Charles James Rivett-Carnac (18 February 1853 in Brahmapur, Orissa, British India – 9 September 1935 in Jersey, Channel Islands) was a British sailor who competed in the

1908 Summer Olympics The 1908 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the IV Olympiad and also known as London 1908) were an international multi-sport event held in London, England, United Kingdom, from 27 April to 31 October 1908. The 1908 Games were ori ...

. He was the owner of the British boat ''Heroine III'', which won the gold medal in the 7 metre class. However, since it was the only entry in this class, this feat is somewhat less impressive. More importantly, his second wife Frances Rivett-Carnac was one of the four-member crew and won Olympic gold with him. The Rivett-Carnacs thus became the first husband-and-wife team to share Olympic gold. Their granddaughter Cleone Rivett-Carnac was an athlete in New Zealand. Rivett-Carnac remains the oldest Briton, at 55, to have won an Olympic gold medal for yachting.

Family

He was a member of the Rivett-Carnac family and grandson of Sir James Rivett-Carnac, sometime governor of

Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...

in British India. Rivett-Carnac was the eldest son of Charles Forbes Rivett-Carnac (1824–1902), fourth but third surviving son of the first baronet, and Flora Elizabeth Baker. He was twice married, first in 1877 to Laura Marion Margaret Ogilvie (d. 19 June 1905), daughter of Colonel J.S. Ogilvie. They had one son Vernon Charles. He then married 5 July 1906 Frances Clytie Greenstock, daughter of Rev. Canon William Greenstock, sometime chaplain of

Christ Church Bangkok Christ Church is a Protestant church open to all denominations. It is a parish of the Anglican Church in Thailand within the Diocese of Singapore. It has both English and Thai language congregations. There are about 400 church members, representin ...

. They had issue of four sons: Douglas, Charles, Louis and Clive. His wife participated in his gold-medal run for the 7 metre class in sailing in the

. Rivett-Carnac was schooled at Rugby. He then returned to India to join the Indian Civil Service and married in 1877 the daughter of an Indian Army colonel. He left the ICS in 1897 and was appointed Accountant General to Burma. The following year, his services were placed at the disposal of the King of Siam by the British Government and for seven years he was the Financial Advisor to the Siamese Government, and Accountant and Comptroller General from 1900 - 1902. On his return to England in 1905, he continued to serve Siam as their Financial Agent in Europe. It is not known when he retired from that position.

References

Sources

*
Genealogy and family details
This site provides his family history and his second wife's details. * . Mentions his family's prominence in British India. This profile provides much of his career information.

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rivett-Carnac, Charles 1853 births 1935 deaths British male sailors (sport) Olympic sailors for Great Britain Olympic gold medallists for Great Britain Olympic medalists in sailing Sailors at the 1908 Summer Olympics – 7 Metre Medalists at the 1908 Summer Olympics

Charles Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...

People from Brahmapur Sportspeople from Odisha British people in colonial India