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Matthew Webb

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This article is about the Channel-swimmer. For the footballer, see Matthew Webb (footballer).

Captain
Matthew Webb
Portrait of Matthew Webb
Webb in The Illustrated London News, 1883
Born(1848-01-19)19 January 1848
Dawley, Shropshire, England
Died24 July 1883(1883-07-24) (aged 35)
Niagara River, Niagara Falls
Cause of deathParalysis from water pressure swimming in the Niagara Rapids
Burial placeOakwood Cemetery (Niagara Falls, New York)
MonumentsMonument to Captain Webb, Captain Webb Drive, Webb Crescent, Captain Webb Primary School
Occupation(s)Seaman, swimmer, stuntsman
Years active1875-1883
Known forSwimming the English Channel
SpouseMadeline Kate Chaddock (married 1880-1883)
Children2
Parent(s)Dr. Matthew Webb, Sarah Cartwright Webb
RelativesEdward Webb
AwardsStanhope Medal

Captain Matthew Webb (19 January 1848 – 24 July 1883) was an English seaman, swimmer and stuntman. He is the first recorded person to swim the English Channel for sport without the use of artificial aids. In 1875, Webb swam from Dover to Calais in less than 22 hours. This made him a celebrity, and he performed many stunts in public. He died trying to swim the Niagara Gorge below Niagara Falls, a feat declared impossible.

Early life[edit]

Webb was born on 18[1] or 19[2] January 1848 in High Street, Dawley (now part of Telford), in Shropshire, one of eight sons of fourteen children of the surgeon Dr. Matthew Webb.[2][1] Dr. Matthew Webb, and his wife Sarah Cartwright Webb moved with the family to Madeley High Street in 1849, and then by 1856 to Eastfield House, Coalbrookdale.[2] Matthew Webb was only fourteen months old when moving to Coalbrookdale, which was situated close to the River Severn, which was where he developed his strong swimming abilities.[2][3] At only eight years old, Webb was already a strong swimmer and saved his brothers life when he attempted to swim across the River Thames.[1] After Webb's death, Dawley Heritage determined the original Webb house to be between 57 to 63 High Street.[2]

Career as a seaman[edit]

Webb was inspired to go to sea by the book "Old Jack" by William Henry Giles Kingston,[1] and hence in 1860, at the age of twelve, he joined the training ship HMS Conway as an apprentice for Rathbone Brothers of Liverpool.[2][4] During this time, Webb saved a fellow crew member from drowning.[1] After two years working on the Conway, he enlisted himself for a further three years apprenticeship on their eastern cargo ships, where he traded with East India and China, and completed training to become a second mate.[2][1]

In the summer of 1863, while at home, Webb rescued his 12-year-old brother Thomas from drowning in the Severn near Ironbridge.[3]

From 1866 (when his legal agreements tying him to the Rathbone Brothers expired) to 1875, Webb worked on seven different ships, the last of which was named the Emerald, where he started work in January 1975 and served as captain for six months.[1][2]

On 22 April 1873, whilst serving as second mate on the Cunard Line ship Russia, travelling from New York to Liverpool, Webb attempted to rescue a man overboard by diving into the sea in the mid-Atlantic.[1][2] Webb jumped into the cold water while the boat was travelling at a speed of 14 and a half knots, and ended up remaining in the water for about an hour and a half. Upon being rescued, "the poor brute was nearly drowned".[1]

The man was never found, but in 1974, Webb's daring attempted rescue won him an award of £100 and the first Stanhope Medal, and made him a hero of the British press.[5][2][1]

English Channel swimming record[edit]

Caricature of Webb by Ape, published in the London magazine Vanity Fair in 1875

In 1873, during his sailing career, Webb had read an account of the failed attempt by J. B. Johnson to swim the English Channel, and became inspired to try.[6]

Channel training[edit]

Webb trained first at Lambeth Baths, then in the River Thames, the English Channel and Hollingworth Lake.[6][7]

In 1974, Webb was looking for financial backers for his channel attempt and long swims in general. He first approached Robert Patrick Watson, the owner of the Swimming, Rowing and Athletic Record, asking for help in finding a backer for his channel swim. Watson eventually introduced him to Fred Beckwith, who was a coach at Lambeth Baths in south London.[8]

