Ned Hanlan

Ned Hanlan
Ned Hanlan, 1887
Born	Edward Hanlan 1855-07-12 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Died	1908-01-04 Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Cause of death	Pneumonia
Resting place	Necropolis Cemetery, Toronto 43°40′4″N 79°21′41″W
Nationality	Canadian
Other names	Ned Hanlan (Hanlon)
Height	Template:Ft in to m
Title	World champion sculler
Term	1880-1884
Predecessor	Edward Trickett
Successor	Bill Beach
Spouse	Margaret Gordon Sutherland
Parent(s)	John Hanlon and Mary Gibbs
Notes

A lithograph entitled "Edward Hanlan of Toronto - Champion Sculler of the World" published by George Rees in 1880.

Edward "Ned" Hanlan (12 July 1855 – 4 January 1908) was a professional sculler, hotelier, and alderman from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

Hanlan was born to Irish parents; one of two sons and two daughters. His mother was Mary Gibbs, his father, John, was first a fisherman and later a hotel keeper on the Toronto Islands. The Hanlan family originally lived at the east end of Toronto Island, but a severe storm in 1865 pushed their little house into the harbour. It washed ashore near the north end of Gibraltar Point, at the island's west end. A few years later, Ned's father built a small hotel there, and the area started becoming known as Hanlan's Point, long before Ned became famous. Young Hanlan used to row several kilometres across the harbour to go to and from George Street public school, Toronto every day. He developed speed to bring freshly-caught fish to sell at market before other fishermen arrived to compete. By the time Hanlan was a teenager, he was competing in rowing events and he gained his first important success at the age of eighteen, when he became amateur champion of Toronto Bay.

Ned Hanlan monument, sculpted by Emanuel Hahn, on the Toronto Islands

He turned professional in c. 1874 / 5 and soon afterwards he beat all comers at the Centennial International Exhibition at Philadelphia in 1876. In 1877 he became champion sculler of Canada, followed by Champion sculler of the United States in 1878. After further success in North America he decided to test his mettle against Europe and travelled to England in 1879 where, on 16 June 1879 he defeated the English champion, W. Elliott of Blyth, rowing the course from the Mansion House in Newcastle upon Tyne to the Scotswood Bridge on the River Tyne in the record time of 21 minutes 2 seconds. Ultimately he lost only six of his 300 races during his rowing career. He was the world sculling champion for five consecutive years from 1880-1884. Unlike his English professional rivals, he used the slide simultaneously with the swing, kept his body well back, and held his arms straight long past the perpendicular before bending them, added strength being given by the skilful use of his great leg power.

Hanlan was involved in ten championship races with five wins and five losses. Strangely, none of these races were in Canada. For further details of the World Title races that Hanlan was involved in see World Sculling Championship.

Diminutive compared to his competition at the height of Template:Ft in to m and normal race weight of Template:Lb to kg and familiar blue shirt, Hanlan was called "the boy in blue". Actor Nicolas Cage portrayed Hanlan in the 1986 film The Boy in Blue. He married on 19 December 1877 Margaret Gordon Sutherland of Pictou, Nova Scotia; they had two sons and six daughters.

Following his career as an athlete, Hanlan became a hotelier like his father, and eventually became involved in municipal politics as an alderman of Toronto. He was the first head coach of the University of Toronto Rowing Club in 1897. In 1900, he decided to leave and coach the crew of Columbia University, New York for some years. Ned died of pneumonia at age 52. Ten thousand Torontonians thronged to pay their final respects at the church where his body lay in state.

In 1926, a larger-than-life bronze statue of a mustachioed, muscular, shirtless Hanlan, shown clad only in surprisingly revealing trunks, was unveiled on the grounds of the Canadian National Exhibition. This monument was relocated to a site near the ferry dock at Hanlan's Point in 2004. In 1980, a postage stamp was issued in his honour commemorating the centenary of his first world championship. In addition, the Ned Hanlan Steamboat is named after him. A road in Vaughan, Onterio, Hanlan Road, is named after him. Gaudaur Road, named after a fellow World Champion, runs off Hanlan Road.

Hanlan's Races - Single Sculls

Double Sculls

Although Hanlan mainly raced in the single sculls he sometimes partnered another person to race double sculls. At least twice Hanlan became the joint holder of the Double Sculls World Championship title. The following are some of his double sculls races.

