Herbert Southwell

Herbert Southwell was killed in action during the Battle of the Somme on 15 September 1916. On the same day that he lost his life, Richard Stanhope was also killed in action. Coincidentally, the two men were reserves to the Magdalen College coxless fours that won the gold medal at the 1908 London Olympics. Furthermore, two other members of the crew, Duncan Mackinnon and Robert Somers-Smith, also lost their lives during the 1914-18 hostilities.

Southwell was the son of the Reverend Herbert Burrows Southwell, the Canon of Worcester Cathedral, who was a triple rowing Blue at Oxford 1878-80 and Grand Challenge winner at Henley (1880). Herbert junior was educated at Yarlet Hall School near Stafford, before going on to Eton and then Magdalen College, Oxford. He rowed at Eton and was also a member of the Eton College Rifle Volunteers. After going to Oxford, Southwell was stroke to the winning Head of the River Magdalen eight in 1905 and 1906. He also won the University Fours in 1905 and 1907, and the Stewards’ Challenge Cup at Henley (1907) when Magdalen beat the Leander Club. He was spare man to the Boat Race crew in 1906, but went on to become a double Blue in 1907 and 1908.

After leaving Oxford, Southwell studied art in Berlin and at the Sorbonne in Paris before taking a job as an assistant master at Shrewsbury School, teaching French and Classics. He also coached the school rowing eight and led them to a first Henley appearance in 1912. Southwell was very popular with both students and fellow masters alike.

At the start World War I Southwell was gazetted into the 13th Battalion of the Rifle Brigade as a temporary second lieutenant. He served in France from 1915 and spent most of his time in the trenches. He was killed during the Battle of the Somme and had reached the rank of captain at the time. He is commemorated with a stained-glass window at Worcester Cathedral.