In September 1974, Watson and Beckwith organised a secret trial of Webb, where they watched him swim breaststroke down the Thames from Westminster Bridge to Regent's Canal Dock. After watching for an hour and twenty minutes, they "grew tired of watching his slow, methodical but perfect breaststroke and magnificent sweep of his ponderous legs", and so concluded Webb's trial.[8]

Beckwith tried to make money from Webb, issuing a statement in the Sporting Life, challenging anyone to swim further than his "unknown amateur" down the Thames, and then trying to place a bet on Webb's successfully swimming across the Channel. However, it was by then too late in the summer of 1974 for a Channel crossing to be completed that year, as the weather was becoming too harsh.[8]

In June 1975, Webb left his job as captain of the Emerald, in order to focus on his swimming feats.[1][6] It was also during this month that future American rival Paul Boyton swam across the channel in 24 hours wearing an inflatable suit.[9]

A month after leaving his job on the Emerald, on the 3 July, Beckwith organised a spectacle by showing Webb setting a record by completing a 20 mile swim between Blackwall and Gravesend along the River Thames in 43-44 hours.[1][2] This record stood until 25 July 1899 when it was beaten by Montague Holbein.[1] Unfortunately for Beckwith, the poor public interest on the rainy day meant that he lost money. As a result, Webb took another manager, Arthur Payne. Payne was the sporting editor of The Standard[8]

In August 1875, Webb announced to the public that he would attempt to swim across the English Channel with the statement from Payne:[1]

"I am authorised by Captain Webb to announce his full determination to attempt the feat of swimming across the Channel... Beyond a paltry bet of £20 to £1 he has nothing to gain by success. Surely, under the circumstances, there are some lovers of sport who would gladly, in sporting language, 'put him on so much to nothing'. Should he by chance succeed, which is extremely improbable, it would be cruel that one who would undoubtedly have performed the greatest athletic feat on record should be a loser by the event."[8]

Channel swim[edit]

On 12 August 1875,[2] Webb made his first cross-Channel swimming attempt, but after seven hours, adverse currents, strong winds and poor sea conditions forced him to abandon the swim.[6][2][8]

On 21 August, J.B. Johnson also attempted the swim, but only swam for an hour before exiting the water due to the cold and his tiredness.[8]

Undeterred by his and Johnson's previous attempts, on the 24 August at 12:56 pm,[2][8] Webb began a second swim by diving in from the Admiralty Pier at Dover.[2] He was backed by a lugger boat called "Ann", and two smaller rowing boats. Among the crew was Arthur Payne, an artist from the Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, Webb's brother-in-law George Ward and three other journalists.[2][8] Smeared in porpoise oil for insulation, he set off into the ebb tide which carried him for the first three quarters of a mile out from shore.[1][6][2][8]

During the morning of August 25, the Sporting Life published a column with the title "Captain Webb's Channel Trip", which reported on the favourable weather conditions and changing tides which had so far carried Webb westward, eastward and then westward again.[8]

Webb swam breaststroke at a stroke rate of about twenty-two strokes per minute. By 17:30, Dover could no longer be seen. At 20:35, Webb was stung by his first jellyfish, which was painful but did not stop him after he had a shot of brandy. By 23:00, the captain believed the party was about twelve and a half miles from Dover, and nine miles from Calais.[8]

Despite stings from jellyfish[10] and strong currents off Cap Gris Nez which prevented him from reaching the shore for five hours,[6] finally, after approximately 21 hours and 40 minutes, at 10:41 am on August 25, he landed near Calais—the first successful cross-channel swim without artificial aid.[10][2] His zig-zag course across the Channel was about 39 miles (66 km) long.[1][11][2] Upon completing the swim, Webb slept in Paris Hotel.[8]

Reception[edit]

Upon completion of the crossing, Beckwith's Sporting Life published the headline "Captain Webb's Great Swimming Feat", which in the lede referenced the paper's previous articles on Webb when Beckwith was his manager, but lifted the main section of the article from Payne's report in The Standard. Contained in The Standard, was Payne's eyewitness account of the crossing, including observations of the weather conditions, Webb's stroke, the water conditions and the marine life.[8]

