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Jessie B Abercrombie

Brisbane Ladies Rowing Club (QLD)

1920 - Inaugural Secretary of the Australian Womens Rowing Council

1920-26 - Queensland Councillor to Australian Womens Rowing Council

A pioneer of women's rowing who died in 1928.

It appears that Jessie Abercrombie was a driving force behind the establishment of both the Australian Ladies Rowing Council and the Australian Women's Four Oared Championship.

Jack Pritchard in his book Rowing in Queensland 1880-1995 states: The annual report states that the QRA (Queensland Rowing Association) was the first governing body in the Commonwealth to permit lady rowers to assist in the administration of the sport. The wisdom of such action was exemplified by the excellent assistance rendered by the Brisbane Ladies' Rowing Club and their Delegate (Miss Abercrombie) in connection with the Ladies' Four Oared Championship of Australia.

Andrew Guerin, May 2020

Whilst every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information provided, errors may exist. Please send advice of any errors or inaccuracies by email to:

Also your comments, suggestions and photos are sought to enhance this site.

The idea for this history originated from the Olympic Rowing and World Senior Rowing Championship histories written by Andrew Guerin and Margot Foster in 1991, 1992 & 1993 for the Australian team handbooks. Andrew Guerin developed and extended these histories to the current format in 2004 for publication in 2004 and then expanded the site.

Steve Roll has been an invaluable contributor to the website in locating errors and finding Christian names of rowers. His superb work is acknowledged.

© Andrew Guerin – 2004
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