| Description | Frederick James Furnivall (1825-1910) was a barrister and scholar who combined a passion for sculling with a strong social conscience. In 1854 he established a Working Men's College in Great Ormond Street and set up a rowing club there. In 1891 he co-founded the National Amateur Rowing Association (NARA) to overcome the exclusivity of the Amateur Rowing Association (ARA), which did not welcome those employed in non-professional work. In April 1896 he established a ladies' sculling club at 19 Lower Mall, Hammersmith, in order to open up river sport to single, working girls. George Bernard Shaw was a vice president of the Club and one of its donors.
Furnivall coached the girls in sculling and rowing. He enlisted the help of young men from the Working Men's College to carry the boats in and out of the river. The men also got involved in the social activities which took place at the Club. Men from the College were allowed to join the Club, initially as honorary members, then in 1900/1901 they were enlisted as full members. In April 1901 it was decided to change the Club's name from The Hammersmith Sculling Club for Girls to The Furnivall Sculling Club for Girls and Men.
In the year following Furnivall's death in 1910, a record of his life was published, together with a biographical introduction and a wide range of personal recollections and tributes to his memory. The prime mover in the compilation of the book was John Munro (1884-1956) who had been a pupil at the Working Men's College and had a long association with the Club, becoming a vice president in 1930. The purpose of the book was to provide a lasting testimony to Furnivall and to raise money to purchase the club premises as a permanent memorial to him.
The copyhold property, 19 and 20a Lower Mall, and the adjoining freehold wharf were purchased in 1912. The Club became a limited company in 1929. The tenure of the premises was converted to freehold in the late 1930s.
The Club had its Centenary in 1996 and is still in existence to date (2008).
As well as the records of the Club the collection includes papers of William Arthur Goff (1901-1969) who served as Assistant Secretary then Honorary Secretary from 1922 to 1967 and President from 1967 to 1969. William Goff, known to his associates as WAG, also served as Honorary Secretary and Treasurer to the Thames branch of NARA from February 1923 which explains the inclusion of papers relating to amateur rowing associations. |