NARA - Lee Branch Rowers – Memorial Shield

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Reference WMO/259825

Address:

River and Rowing Museum

Meadow Road

Henley on Thames

RG9 1BF

England

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Status: On subsequent site(s)

Type: Non freestanding

Location: Internal

Setting: Inside a building - public/private

Description: Trophy/Relic

Materials:

Metal Silver
Timber Oak

Lettering: Inscribed on a plaque

Conflicts:

First World War (1914-1918)

About the memorial: The Championship shield is made of silver mounted on stained oak. (see LINKS for entry at River and Rowing Museum) At the top just under the ornamental scroll which extends down both sides with space for holders and the N.A.R.A. badge and the Hackney borough arms. The central shield bears the inscription and names of the clubs and at the bottom there is an engraved picture of a sculler on the river. The shield was unveiled by the Mayor of Hackney (Herbert Morrison) on 6 November 1921 at Radleys Boathouse (Springhill, Clapton, London E5 9BL) See "Comments" for account of unveiling ceremony

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Comments:

Hackney and Kingsland Gazette
9 November 1921
HACKNEY’S TRIBUTE TO DEAD OARSMEN
The Mayor Unveils Memorial Shield
A large number of rowing men from over twenty clubs in the Lee Branch of the National Amateur Rowing Association gathered on Sunday morning (6 November) at Radley’s Boathouse overlooking the river at Clapton to pay a tribute to the memory of their comrades who fell in the Great War. The occasion was the unveiling of the Championship Memorial Shield by the Mayor of Hackney (Alderman Herbert Morrison J.P.) and its dedication by the Rector of Hackney (the Rev. G Vernon Smith M.C.). It was a bright keen morning and the simple service conducted among amid surroundings pregnant with memories of many a contest and many friendly meetings in which the oarsmen heroes had participated deeply impressed everyone present.
A Handsome Trophy
The shield covered with the new flag of the   Branch was placed in a small roped-in enclosure in front of the boathouse and the service was conducted from the veranda immediately above
The trophy is a very handsome one of (illegible) silver weighing (illegible) ounces and is mounted on stained oak. At the top just under the ornamental scroll which extends down both sides and which will bear the names of the holders for the next thirty years are the N.A.R.A. badge and the Hackney borough arms. The central shield bears the inscription and names of the clubs and at the bottom there is an engraved picture of a sculler on the river. The inscription is as follows:

National Amateur Rowing Association Lee Branch Championship Memorial Shield In Memorium 1914-1918. To the honour and memory of the members of the  following clubs who died that we might have Peace   Abbot Alliance, Britannia, Christ Church, Clapton Comrades, Clapton Warwick, Clapton Zephyr, Crescent, Dagmar, Dalston Albert, Eton Mission, Finsbury Unionist,  First London (City of London) Brigade Royal Field Artillery, Gladstone,  Houghton Butcher, Iris, Koi-Ora, Lee Aquatic, London United, Mildmay, Millfields Old Scholars,  Orient, Oxford House, Southgate Road, Spartan, Unita and the University Rowing Clubs.
“Some we loved, the loveliest and the best
That Time and Fate of all their vintage prest”
Omar Khayyam

