Bert Bushnell
Personal information | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Bertram Harold Thomas Bushnell | ||||||||
Nickname(s) | Bert, Bertie | ||||||||
Nationality | English | ||||||||
Citizenship | British | ||||||||
Born | Dickie Burnell | 3 September 1921||||||||
Retired | 1951 | ||||||||
Medal record
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Bertram Harold Thomas Bushnell (3 September 1921 – 10 January 2010) was a
Having initially competed in
Early life
Bushnell was born in
John Henry Bushnell carried on the business of renting self-propelled rowing boats, dinghies, skiffs, punts, camping punts, until the early 1920s when he obtained electric canoes followed closely by motor-driven launches. Both the motor-propelled craft could be hired for self-drive or with drivers. During this time boat building of various types was carried on at the site and, as years passed, larger and more sophisticated craft were constructed for both sale and hire. In the mid-1930s the first self-drive holiday hire cruiser was built and thereafter others followed up until 1939 when the boatyard took on rapid expansions to cope with Admiralty contracts to build fast motor boats for both Naval and RAF air/sea rescue.[2]
Bushnell attended
Career
Bushnell first competed in rowing in August 1939 at the
Following the war, Bushnell began to compete in rowing once more. At the 1946 Henley Royal Regatta, Bushnell (representing
1948 Summer Olympics
Bushnell hoped to compete at the
Bushnell and Burnell only had a month to train for the Games,
At the Olympic regatta on the
On Monday, 9 August 1948, in front of a home crowd estimated to be 20,000 spectators,[17] Bushnell and Burnell competed in the Olympic final against the double scull teams of Uruguay and Denmark.[16] Bushnell nearly missed the final, held at the Leander Club in Henley, as stewards would not allow him to enter; he later explained "You see I wasn't a member then – not posh enough".[11] At around the three-minute mark, the British team decided to push for the win, eventually taking it in six minutes and 51.3 seconds, 11⁄2 lengths ahead of the favoured Danish duo of Parsner and Larsen (6:55.3) and five ahead of William Jones and Juan A. Rodriguez Iglesias of Uruguay (7:12.4).[11][17][18][19] On the jetty they were awarded their medals while standing in their socks. As there were no ribbons for the medals due to cost-saving measures, they were given them in presentation boxes while "God Save the King" was played by a band.[16]
Decades later Bushnell indicated in an interview with Janie Hampton: "The Olympics didn't feel a big deal. It was like Henley regatta with a few foreigners thrown in."[20] Despite winning an Olympic gold medal, Bushnell returned to his occupation, indicating in an interview: "There was no fuss and my life wasn't changed. I went back to work as a marine engineer on Monday. I didn't get paid to have days off and my employers considered I was a bloody nuisance."[21]
In the 1949 European Championships Bushnell and Burnell finished 5th. In the Henley Royal Regatta of June 1949, Bushnell withdrew from the single sculls to focus on the double sculls.[22] However, Bushnell and Burnell were defeated by the Danish team of Parsner and Larsen in the double sculls event in a record-breaking race.[12][23]
Later life
In September 1948 Bushnell married Margaret Campbell (born 27 October 1925; died December 1988).[9][11] They spent the first few years of their married life on a Thames sailing barge, moored up outside the boathouse in Maidenhead.[24] They had three daughters: Patricia Pueschel, Jacqueline Page, and Susan Bushnell, and six granddaughters.
After World War II, his father bought a second boatyard at
About 2000 Bushnell donated his gold medal to the
Legacy
Bushnell was initially thought to be the final surviving gold medallist from the British team at the 1948 Summer Olympics,[11] however David Bond (who won a gold medal in the sailing Swallow class) wrote in to The Guardian to inform the newspaper that he was very much alive.[28]
Hitchambury Homes created a housing development called Bushnell Place in honour of Bert Bushnell on Alwyn Road, Maidenhead.[29] Bushnell and Burnell's Olympic success is featured at the Maidenhead Heritage Centre.[30] Bushnell and Burnell and their efforts in the 1948 Summer Olympics are featured in "The Perfect Rower: 100 Years of Racing for Glory" exhibition at the River and Rowing Museum, from 31 March to 30 September 2012.[31]
On 25 July 2012, two days before the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, BBC One screened the film Bert and Dickie (also called Going For Gold: The '48 Games),[32] depicting Burnell and Bushnell's achievement at the 1948 Games, with Bushnell portrayed by Doctor Who actor Matt Smith and Sam Hoare portraying Burnell. The film's writer, William Ivory, met Bushnell before his death in 2010.[16]
References
- ^ Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Death Index: 1916–2006 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Registration district: Wokingham. Inferred County: Berkshire. Volume:6a. Page:749. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.
- ^ a b c "History". Bushnells Boat Sales & Marine Services. 2011. Archived from the original on 11 December 2011. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "John "Jack" Bushnell". Bert and Dickie: characters. BBC. July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ Ancestry.com. England & Wales, Death Index: 1916–2006 [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations Inc, 2007. Registration district: Wokingham. Inferred County: Berkshire. Volume:6a. Page:263. Original data: General Register Office. England and Wales Civil Registration Indexes. London, England: General Register Office.
- ^ "Lena Bushnell". Bert and Dickie: characters. BBC. July 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ Source Citation: Class: RG14; Piece: 6056; Schedule Number: 10. Source Information: Ancestry.com. 1911 England Census [database on-line]. Provo, UT, USA: Ancestry.com Operations, Inc., 2011.
