William (Bill) Beach (1850 - 1935), by unknown photographer, courtesy of Wollongong City Library and the Illawarra Historical Society. P03\P03460. .Image Details

BEACH, WILLIAM (1850-1935), sculler, was born on 6 September 1850 at Chertsey, Surrey, England, son of Alexander Beach, blacksmith, and his wife Mary, née Gibbons. Before he reached school age the family migrated to New South Wales and joined John Sculfer on his farm at Albion Park. Beach later claimed that his first earnings at 9 were for minding cows on lush feed to stop them 'blowing', and that he then learnt the trade of blacksmith. He lived at Dapto all his life and for some time appears to have been a fisherman. According to local legend, he won his first race as a teenager against a local publican, either for a bottle of brandy or 5s. When Anniversary Day regattas began at Kanahooka Point, Dapto, he had ...

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Source:

Australian Dictionary of Biography