Thomas Alston

Yarra Yarra Rowing Club (VIC)

Born 18th June 1822 in Glasgow and died in Melbourne 25/12/1907 age 86.

There are no records of regatta or club race wins for Thomas Alston and so it is possible that he was not a rower.

Elected as Vice President in 1871 at the initial meeting to elect committee of the Early Closing Association Rowing Club, the original name of the Yarra Yarra Rowing Club.

Vice President 1871 to 1880

President 1880 to 1882

Patron 1882/1886 (the clubs first patron)

Founder of “Alston & Brown” a Melbourne drapery store. It was not uncommon for prominent business people to take on senior roles in both sporting and charitable entities. This may explain why no rowing records can be found of him.

During his life, he served as a director of many companies including the Australian Mutual Provident Society and the Perpetual Trustees Association. At the time of his death was the chairman of directors of the London and Lancashire Fire and Marine Insurance Company. Mr Alston was also a member of the Deaf and Dumb Institution, and was a past president of the Alfred Hospital.

Jim Skidmore
April 2022

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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