- ^ Ivory, William (24 July 2012). "Bert & Dickie: Writing an Olympic drama". tv blog. BBC. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "Royal Watermen". Official Royal posts. The British Monarchy. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j "Olympian who became 'Recirc Bert' of cruiser hire". Henley Standard. 25 January 2010. Archived from the original on 24 February 2012. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ a b c "Bert Bushnell Biography and Olympics Results". Olympic Sports. Sports-Reference.com. Archived from the original on 18 April 2020. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Hampton, Janie (15 February 2010). "Bert Bushnell: Britain's last surviving gold medallist from the 1948 Olympics". The Independent. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ a b c Biddulph, David (24 April 2012). "In Memoriam". Archived from the original on 10 October 2012. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
- ^ Tierney, Frank "Five Wins for Australia; British Titles", The Sydney Morning Herald (5 July 1948) p.5.
- ^ W.V.F., "Rowing in Britain", Western Mail (Perth, WA: 2 December 1948) p.23; "Britain Wins Sculls at Olympics", Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA: 10 August 1948) p.1.
- ^ "Won Skulls", Barrier Miner (Broken Hill, NSW: 15 July 1948) p.5.
- ^ a b c d e f Jeavans, Christine (23 July 2012). "Matt Smith on pain behind 1948 Olympics' Bert and Dickie". BBC News. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ a b c "Golden Bears Capture Eights Race", The Montreal Gazette (10 August 1948) p.15.
- ISBN 978-1-84513-695-6.
- ^ Solem, Karen Ann, The Rower's Almanac 2004–2005 (Rower's Almanac, 2004) p.51.
- ^ Bert Bushnell, quoted in "How the Austerity Olympics struck gold for London" Yorkshire Post (13 May 2008).
- ^ Bert Bushnell, quoted in Bert Bushnell: "I was a bloody nuisance", from The Daily Telegraph (19 February 2012).
- ^ "Kelly Draws Bye in Henley Regatta", Oakland Tribune (30 June 1949) p.41.
- ^ Buckhorn, Göran R. (19 January 2010). "Bert Bushnell Dies at 88". Hear the Boat Sing. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ a b Buckhorn, Göran R. (19 January 2010). "A Tribute To Bert Bushnell!". Hear the Boat Sing. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "Thames still a golden vision for bolshie Bert", This is London (14 January 14, 2003): "Bert Bushnell had a lung removed 12 years ago and says he's also become a "deaf old sod".
- ^ "Olympic rowing veteran dies at 88" Archived 26 January 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Henley Standard (18 January 2010).
- ^ Mike Rosewell, "Campbell happy to play coach's name game", The Times (London, England: 27 October 2006) p.97
- ^ Dodd, Christopher (28 February 2010). "Bert Bushnell obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
- ^ "Bushnell Place" (PDF). Hitchambury Homes. 2012. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 26 January 2016. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "London 1948". Maidenhead and the Olympics. Maidenhead Heritage. Archived from the original on 18 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "The Perfect Rower: 100 Years of Racing for Glory". River & Rowing Museum: 31 March – 30 September 2012. Art Fund. Archived from the original on 27 June 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
- ^ "Going for Gold – The '48 Games". Latest Press Releases. BBC America. July 2012. Archived from the original on 7 August 2012. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
Further reading
Books
- Burnell, Richard. Henley Royal Regatta: A Celebration of 150 Years. Heinemann; Gieves & Hawkes, 1989.
- Burnell, Richard. Sculling with Notes on Training and Rigging. 1955.
- Hampton, Janie. Austerity Olympics: When the Games Came to London in 1948. 2nd ed. Aurum Press, 2012.
- Phillips, Bob. The 1948 Olympics: How London Rescued the Games. SportsBooks, 2007.
Articles
- Atkin, Ronald. "2005: The main events: Bert first struck gold in 1948. Now he wants it all over again Olympics The London bid". The Independent on Sunday (London, England). 2 January 2005.
- "Bert Bushnell". The Times (London, England: 19 January 2010):55.
- "Bert Bushnell, Olympic rower". The Times (London, England: 20 April 2010):56.
- Goodbody, John. "British greats predict 2012 Olympic success is on the cards; Olympic Games 2012". The Times (London, England: 22 September 2005):83.
- Hampton, Janie. "BERT BUSHNELL". The Independent (London, England). 15 February 2010.
- Miller, David. "Tributes flow for rowing's champion". The Times (London, England: 24 March 1995):37.
- "Obituary: Richard Burnell". The Independent (London, England). 11 February 1996.
- Page, Jacqueline. "Bert Bushnell". The Independent (London, England). 23 February 2010.
- Rowbottom, Mike. "Olympics: Olympian ideals in age of rationing The 1948 Olympics in post-war Britain were considered a waste of money by the public, but not by the competitors". The Independent (London, England). 30 July 1998.
- Webster, Nick. "The 1948 Games gave the whole nation a lift.. this will be even better; OUR OLDEST GOLD MEDAL WINNER ON WHY BRITAIN SHOULD HOST THE 2012 OLYMPICS". The Mirror (London, England). 14 February 2005.
- Whitfield, Martin. "Sporting club says bye bye blackballs, hello pounds 400,000". The Independent (London, England). 2 April 1995.
External links
- "Sculling", via British Pathé, a short film in which Bushnell shows the joys of sculling
- BBC Radio 4 presentation: "Bert Bushnell: Remembering the gold-medal winning rower"