Upon taking the train to Wellington, Somerset, he was warmly received by a large crowd and a band from the 7th Shropshire Rifles.[2] The crowd removed the horses from the front of his carriage, and drew it by hand to Ironbridge where they were met by another band of the 6th Shropshire Rifle Corps and were welcomed by the Mayor of Wenlock.[2] Webb spent the night in Ironbridge, and was met again in the morning by a group from Dawley.[2] They invited him to "receive the homage of the town of his birth", and then escorted him to Dawley and down the High Street, where the people of the town warmly welcomed him.[2] Webb received many gifts, and £2424 which was raised for him by the people of Shropshire.[2][8]

Swimming career[edit]

After his record swim, Webb basked in national and international adulation, and followed a career as a professional swimmer.[10] To make money, he licensed his name for merchandising such as commemorative pottery and matches,[10] lectured,[2] won prize money for winning events, and was sponsored to complete other swimming related stunts.[2]

Despite his swimming achievements and sponsorships, Webb found it hard to cope with his newfound fame, and, by 1979, had also fallen into financial trouble.[8] To raise funds, Webb toured England competing in long endurance events and completed swimming stunts, including multiple six day races, swimming between twelve and fourteen hours per day.[8]

Webb won the "Swimming Championship of England" in May 1879 at Lambeth Baths against other swimming champions from around England. To win, he swam 74 miles over 6 days, by swimming for roughly 14 hours per day.[2] In September of that year, Webb escalated his achievement to win the "Swimming Championship of the World" against American Paul Boyton, however he was accused of cheating and was not awarded the prize money.[2] In 1980, Webb floated for seventy four hours in the waters of Scarborough Aquarium.[8]

Unfortunately for Webb, his exhibition swims were drawing less attention as time went on, and so in 1980 he brought his feats to America for the first time. Webb was still unsuccessful in America, and lost money on the trip. Undeterred, he returned again to America in 1983, when he beat his own record by floating for one hundred and twenty eight and a half hours (minus a ninety four minute break) in Boston Horticultural Hall. However, his financial situation still did not improve.[8]

He wrote a book called The Art of Swimming.[12]

In 1882, Webb announced that he would attempt to swim through the base of Niagara Falls,[2] a body of water notorious for its rapids and whirlpools.[13]

Webb's last competitive swim was in March 1883, where he raced to swim twenty miles at Lambeth Baths. Webb was forced to quit the race when he was spitting blood as a result of his diagnosed tuberculosis. By this point, Webb had lost so much weight that he was fourty two pounds lighter than when he swam the channel. Consequently, his doctor ordered that he should he should completely quit swimming.[8]

However, driven by his worsening financial situation and desire for fame, Webb did not take the doctors advice. Four months later, he attempted to swim across the Niagara Rapids.[8]

Death in Niagara Rapids[edit]

In June 1883, Webb and his family traveled to America, with the intention to swim in the Niagara Gorge through the Whirlpool Rapids on the Niagara River below Niagara Falls, a feat many observers considered suicidal.[2] Webb originally planned the swim for 21 July, but was unable to find a sponsor,[14] and so cancelled the swim.[2] Despite this, Webb was promised £2000, and was determined to prove he could do it.[2] So, only three days later on July 24 at 16:25, Webb jumped off the side of a ferryboat into the rapids.[2]

Many people considered this swim suicidal, and some even argued that this was Webb's intention. Webb's close friend Robert Watson tried to dissuade him, and later said:

"As we stood face to face I compared the fine, handsome sailor, who first spoke to me about swimming at Falcon Court, with the broken-spirited and terribly altered appearance of the man who courted death in the whirlpool rapids of Niagara... let it be taken for granted that his object was not suicide, but money and imperishable fame."[8]

Before exiting the ferry, the operator tried to dissuade him one final time, but Webb only waved, smiled and said "goodbye boy", before exiting the boat.[2]

Everything went smoothly for the first part of the swim, but upon being lifted by a large wave, Webb shouted and lifted his arm, before being pulled under water by the currents for a distance of about 40 meters.[2][15] He reappeared briefly, but at 16:35, he was sucked into the whirlpool and was never seen alive again.[2]

Four days later, Webb and the two Indians bodies were found. Webb's body had a cut on the forehead, which caused people to assume he was knocked out on a submerged rock, and then died from drowning. However, the autopsy revealed he was paralyzed from the water pressure.[2]

Webb was temporarily interred in Oakwood Cemetery, Niagara Falls, New York, and then reburied once again in Oakwood Cemetary.[16][2] Above the grave was a dark granite Gothic Monument inscribed "Captain Matthew Webb. Born Jan. 19, 1848. Died July 24, 1883".[2]

