Francis Playford (1825 – 01 January 1896) was a British

rower Rowing, sometimes called crew in the United States, is the sport of racing boats using oars. It differs from paddling sports in that rowing oars are attached to the boat using oarlocks, while paddles are not connected to the boat. Rowing is ...

who won the

Wingfield Sculls The Wingfield Sculls is a rowing race held annually on the River Thames in London, England, on the Championship Course from Putney to Mortlake. The race is between single scullers and is usually on the Saturday three to four weeks before the S ...

in 1849 and the pairs oars at

Henley Royal Regatta Henley Royal Regatta (or Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage) is a rowing event held annually on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. It was established on 26 March 1839. It differs from the thre ...

Early life

Playford was born at South Lambeth, London and was part of a rowing family which included his brother

Herbert Playford Herbert Harlee Playford (1831 – 1 January 1883) was a British rower who won the Wingfield Sculls and the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley Royal Regatta. He was instrumental in founding London Rowing Club and the Metropolitan Regatta. Playfor ...

. He was a stockbroker in the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London fr ...

. He was a member of

Thames Club The Thames Club was an English rowing club based on the Tideway of the River Thames that competed in the middle of the 19th century. The Thames Club was active in the 1840s and 1850s and its first major success was winning the Grand Challenge Cu ...

and won the gold challenge cup at Putney regatta in 1846 and 1847. In 1849 with E G Peacock he won the Silver Wherries at Henley.Henley Royal Regatta Results of Final Races 1839–1939
In 1849 he also won the Wingfield Sculls, beating Thomas Bone by half a length. He was first captain of

London Rowing Club London Rowing Club (LRC, or colloquially, 'London') is the second-oldest of the non-academic active rowing clubs on the Thames in London, United Kingdom. It was founded in 1856 by members of the long-disbanded Argonauts Club wishing to compete at ...

after its foundation in 1856.

Works

Playford wrote about investment in his book ''Practical Hints for investing Money: with an explanation of the mode of transacting business on the Stock Exchange'' published in 1855. Playford died at the age of 71. Playford married in 1851 and his son Frank Lumley Playford was also a rower.

References

1825 births 1896 deaths British male rowers {{England-rowing-bio-stub