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Tracing the Story of The Coat The Doggett Coat and Badge Race is the oldest of the annually held sporting events in the UK. The winners of this prestigious race are always identified on all River occassions by the red-orange livery they are entitled to wear with a large silver badge on their arms depicting 'Liberty'; the white horse of Hanover, which was designed by Thomas Doggett, the man behind the fame of the rowing race. It has been rowed each year on the Thames from 1715, and taking part are the apprentices whop have 'served their time' on the River. |
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The
finish of the Doggett's Coat and Badge rowing race.
Painting by Thomas Rowlandson (1756-1827) |
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| It was instigated by Thomas Doggett, of Chelsea, and how it evolved has now been told in a unique form by one of the best known present-day characters on the River Thames - Bob Crouch, who served as the Bargemaster to the Queen for 13 years. |
The Book
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The Coat, although written as a novel, is based on stories passed down through generations of the river Thames fraternity. The book also tells of the brutality and dangerous times of the early eighteenth century; of how the watermen of that time were harshly controlled by the rules of their guild, how they dealt with the cruel winters when the river was frozen over, of the hard lifestyle thy endured, and of their greatest fear of being press-ganged into the Royal Navy. It is told through the eyes of Edwin; the young wherryman on whom Doggett is reputed to have based the rules of the race. It is also the story of Edwin's lifestyle working on the Thames as a wherryman and of his capture for duty in the Royal Navy. |