Charles Wordsworth - Early Life and Education

Early Life and Education

Wordsworth was born in Lambeth, the son of the Rev. Dr. Christopher Wordsworth and a nephew of the poet William Wordsworth. His father was a divine and scholar. He was educated at Harrow where his friends included Charles Merivale and Richard Chenevix Trench. He was in the Harrow cricket eleven for the first regular matches with Eton (1822) and Winchester (1825), He then went to Christ Church, Oxford where he won the Chancellor's Latin verse at Oxford in 1827, and the Latin essay in 1831, and took a first-class in classics. Through his continued contact with Merivale at Cambridge University, he is credited with bringing about the first Oxford and Cambridge match in 1827, in which he captained Oxford and took seven wickets. Again with Merivale and his Cambridge contacts he instigated the first university boat race in 1829. He played cricket in the Varsity match in 1829 and rowed in the winning Oxford crew in the Boat Race. In 1869 Wordsworth responded to Dr J. Morgan, who was investigating the health effects of rowing.

The subject upon which you have written to me is one in which I naturally take a more than common interest. Not only was I one of the Oxford Crew in the first Inter-University Boat-Race in 1829, but the Race was entirely set up by me, owing to the fact that though I was myself at Christ Church, Oxford, my home was at Cambridge (my father being Master of Trinity), and I had a large acquaintance there, and some-times (especially in Easter vacations) was invited to pull in one of their boats, e. g. that of St John's, in which were the now Bishops, Selwyn and Tyrrell, and Charles Merivale the historian, all now vigorous and flourishing. I may also mention, as bearing upon your enquiry, that as soon as my father heard that I had been chosen one of the Oxford Eight, and was practising for the Race, he wrote me an earnest letter, in which he desired me not to row any more, simply from anxiety lest my health should suffer. Though I was always much given to athletic exercises, even before I went to Harrow (where I was one of the Eleven in the first Matches against Eton, for four years, 1822 — 1825), my constitution was in some respects rather a delicate one. When I received his letter I went at once to my physician, told him the difficulty in which I was placed, begged him to examine my state of health, and got his authority to assure my father that so far as he could judge, rowing had not done me any harm. By this my father was satisfied, and I was allowed to go on. The Race itself, which was at Henley (two miles up stream), certainly did me no harm, though at the time I was incommoded by the change to an unusual diet, — under-done beefsteaks, porter, dry bread, no butter, no tea, no vegetables. After the Race, which was on Wednesday or Tuesday (I think), I was able to play cricket, as one of the Eleven also, against Cambridge on the following Friday. The match was at Oxford. We were victorious on both occasions.

(The University cricket match took place on 5 and 6 June and the Boat Race on 10 June.)