The ''Paris Crew'' is the name given to a quartet of Canadian sport rowers from Saint John,

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

. Robert Fulton, George Price, Samuel Hutton, and Elijah Ross, along with reserve oarsman James Price, became Canada's first-ever international sporting champions when they defeated the

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 ...

to win the World Rowing Championship at the 1867 Paris International Exposition in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 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), ma ...

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

. Seen as little more than " country bumpkins," Elijah Ross worked as a

lighthouse keeper A lighthouse keeper or lightkeeper is a person responsible for tending and caring for a lighthouse, particularly the light and lens in the days when oil lamps and clockwork mechanisms were used. Lighthouse keepers were sometimes referred to as ...

and the others were

fishermen A fisher or fisherman is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishers and fish farmers. Fishers may be professional or recreati ...

. Rowing without a

coxswain The coxswain ( , or ) is the person in charge of a boat, particularly its navigation and steering. The etymology of the word gives a literal meaning of "boat servant" since it comes from ''cock'', referring to the cockboat, a type of ship's boa ...

and with their very unorthodox style and antiquated equipment, the Canadian team had been given no chance at all against their slick

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an competitors. Their World championship win on the

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against four of the top oarsmen from

Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to th ...

, who had been selected from the team that earlier in the year had beaten

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The Boat Race The Boat Race is an annual set of rowing races between the Cambridge University Boat Club and the Oxford University Boat Club, traditionally rowed between open-weight eights on the River Thames in London, England. There are separate men's ...

, was a shocking upset that made sporting headlines everywhere and the team national heroes. In 1868, the ''Paris Crew'' traveled to Springfield, Massachusetts, where they defeated the vaunted ''Republican crew'' to win the Championship of America. Over the next two years they repeatedly beat the

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

challengers and captured numerous provincial and international titles. At an international competition in

Lachine, Quebec Lachine () is a borough (''arrondissement'') within the city of Montreal on the Island of Montreal in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It was an autonomous city until the municipal mergers in 2002. History Lachine, apparently from the French term ' ...

, in September 1870 they lost to a British team from

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. In a rematch the following August on the

Kennebecasis River The Kennebecasis River ( ) is a tributary of the Saint John River in southern New Brunswick, Canada. The name Kennebecasis is thought to be derived from the Mi'kmaq "''Kenepekachiachk''", meaning "little long bay place." It runs for approximately ...

, the ''Paris Crew'' claimed victory after

James Renforth James Renforth (7 April 1842 – 23 August 1871) was an English Tyneside professional oarsman. He became the World Sculling Champion in 1868 and was one of three great Tyneside oarsmen, the other two being Harry Clasper and Robert Chambers ...

collapsed in the British boat during the race and died from apparent heart failure. The village where the race took place was renamed

Renforth, New Brunswick Renforth is a Canadian suburban community and former village in Kings County, New Brunswick. It is situated on the south bank of the Kennebecasis River northeast of Saint John. It is named after James Renforth, a rower from Britain who had died ...

, in his memory. The ''Paris Crew'' raced successfully until disbanding in 1876. Their accomplishments were recognized with their posthumous induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame in 1956 and the New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame in 1972. {{Portal, Victorian era

References

Rowing - Collections Canada

The Paris Crew at the New Brunswick Sports Hall of FameHistorica’s Heritage Minute video docudrama about the Paris Crew.
(

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.) Canadian male rowers History of rowing New Brunswick Sports Hall of Fame inductees