Procession of Boats on the Wear at Durham to Celebrate the Battle of Waterloo, 1815. Painting by Edward Hastings in the collection of Durham University. Durham Regatta has its origins in the annual procession of boats, organised by the Sheriff of County Durham and the Rt. Hon. William Lloyd Wharton, in June 1815 to celebrate the ‘famous victory’ at Waterloo. The event included the ‘firing of cannon and a substantial supper with a plentiful supply of strong ale for the Waterloo men’.