Furnivall Sculling Club
Furnivall Sculling Club is a rowing club based on the Tideway in Hammersmith, London. It was founded as Hammersmith Sculling Club in 1896 by Dr Frederick James Furnivall, after whom riverside gardens, Furnivall Gardens, in Hammersmith are named. For its initial five years, in the reign of Queen Victoria, the club was for women only and hosted the world's first female rowing team. Furnivall extended membership to men in 1901. The club colours are a precise pallette: myrtle and old gold. History. The club was founded by and is named after Dr 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 Club for Girls and Men. However, at least until after the 2nd World War the captaincy was restricted to female members in honour of the original purpose of Dr Furnivall in founding the Club. Following his death in 1910, the Club honoured his  memory by celebrating 'The Doctor's Birthday' for many years. Furnivall currently has over 100 members, of whom some 80 are full, active members (in addition to some social and life members). The club underwent a major refurbishment in 2009 that resulted in the construction of the club's ergometer training facility, the John Robbins Room. The club is one of three non-academic clubs along the brief 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 three clubs have a close rivalry and enjoy subtly different emphases on age, gender and abilities within their squads.