Date (DMY)	Event	Place or Course	Length	Opposition	Stake	Win/Lose	Comments
1874	Local Championship	Burlington Bay	-	Thomas Louden	-	w	First professional race
1875	-	Toronto Bay	-	Thomas Louden	$100 a side	w	in summer
1875	Governor General’s Medal	Toronto	2 miles	Louden & Douglas	-	w
1876	-	-	-	James Douglas		w	in spring
1876	-	-	-	William McKay	-	w	in spring
12/8/1876	Championship of Ontario	-	-	McKen	-	w
1876	International Centennial Regatta	Philadelphia	3 miles	Many top men	-	w	Won several heats also
13/6/1876	match	Silver Lake, Boston	-	Fred Plaisted	-	l
26/6/1877		Silver Lake, Boston	-	Johnston & Driscoll	-	w
4/7/1877	Regatta	Charles River, Boston	-	Fred Plaisted	-	l	Fouled opponent
15/10/1877	Match	St John, N.B.	5 miles	Wallace Ross	$1000 a side	w	Championship of British Provinces (i.e. Canada)
15/5/1878	Match	Toronto Bay	2 miles	Fred Plaisted	$2000	w	Canadian Championship
20/6/1878	Championship of USA	Hulton Course, Pittsberg	5 miles with turn	Evan Morris	-	w	American Champion
1/7/1878	Regatta	Brockville	4 miles with turn	7 others	-	w
4/7/1878	Regatta	Cape Vincent	-	Various	-	w
31/7/1878	Kennebecasis	St John N.B.	5 miles with turn	Wallace Ross	$2000	w	Canadian Championship. Ross fell out of his boat
12/8/1878	Barrie Regatta	-	-	9 others	-	w
3/10/1878	Lachine	Canada	5 miles	Charles E. Courtney	$8000	w	won easily. US Championship
8/5/1879	Match	Tyne UK	3m, 760yds	John Hawdon	£400	w
16/6/1879	Championship of England	Tyne	3m, 760yds	William Elliott (rower)	£200 a side	w	Plus Sportsman’s Challenge Cup
18/8/1879	Barrie Regatta	-	-	Various	-	l	Said to be out of condition
October 1879	US Title	Chatauqua Lake	5 miles with turn	Charles E. Courtney	$6000	w	“The Fixed Match” US Championship. Stake Unpaid.
19/5/1880	-	Potomac River, Washington	-	Charles E. Courtney	-	w	US Championship
26/5/1880	-	Potomac River	-	James Riley		w	US Championship
17/6/1880	“Hop Bitters” Regatta	Rhode Island	4 miles with turn	Various	$5000	l	won some heats
15/11/1880	World Title	Thames UK	4.25 miles	Edward Trickett	£400	w	World Champion plus English Championship
14/2/1881	World Title	Thames	4.25 miles	Elias C. Laycock	£500 a side	w	And Championship of England also
3/4/1882	World Title	Tyne	3m, 760yds	Robert Boyd		w
1/5/1882	World Title	Thames	4.25 miles	Edward Trickett		w
30/5/1883	World Title	Boston	3 miles	John A Kennedy		w
18/7/1883	World Title	New York	4 miles	Wallace Ross		w
22/5/1884	World Title	Nepean, Aust		Elias C. Laycock		w
16/8/1884	World Title	Parramatta Sydney	3.25 miles	Bill Beach	£500 a side	l	Loss of World Title
7/2/1885	Match	Parramatta Sydney	3.25 miles	Tom Clifford		w
28/5/1885	World Title	Parramatta Sydney	3.25 miles	Bill Beach	£500 a side	l
23/7/1885	Match	Cazenovia Lake, Syracuse	2.5 miles	George Hosmer	-	w
7/9/1885	3 way match	Sheephead Bay	3 miles with turn	Ross and Lee		w
24/10/1885	US Title	Albany	3 miles with turn	John Teemer		l	Loss of US Championship
25/6/1886	Match	Lake St Joseph (Quebec)	3 miles with turn	George Hosmer	$1500	w
1/7/1886	Match	Richelien River (St Johns)	3 miles with turn	Wallace Ross	$3000	w	Won by about six inches.
9/8/1886	Regatta	Nantasket Beach	3 miles with turn	Hosmer, James A. Ten Eyck, J McKay		w	won easily.
1/9/1886	Match	Jamaica Bay	3 miles	Charles Courtney		w	record time claimed, but disputed.
30/05/1887	US Title	New York	-	Jacob Gaudaur		l
23/07/1887	US Title	New York	3 miles with turn	Jacob Gaudaur	$1000 a side	w	US Championship regained but farcial result as Gaudaur failed to race properly.
13/08/1887	US Title	Toronto		John Teemer		l	US Title lost (again)
26/11/1887	World Title	Parramatta Sydney	3.25 miles	Bill Beach		l
5/5/1888	World Title	Parramatta Sydney	3.25 miles	Peter Kemp (rower)	£500 a side	l
13/6/1888	Match	Rockhampton	3 miles	Edward Trickett		w
28/9/1888	World Title	Parramatta Sydney	3.25 miles	Peter Kemp (rower)	£500 a side	l
27/11/1888	Match	Parramatta Sydney	3.25 miles	Bill Beach	£500 a side	l
01/09/1892	Match	Toronto	2 miles	Charles Stephenson (rower)	-	w
24/7/1893	Match	Orillia, Ontario	3 miles	Jacob Gaudaur		l	about his major last race.

Date (DMY)	Event	Partner	Place or Course	Length	Opposition	Stake	Win/Lose	Comments
5/6/1886	Hanlan Regatta	George Lee	Toronto	3 miles with turn	George Hosmer & John McKay	-	w	by 4 lengths, in 26m.18s.
8/8/1891	World Championship	William Joseph O'Connor	Hamilton, Ontario	3 miles with turn	Jacob Gaudaur & John McKay	$1000 a side	w	by 4+ lengths, in 18m.26.5s.
23/6/1892	World Championship	William Joseph O'Connor	Eire, Pennsylvania	3 miles with turn	George Hosmer & Jacob Gaudaur	$1500	w	won by two feet in 19m.55s.
5/9/1892	World Championship	William Joseph O'Connor	Ontario Beach	3 miles with 3 turns	George Hosmer & Jacob Gaudaur	$1500	l	loss of Chjampionship

References

• T. C. Mendenhall, A short history of American rowing, Boston, 1980
• S. Crowther and A. Ruhl, Rowing and track athletics, 1905
• W. B. Woodgate, Boating, 1888

External links

• Hanlan's career on DVD Video
• Biography at the Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
• Brief biography
• The Boy in Blue at IMDb
• Ontario Plaques - Ned Hanlan 1855-1908