W K Thompson

Mercantile Rowing Club (VIC)

Thompson was the first President of Mercantile Rowing Club and held that position until retirement in 1889.

Very little is known about him other than he was a prominent merchant in Melbourne from at least 1863 and a member of the Chamber of Commerce. In 1866, he is recorded as moving a motion at the Chamber of Commerce, which was seconded by fellow merchant Sargood, "That the new tariff will inflict fatal injury on the trading interest of the colony." This was in response to a new set of protective tariffs agreed by the local Parliament against the wishes of the "free traders". This opposition led to the formation of the Free-trade League.

It is no surprise that Thompson was a prominent merchant given that Mercantile drew it's members from the merchants of Melbourne and predominantly from Flinders Lane.

Andrew Guerin
July 2023

Sources:

Mercantile, a century of rowing by Aitken et al published by Mercantile Rowing Club 1980
Victoria and its Metropolis Past and Present, Volume 1 by Alexander Sutherland MA published by McCarron, Bird & Co, Melbourne 1888, page 419 onwards

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
These contents of this history are copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purposes of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted by the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. However given that the purpose of the history is to assist rowers and rowing clubs, written permission is not required for non-commercial usage by rowers and rowing clubs provided acknowledgement is made.

Disclaimer: Whilst extensive efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the information supplied, the editors take no responsibility for any loss or damage whatsoever arising from inaccuracies contained in this work.