The great Victorian
They don’t make them like that any more (actually, they probably do). Windham Thomas
Wyndham-Quin, fourth Earl of Dunraven, was finally inducted into the America’s Cup Hall of Fame on 21 October 2016. New York Yacht Club historian John Rousmaniere reflects on the extraordinary life of one of the most ‘famous’ America’s Cup challengers among a very tough field of candidates…
The Earl of Dunraven, a two-time Cup challenger in the 1890s, is not only one of the more controversial figures in yacht racing history, but also one of the most
52 SEAHORSE
ambitious, strong-minded and brilliant. His boats were spectacular. For those who worry (or hope…) that the America’s Cup will eventually self-destruct, Dunraven’s Cup career is proof of its resilience. His Valkyrie II and Valkyrie III (both
designed by the Scots-born genius George Lennox Watson) and their opponents in 1893 and 1895, Vigilant and Defender (Nathanael Greene Herreshoff’s first Cup boats), were the first generation of the Cup’s ‘Big Class’ entries. These novel, at times fragile, barely in control cutters were more than 120ft long, with towering sail areas of 10,000ft2 or more handled by wholly professional crews of more than 50 sailors. They were built because the Earl of Dunraven, representing the Royal Yacht Squadron, twice challenged the New York Yacht Club to race for the America’s Cup off New York, first in 1893 and then 1895. Described as ‘above all, a great Victorian
character’, Windham Thomas Wyndham- Quin, fourth Earl of Dunraven, was born in 1841 in County Limerick, Ireland, the heir
to Adair Manor and a title of ancient Celtic origin in the Irish peerage. After a challenging childhood followed
by some years at Oxford University, he threw himself with impulsive spirit and genius into a vigorous life of public service and sports. The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography says of Dunraven: ‘Few of his contemporaries touched life at more points. He was constantly on the fringe of great events.’ Another authority described his life as being ‘as many-faceted as a dia- mond’. Much of that was willed by the man himself, for better or worse. In his first career as a young news corre-
spondent he reported on the Abyssinian and Franco-Prussian Wars. After a short stint covering the news he decided to become a part of the story, entering British politics as a reformer, and had soon been appointed to the demanding job of Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies. At the same time he played prominent roles in a campaign to abolish the vicious workhouses that haunted his times, and not only in Dickens novels.
DETROIT PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPANY
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110
