Thomas William Burgess (15 June 1872 – 2 July 1950) was the second person to successfully complete a swim of the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

after

Matthew Webb Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848 – 24 July 1883) was an English swimmer and stuntman. He is the first recorded person to swim the English Channel for sport without the use of artificial aids. In 1875, Webb swam from Dover to Calais in l ...

. He performed the feat on 6 September 1911, on his 16th attempt.Staff
"The Channel Swim: Burgess's Perseverance Rewarded After Fifteen failures"
''

Poverty Bay Herald ''The Gisborne Herald'' is the daily evening newspaper for Gisborne and environs. It is one of only four independently owned daily newspapers in New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacifi ...

'', Volume XXXVIII, Issue 12581, 11 October 1911, Page 8. Accessed 5 August 2010. British by nationality, Burgess spent most of his life in France, and won a bronze medal with the French water polo team at the 1900 Olympics. In 1926 he coached

Gertrude Ederle Gertrude Caroline Ederle (October 23, 1906 – November 30, 2003) was an American competition swimmer, Olympic champion, and world record-holder in five events. On August 6, 1926, she became the first woman to swim across the English Channel. ...

who became the first woman to swim the English Channel.

Early life and education

Burgess was born at 7 Lyndhurst Place,

Rotherham Rotherham () is a large minster and market town in South Yorkshire, England. The town takes its name from the River Rother which then merges with the River Don. The River Don then flows through the town centre. It is the main settlement of ...

, to Alfred Burgess, a blacksmith from

Youlgreave Youlgreave or Youlgrave is a village and civil parish in the Peak District of Derbyshire, England, on the River Bradford south of Bakewell. The name possibly derives from "yellow grove", the ore mined locally being yellow in colour. The popul ...

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...

, and Camilla Anna Peat, a cook from

Harthill, South Yorkshire Harthill is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham (part of South Yorkshire, England), on the border with Derbyshire. It lies between Killamarsh and Thorpe Salvin, and is located at approximately , at an elevation of around 110 met ...

. He had a younger sister, Winifred Edith Burgess, who was born in

on 11 May 1875. Their father worked for the

Earl of Shrewsbury Earl of Shrewsbury () is a hereditary title of nobility created twice in the Peerage of England. The second earldom dates to 1442. The holder of the Earldom of Shrewsbury also holds the title of Earl of Waterford (1446) in the Peerage of Ireland ...

and accepted the Earl's offer to run a branch of the business, ''Shrewsbury and Challinor Rubber Company'', in London. The family moved to

Westminster Westminster is an area of Central London, part of the wider City of Westminster. The area, which extends from the River Thames to Oxford Street, has many visitor attractions and historic landmarks, including the Palace of Westminster, Bu ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

, around 1882. During this time, Burgess joined a swimming club and swam to

Battersea Battersea is a large district in south London, part of the London Borough of Wandsworth, England. It is centred southwest of Charing Cross and extends along the south bank of the River Thames. It includes the Battersea Park. History Batter ...

along the

Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

Career

Around 1889 the 20th Earl of Shrewsbury offered Burgess the opportunity to set up a French branch of the ''Shrewsbury and Challinor Rubber Company'' motor tyre business in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. Burgess accepted and moved to France, where he spent the rest of his life. On 8 August 1893 Burgess married Anne Rosalie Mioux, a French woman, in

Neuilly-Sur-Seine Neuilly-sur-Seine (; literally 'Neuilly on Seine'), also known simply as Neuilly, is a commune in the department of Hauts-de-Seine in France, just west of Paris. Immediately adjacent to the city, the area is composed of mostly select residentia ...

in Paris, and lived with her, running a motor business in

Levallois-Perret Levallois-Perret () is a commune in the Hauts-de-Seine department and Île-de-France region of north-central France. It lies some from the centre of Paris in the north-western suburbs of the French capital. It is the most densely populated ...

. They had two children, a son born in 1896 and a daughter born in Paris in 1907. It is believed that the son fought for the British in World War I with the

York and Lancaster Regiment The York and Lancaster Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army that existed from 1881 until 1968. The regiment was created in the Childers Reforms of 1881 by the amalgamation of the 65th (2nd Yorkshire, North Riding) Regiment of ...

. Burgess' maternal uncle was a head teacher at a school in

Swinton, South Yorkshire Swinton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham, in South Yorkshire, England on the west bank of the River Don. It has a population of 15,559 (2011). The town is five miles north-northeast of the larger town of Rotherham and direct ...

. Burgess' sister married in London and her daughter, Phyllis Camilla Ruegg, became the head of an Educational college in London and died at the age of 98 in Camden 1996.

1900 Olympic Games

Burgess competed in swimming and water polo at the 1900 Olympics held in Paris and won a bronze medal playing for the French team despite his British nationality, which was allowed by the rules at that time. In swimming, he finished fourth in the 4000m freestyle and fifth in the 200m backstroke events.

Cross Channel swim

On 6 September 1911, on his 16th attempt, Burgess became the second person to swim across the English Channel, and the first one to use goggles. His motorcycle goggles leaked water, but they protected his eyes from water splashes during his breaststroke-only swim. King

George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until Death and state funeral of George V, his death in 1936. Born duri ...

wrote:''"I am commanded to convey to you the hearty congratulations of the King upon your determinaion and endurance in accomplishing the wonderful feat of swimming the Channel today."'' ''The Advertiser'', Adelaide, Saturday 14 October 1911 Burgess replied: "''Your majesty's gracious message has touched me deeply. Its receipt has given me more pleasure than the accomplishment of the feat itself. I am proud to be an Englishman and your subject.."

Gertrude Ederle

In the 1920s Burgess was hired by the Olympian gold medalist and world record holder

, who in 1926, under his guidance, became the first woman to cross the English Channel. Around the same time Burgess bought a summer home at

Cap Gris Nez Cap Gris-Nez (literally "cape grey nose"; ) is a cape on the Côte d'Opale in the Pas-de-Calais ''département'' in northern France. The 'Cliffs of the Cape' is the closest point of France to England – from their English counterparts at Do ...

near

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

, as a summer base to train channel swimmers from 1922 to 1934, while his main residence was at Clichy, Paris.

World War 2

In 1941 Burgess was taken prisoner by the Nazis and held in a prison camp ''Frontstalag 142'' in

Besançon Besançon (, , , ; archaic german: Bisanz; la, Vesontio) is the prefecture of the department of Doubs in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. The city is located in Eastern France, close to the Jura Mountains and the border with Switzerl ...

, France. He was released later the same year.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Burgess, Bill 1872 births 1950 deaths English Channel swimmers Male long-distance swimmers Olympic medalists in water polo English male water polo players Olympic swimmers of Great Britain Olympic bronze medalists for France Olympic water polo players of Great Britain Medalists at the 1900 Summer Olympics Swimmers at the 1900 Summer Olympics Water polo players at the 1900 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Rotherham British emigrants to France English male freestyle swimmers British male backstroke swimmers