Personal life[edit]

On 27 April 1880, Webb and Madeline Kate Chaddock were married at St Andrew's Church, West Kensington, and they had two children, Matthew and Helen.[2] Matthew went on to fight in France in World War I, with the South African Forces, but was killed in 1917 at the Ypres Salient.[2] After his death, his wife remarried and moved to South Africa.[2]

Legacy[edit]

Webb significantly increased the popularity of swimming during his lifetime, and shortly after his death, several periodical swimming championships were started, and the Sporting Life attributed much more paper space to swimming.[8]

The pig on the wall postcard[edit]

Some time after Webb's death, in 1909, a postcard was produced which depicted a pig on a wall watching Webb's procession go by. It was produced by the Baldwin Bros., a photography firm in Dawley, around the same time that the Captain Webb Memorial in Dawley was unveiled.[2][17][18]

Memorials[edit]

On 23rd October 1909, funded by public subscriptions, Webb's elder brother Thomas unveiled a memorial at the bottom of Dawley High Street.[2] It took the funding committee just seventeen weeks to fund, build and unveil the memorial.[2] On it reads the short inscription: "Nothing great is easy."[19] The memorial was taken away for repair after a lorry collided with it in February 2009. The landmark memorial was returned after full restoration and was hoisted back onto its plinth in High Street in October 2009.[20]

On 8 June 1910, a second memorial was unveiled for him in Dover.[2][21] Another memorial plaque with his portrait was also unveiled in the parish church at Coalbrookdale.[22]

Places[edit]

Two roads in the town (Captain Webb Drive and Webb Crescent) and the Captain Webb Primary School in Dawley are named after the swimmer.[23]

Webb House of the Haberdashers' Adams Grammar School in Newport, Shropshire, is named after Webb.[24]

Book[edit]

A book about Webb's life was written in 1986 entitled "Nothing Great Is Easy" by author David Elderwick. It has the tagline "The Story of Captain Matthew Webb, The First Man To Swim The English Channel".[25]

Edward Webb[edit]

Matthew Webb's Great Nephew, Edward Webb of Nottingham became the first man to solo para-glide across the English Channel on 12 September 1992. This was 117 years after his Great Uncle crossed the Channel. Edward was just 20 years old at the time but the feat helped to raise £2.5 million pounds in fundraising for the Christian Rescue Services Young Children in Need charity.[26]

Cultural references[edit]

Captain Webb pub, Wellington Road, Wellington

His death inspired a poem by William McGonagall in 1883.[27] John Betjeman's poem "A Shropshire Lad" (1940) also commemorates the death of Webb, portraying his ghost swimming back along the canal to Dawley. It was set to music by Jim Parker and was recorded by folk singer John Kirkpatrick.[28]

Webb's picture on boxes of Bryant and May matches is said to have inspired the physical appearance of the Inspector Clouseau character portrayed originally in the Pink Panther films by Peter Sellers.[29]

An episode of Peabody's Improbable History (a segment of Rocky and Bullwinkle) misidentified him in dialogue and the episode's title as "Captain Clift". It was a sly reference to Peabody's voice being patterned after actor Clifton Webb. The character in the episode did, however, resemble Matthew Webb. The joke name also facilitated Peabody's closing pun about the "White Clifts of Dover".

A 2007 Channel 4 documentary named Swimming: A Brief History[30] suggests that Webb's swim was hugely inspirational. Both his Channel crossing and Niagara Falls downfall are discussed and Webb is described as revered for his 'sporting achievements'. The programme also features an artist's illustration of the 1875 channel swim and describes him consuming "beef tea, beer and brandy" during the event.

In 2009 Jim Howick portrayed Webb during a humorous retelling of his death in Episode 4, Series 1 of the CBBC show Horrible Histories.

