According to the programme for the Club’s annual regatta in 1939, ‘The St Andrew Boat Club is named after its founder and is therefore the oldest boat club in Scotland’.
While this version of the Club’s origins may not be entirely accurate, St Andrew is indeed the oldest rowing club in Scotland and the sixth oldest in the UK. It was founded at a meeting on 24 April 1846 by a group of young men who wanted to row on the Union Canal.
1846
By July of 1846 the Club had acquired its first boat, White Squall. Before the end of that year the fleet had expanded to include the Lucy Long and the Jenny Jones.
1846
Although the Club’s current motto is ‘Rowing for All’, the 19th century club was run very much as a gentlemen’s club of its day. Members had to be proposed and seconded by existing members and applications could be black-balled in a secret ballot of the membership.
1851
The first boathouse
A clubroom was set up at Fountainbridge, and shortly after that the Club built its first boathouse at what is now Rope Walk, off Leamington Road. The boathouse cost £83 7/0d. In May 1851 the committee delivered a report to the members giving the reasons for the cost overrun against the original budget of £35. The reasons included:
• Raising the height of the shed so that people could carry boats in without bending
• Use of slates instead of roofing felt
• Adding another door to the shed
• Difficulties with the ground, which had only become apparent once work started
• Adding a gas supply to the club room
• Various omissions in the builder’s original estimate
1853
Hermiston Boathouse
From 1853 the Club also had a country boathouse at Hermiston. This was in a building formerly used to house relief horses for the express passenger boats which had run until the opening of the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway.
Throughout the 19th century the Club took part in various challenge matches and regattas, as well as hosting its own annual races at Hermiston. The Hermiston event was a day out in the country, with races, food and a military band.
1853
Fancy Dress Ball
Beginning in 1853 the Club hosted a fancy dress ball in the Music Hall and Assembly Rooms on George Street. This was a major event in the Edinburgh social calendar and attracted more coverage in The Scotsman and other newspapers than the Club’s rowing activities. The ball cost so much to put on that it was only held every three years.
1846
St Andrew Boat Club
According to the programme for the Club’s annual regatta in 1939, ‘The St Andrew Boat Club is named after its founder and is therefore the oldest boat club in Scotland’.
While this version of the Club’s origins may not be entirely accurate, St Andrew is indeed the oldest rowing club in Scotland and the sixth oldest in the UK. It was founded at a meeting on 24 April 1846 by a group of young men who wanted to row on the Union Canal.
1846
By July of 1846 the Club had acquired its first boat, White Squall. Before the end of that year the fleet had expanded to include the Lucy Long and the Jenny Jones.
1846
Although the Club’s current motto is ‘Rowing for All’, the 19th century club was run very much as a gentlemen’s club of its day. Members had to be proposed and seconded by existing members and applications could be black-balled in a secret ballot of the membership.
1851
The first boathouse
A clubroom was set up at Fountainbridge, and shortly after that the Club built its first boathouse at what is now Rope Walk, off Leamington Road. The boathouse cost £83 7/0d. In May 1851 the committee delivered a report to the members giving the reasons for the cost overrun against the original budget of £35. The reasons included:
• Raising the height of the shed so that people could carry boats in without bending
• Use of slates instead of roofing felt
• Adding another door to the shed
• Difficulties with the ground, which had only become apparent once work started
• Adding a gas supply to the club room
• Various omissions in the builder’s original estimate
1853
Hermiston Boathouse
From 1853 the Club also had a country boathouse at Hermiston. This was in a building formerly used to house relief horses for the express passenger boats which had run until the opening of the Edinburgh to Glasgow railway.
Throughout the 19th century the Club took part in various challenge matches and regattas, as well as hosting its own annual races at Hermiston. The Hermiston event was a day out in the country, with races, food and a military band.
1853
Fancy Dress Ball
Beginning in 1853 the Club hosted a fancy dress ball in the Music Hall and Assembly Rooms on George Street. This was a major event in the Edinburgh social calendar and attracted more coverage in The Scotsman and other newspapers than the Club’s rowing activities. The ball cost so much to put on that it was only held every three years.
