North Shore Rowing Club is the oldest sporting club on the north side of

Sydney Harbour Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea (p ...

in Sydney, Australia formed in 1879. It has occupied its current site on the

Lane Cove River The Lane Cove River, a northern tributary of the Parramatta River, is a tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary west of Sydney Harbour, located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The river is a tributary of the Parramatta River, winding throu ...

at Yacht Bay, Longueville since 1933. The club has a focus on masters, juniors and social rowing. The club conducts an annual corporate regatta and a learn-to-row program.

History

Sir

George Dibbs Sir George Richard Dibbs KCMG (12 October 1834 – 5 August 1904) was an Australian politician who was Premier of New South Wales on three occasions. Early years Dibbs was born in Sydney, son of Captain John Dibbs, who 'disappeared' in the sa ...

, a three-time

Premier of New South Wales The premier of New South Wales is the head of government in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The Government of New South Wales follows the Westminster Parliamentary System, with a Parliament of New South Wales acting as the legislature. ...

was one of the instigators of a public meeting held in July 1879 at

Milsons Point Milsons Point is a suburb on the lower North Shore of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. The suburb is located 3 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Mil ...

to consider the prospects of establishing a rowing club on Sydney harbour's north side. The following month at the School of Arts in

St Leonards St Leonards may refer to: Places Australia *St Leonards, New South Wales **St Leonards railway station *St Leonards, Tasmania, suburb of Launceston *St Leonards, Victoria Canada *St. Leonard's, Newfoundland and Labrador New Zealand * St L ...

a committee was elected and an enrolment program for members was commenced. The club was the fourth senior rowing club to be formed in Sydney with only the

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

Mercantile Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market. An early form of trade, barter, saw the direct exchan ...

and

Glebe Glebe (; also known as church furlong, rectory manor or parson's close(s))McGurk 1970, p. 17 is an area of land within an ecclesiastical parish used to support a parish priest. The land may be owned by the church, or its profits may be reserved ...

clubs in existence when North Shore came into being in 1879. The first boatshed was built on the western side of

Careening Cove Careening Cove, is a bay on the northern side of Sydney Harbour, near Milsons Point. The cove lies in the traditional lands of the Cammeraygal people, who called it Wia Wia. It was later named for its use in the early days of European settleme ...

at the bottom of Willoughby Street and an opening ceremony took place on Saturday 15 November 1879, when a Regatta was held. The club met opposition from a local government member regarding the site it had secured and in 1890 voluntarily vacated the Willoughby Street site and moved the clubhouse to the opposite side of Careening Cove where a Mr. John Wilson owned a water frontage. By 1894, the club had 113 members and 14 boats and was considering a new and more ample boathouse site. A third location was secured in 1903 at the head of Careening Cove after the Committee negotiated a lease with the Harbour Trust. The shed was built that same year, a 65 ft by 50 ft two-storied structure, roughly twice as big as the old shed. Ferry traffic, choppy water and the site's exposure to Sydney's southerly winds made the site less than ideal for preparing racing crews and in 1929 the club built a branch clubhouse and training facility at its current location just above Longueville Wharf on the

. All the club's activities were transferred to this shed in 1937 and it has operated from there since.

Club presidents

* Spencer Grace was club president for over two decades retiring in 1998 aged 91. * Sue Wannan was the club president in 2012.

Members

Olympic representative members include: * Spencer Grace OAM (1907–1999) competed at London 1948 in the coxless pair with Ted Bromley. He was captain of the club from 1934 to 1939 and its President till 1988. * Maurice Grace and Peter Raper raced the Australian

coxless pair A coxless pair is a rowing boat used in the sport of competitive rowing. It is designed for two rowers, who propel the boat with sweep oars. The crew consists of a pair of rowers, each having one oar, one on the stroke side (rower's right h ...

at the

1956 Melbourne Olympics The 1956 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XVI Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, from 22 November to 8 December 1956, with the exception of the equestrian events, whi ...

and placed fourth. Notable past members include: * Ted Bromley (1912–2004) was a

Mosman Rowing Club Mosman Rowing Club is an all-level competitive and recreational rowing club on the North Shore of Sydney. Since 2007 the club's facilities have been wholly located at The Spit in Sydney's Middle Harbour, the northern arm of Port Jackson. Merc ...

member when he competed at London 1948 in the coxless pair and for many years after but he rowed with Spencer Grace from North Shore later in life and was keen supporter of the club. * Doug Bowden coxed, coached and administered at the club from the 1930s through to the 1960s. He was a competitive member when he coxed two New South Wales

King's Cup __NOTOC__ King's Cup (incl. translations), may refer to: Sports Football * Copa del Rey, Spanish for "King's Cup," the main national knockout tournament in men's football * King Cup (sometimes named King's Cup), Saudi Arabian men's football nati ...

victories and steered the Australian eight to a silver medal at the 1938 British Empire Games. *

Frank Lowy Sir Frank P. Lowy ( ; born 22 October 1930) is an Australian people, Australian-Israeli people, Israeli businessman of Jewish Slovakian-Hungarian origins and the former long-time Chairman of Westfield Corporation, a global shopping centre comp ...

AC is a member of the club and donated an eight in 1994.

References

{{Reflist Rowing clubs in Australia Sports clubs and teams established in 1879 1879 establishments in Australia Sports clubs and teams in Sydney