Production began in 2014 for a full-length film adaptation about Webb's Channel attempt, initially under the working title The Greatest Englishman.[31] It was directed by Justin Hardy, written by Jemma Kennedy, and starring Warren Brown.[32][33] Released in 2015 under the title Captain Webb,[33] the movie was nominated for a British Film Award the following year,[34] but box office success was limited.[35]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Seccombe, Thomas (1899). "Webb, Matthew" . In Lee, Sidney (ed.). Dictionary of National Biography. Vol. 60. London: Smith, Elder & Co.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at Peel, Malcolm. "Matthew Webb biography". Dawley Heritage Group. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Captain Matthew Webb". Meadow Pit Memorial Gardens. Archived from the original on 30 May 2013. Retrieved 20 June 2012.
  4. ^ "Great Lives: Incredible feat made waves across the world: He was the first man to swim the English Channel but his life ended in tragedy". Shropshire Star. 22 November 2021. pp. 20, 29.Article on Matthew Webb by Toby Neal in a series on Midlands worthies.
  5. ^ Sprawson, Charles. "Webb, Matthew [Captain Webb] (1848–1883)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press. doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/28927. (Subscription or UK public library membership required.)
  6. ^ a b c d e f "The daredevil channel swimmer". BBC Shropshire. 24 September 2014.
  7. ^ "Hollingworth Lake – a 200-year story of glory and tragedy". Manchester Evening News. 24 April 2005.
  8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w James Lambie (2010). The Story of Your Life: A History of the Sporting Life Newspaper (1859–1998). Troubador Publishing Ltd. pp. 173–. ISBN 978-1-84876-291-6.
  9. ^ Irving, Joseph (1879). "Captain Boyton". The Annals of Our Time from March 20, 1874, to the Occupation of Cyprus. London: Macmillan. p. 24.
  10. ^ a b c d Mason, Paul (10 October 2013). "Heroes of swimming: Captain Matthew Webb". The Swimming Blog. The Guardian.
  11. ^ "How The Channel First Was Swum. Captain Webb, Son of a Physician, Received Training as Sailor in China Trade. Killed in Niagara River. Tried to Cross Rapids in 1883 and Was Lost". The New York Times. 23 August 1925.
  12. ^ The Art of Swimming at the HathiTrust Digital Library
  13. ^ "HISTORY: Shooting the Rapids in Niagara Falls | Niagara Falls". Bed and Breakfast Niagara on the Lake. 30 June 2017. Retrieved 25 June 2024.
  14. ^ "Capt. Webb Missing Yet. No Trace of His Body Found by the Anxious Searchers". The New York Times. 26 July 1883.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  15. ^ "Captain Webb's Manager" (PDF). The New York Times. 29 July 1883. p. 10. Retrieved 26 June 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  16. ^ "Captain Webb". The Globe and Mail. 1 August 1883.
  17. ^ "Shropshire youngsters imagine back story to Dawley's Pig On The Wall for competition". www.shropshirestar.com. 28 April 2017. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  18. ^ "Memorial to Captain Webb, Dawley, Telford and Wrekin | Educational Images | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 24 June 2024.
  19. ^ "Monument to Captain Matthew Webb (1848–1883)". National Recording Project. Public Monuments and Sculpture Association. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  20. ^ "Webb memorial is restored to town". BBC News. 1 October 2009. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  21. ^ Sencicle, Lorraine (3 January 2015). "Captain Matthew Webb – the first Person to swim the Channel". The Dover Historian. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  22. ^ "Shropshire's Captain Matthew Webb Named As Unsung Hero". Shropshire Tourism. 17 November 2009. Archived from the original on 23 August 2018. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  23. ^ Haigh, Gerald (3 September 1999). "Names to live up to". Tes. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  24. ^ Daily News of Open Water Swimming (25 December 2013). "Landmarks, Monuments, Memorials of Open Water Swimmers".
  25. ^ "Nothing Great is Easy: The Story of Captain Matthew Web…".
  26. ^ "You searched for edward webb".
  27. ^ McGonagall, William (1883). "The Death of Captain Webb". McGonagall Online.
  28. ^ "A Shropshire Lad". Mainly Norfolk. Retrieved 22 August 2018.
  29. ^ Nixon, Rob. "The Big Idea: The Pink Panther". TCM. Retrieved 31 May 2014.
  30. ^ "Swimming: A Brief History". YouTube.
  31. ^ "Captain Webb (2015) – Release info". IMDb.
  32. ^ Potton, Ed. "How Warren Brown went from kick boxer to actor".
  33. ^ a b "Captain Webb (2015)". IMDb.
  34. ^ "Captain Webb". IMDb.
  35. ^ "Captain Webb (2015) – Financial Information".

Further reading[edit]

External links[edit]

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