Furnivall Sculling Club is a
rowing club based on the
Tideway in
Hammersmith, London. It was called Hammersmith Sculling Club until 1946. It was founded in 1896 by
Frederick Furnivall, after whom the riverside
Furnivall Gardens a few metres away are named. For its initial five years, in the reign of
Queen Victoria
Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...
, the club was for females only and is widely considered to have had the world's first female rowing team (crew). Furnivall has also admitted males since 1901. The club colours are a precise pallette: myrtle and old gold.
History
The club was founded by and is named after Frederick Furnivall (when he was 71, in April 1896). It was at the time called the Hammersmith Sculling Club for Girls. Given his passionate opposition to discrimination, he wanted to break into the man's world of river sport, by building a club for women.
In 1901, men were admitted to full membership, and the name was changed to Furnivall
Sculling
Sculling is the use of oars to propel a boat by moving them through the water on both sides of the craft, or moving one oar over the stern. A long, narrow boat with sliding seats, rigged with two oars per rower may be referred to as a scull, its ...
Club for Girls and Men. However until 1946 the captaincy was restricted to female members in honour of the founding premise. After his death in 1910 the club honoured his memory by celebrating 'The Doctor's Birthday' for many years. Two female-only British rowing clubs exist:
Barnes Bridge (which share premises with what was a men-only club) and
Weybridge Ladies.

As of 2022, Furnivall has over 150 members, of whom about 120 are full, active members the balance being social, gym and honorary life members.
Furnivall underwent a major refurbishment in 2009 creating the club's
ergometer facility, the John Robbins Room. A further set of works in 2019 and 20 modernised the building throughout. The club is one of four non-academic clubs along the Hammersmith bend and in the Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham as a whole, excluding the very small, closed 'Nautilus Club' who are based at British Rowing Headquarters, Hammersmith and who use Great Britain-ressemblent blades. The clubs locally known as 'Furnivall', A.K. and 'Sons' form a cluster with a close rivalry and subtly different emphases on age, gender and abilities within their squads.
Furnivall
British Rowing
Honours
British champions
See also
* Rowing on the River Thames
* Frederick James Furnivall
Notes and references
;Notes
;References
External links
Official website
{{United Kingdom rowing clubs
Tideway Rowing clubs
Sport in the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham
Rowing clubs of the River Thames