Charles ELEY

Britain’s coxless four at the 1924 Olympics were a remarkable well attuned crew. Maxwell Eley, James McNabb, Robert Morrison and Terence Sanders had all rowed together at Eton and continued their partnership when they went up to Trinity College, Cambridge. At Henley in 1922 this notable four won the Stewards’, having entered as Eton Vikings, and then won the Visitors’ representing Third Trinity. They won the Stewards’ again in 1923 and 1924 and maintained their unbeaten record with an easy victory at the Olympic Games. Maxwell Eley, who sat at bow in the Olympic Four, first rowed at Henley in 1921, when Eton won the Ladies’ plate. He was a member of the winning Cambridge crew in the 1924 Boat Race and won the Goblets that year, partnered by his fellow Olympic gold medalist, James McNabb. He was also a member of winning Leander crews in the Grand. After a working life spent with ICI, Maxwell Eley retired to the family estate at East Bergholt in Suffolk where he developed the impressive grounds and arboretum which had been created by his father into one of the finest private gardens in England.