competition was said to have been in 1833 when they visited

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

and beat the best ten French male crews by 100 yards; this led the press to call her the champion female rower of the world. However, recent research by A T Goodman for the Old Cornwall Society has thrown doubt on this version of events. The visit to Le Havre was actually in August 1842 aboard the

paddle steamer A paddle steamer is a steamship or steamboat powered by a steam engine that drives paddle wheels to propel the craft through the water. In antiquity, paddle wheelers followed the development of poles, oars and sails, where the first uses wer ...

''Grand Turk''; the French refused to put up a team to row against women and so a demonstration race was conducted between Ann Glanville's female crew and male rowers from the ''Grand Turk'', which was won by the women.

Old age

Ann continued competitive rowing until she was in her sixties. Into her old age, she was given to circling the warships anchored in the Hamoaze exchanging banter with their crews. When the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...

and the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

visited

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

in 1879, they invited Ann to lunch on their yacht. She died on 6 June 1880 and was buried in St Stephen's Churchyard at the expense of Admiral Lord Beresford. Admirers from all parts of the country attended and a

Royal Marines The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...

band played the funeral march.

Remembrance

The

Caradon Caradon was a local government district in Cornwall, United Kingdom. It contained five towns: Callington, Liskeard, Looe, Saltash and Torpoint, and over 80 villages and hamlets within 41 civil parishes. Its District Council was based in Liskear ...

Gig Rowing Club named their first

pilot gig The Cornish pilot gig is a six-oared rowing boat, clinker-built of Cornish narrow-leaf elm, long with a beam of . It is recognised as one of the first shore-based lifeboats that went to vessels in distress, with recorded rescues going back as ...

after Ann. In September 2013, a

fibre glass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

statue of Ann sitting on a bench was unveiled in Fore Street, the main shopping street of Saltash. The life-sized figure has a sound recording of the key events of Ann's life, which can be activated by pushing a button. In 2018, the statue was moved to its new location of Saltash Waterside.

References

*Baring-Gould, Sabine (1925)
Cornish Characters & Strange Events
'. London: Bodley Head; Vol. 2, pp. 289–295 in turn citing heavily Mr. P. E. B. Porter, ''Around and About Saltash'', 1905 *''Devon & Cornwall Notes & Queries''; Vol., edited by John S. Amery, pp. 127–129 *Smelt, Maurice (2006) ''101 Cornish Lives''. Penzance: Alison Hodge; p. 101

External links

A lon

of large white, red-bottomed Cornish pilot gig named in the mid-1980s the ''Ann Saltash'' at Caradon Pilot Gig Club in Saltash and a statue of Ann Glanville in blue dress holding the Cornish flag, unveiled by the Mayor of Saltash in 2013. {{DEFAULTSORT:Glanville, Ann British female rowers People from Saltash Sportspeople from Cornwall 1796 births 1880 deaths