Among those present were Colonel Sir Arthur Lever, Bart, J.P., Mr F. Soper (honorary secretary N.A.R.A.) Mr T.R. Wordledge (vice-president) Mr V Radley, Messrs F Cleavely, W Hull,  and W. J. Rawlings (the hon secretaries memorial committees) Messrs A. Davis (hon treasurer) A.V. Haggith (assistant secretary) T.R. Jones (Oxford House) E. Darmer (Southgate-road) J.F Snodgrove, G. Shore (Mildmay) H. Leake, G. Worrall (Eton Mission ) W. Tuit (Britannia) W. Sheen (Dalston Alberts) G. Wiltshire (Gladstone) T. Charles (Iris) R. Brown (Millfield Old Scholars)  J.H. Shelley (Spartan) T. Allen (Unita) J. Elvidge and others.
Before the commencement of the service Chopin’s “March Funebre” was played by the Upton House Boys Band under the direction of the Bandmaster (Captain A. E. Pratt) and they also accompanied the hymns. After the singing of “O God our Help in ages past” the Honorary Secretary read letters of regret at inability to be present from Mr G.W.H. Jones M.P, the President (Colonel Fenton-Jones J.P.) and the Rev. P.S. Propert (the honorary treasurer N.A.R.A.) In an introductory address, he mentioned that at the outbreak of war a large number of members nobly responded to the appeal made to the young men of England and were absorbed in the sportsmen’s and other battalions. A considerable number lost their lives and those who returned decided to erect a splendid statue in the adjoining Springfield Park to the memory of those who fell. Unfortunately, however, a period of unemployment followed and they were not able to carry out the project.
The Spirit of Love, Brotherhood and Charity
The Mayor asked those present to witness the ceremonies in the spirit in which those went forth which he had never believed to be the spirit of spite and hate. It was the spirit which, if it was animated by any moral sentiment at all, was animated by the sentiment of righteousness, the upholding of good and moral law in the world. There were differences of opinion about the politics of the war. He did not hold the view which was the popular one at the time, though it looked like becoming the popular view in the future; but whatever views one might have held about the war, about its origin and about its termination all of them were there that morning to pay tribute to the men who acted from a sense of righteousness and justice and to keep the memory of those men green so far as the future was concerned. He wanted them, in witnessing the unveiling of that memorial, to witness it in a spirit of brotherhood, of love and of charity and to remember that of all the forces in the world hate was the most terrible force that existed whether it be between them and the next-door neighbour, between rival politicians, man and woman or between us and the people of foreign countries. It was a terrible destroying force which created nothing, which built nothing but which destroyed. He wanted then to be animated by the spirit of love towards the men who had fallen in the Great War and of brotherhood towards all the members of the human family and the determination to do their best to see that no more wars should come and that there should be no more need for memorials to those who had fallen in defence of their country

“True Sportsmen in the Best Sense of the Word”
After the singing of the hymn “O Valiant Hearts” the Rector gave an address, in the course of which he said that they were remembering that day the men who, on a great field of contest, as true sportsmen in the best sense of the word, lived out the great lessons they learnt in their games on the Lea. They could have no more fitting time for that service than just when the anniversary of the Armistice drew near, and they could have no more fitting object to dedicate than something which was dear to the hearts of all men who loved games and sports. As his life went on he was more and more convinced, not only because of his Christian faith, or from what he had read and studied, that there were no dead, and that those whom they were commemorating were present with them in spirit.
As an old rowing man looking back to the happy days when he rowed at Oxford, and to the time when he coached the clubs he ran when he was working at Oxford House, he did not hesitate to say that some of the greatest lessons that had governed his life he learnt when he sat on a boat trying to row in earlier days. Those of them who rowed, or had rowed, learnt that to turn out on a cold winter’s day meant self-discipline and self-sacrifice, and it prepared them for greater sacrifice in days to come. They learnt these tremendous truths that every man must pull his weight and that they must all pull together. If they took Christ into their lives He would strengthen them by His Holy Spirit and would give them the right thing to do at the right time.
Following the Benediction, “The Last Post” and Reveille were sounded and the Branch Council then accepted the shield from the Mayor.
Speeches were also delivered by Sir Arthur Lever and Mr F. Soper, the honorary secretary of the N.A.R.A. and a hearty vote of thanks was passed to the Mayor and the Rector on the proposition of Mr Rawlings seconded by Mr W. Holt

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National Amateur Rowing Association Lee Branch Championship Memorial Shield In Memorium 1914-1918. To the honour and memory of the members of the following clubs who died that we might have Peace Abbot Alliance, Britannia, Christ Church, Clapton Comrades, Clapton Warwick, Clapton Zephyr, Crescent, Dagmar, Dalston Albert, Eton Mission, Finsbury Unionist, First London (City of London) Brigade Royal Field Artillery, Gladstone, Houghton Butcher, Iris, Koi-Ora, Lee Aquatic, London United, Mildmay, Millfields Old Scholars, Orient, Oxford House, Southgate Road, Spartan, Unita and the University Rowing Clubs. “Some we loved, the loveliest and the best That Time and Fate of all their vintage prest” Omar Khayyam

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