Charles Rought joined the Thames Rowing Club in 1908 and was a member up to the outbreak of World War I, when he enlisted in the Artists’ Rifles before obtaining a commission as a lieutenant in the Queen’s Royal West Surrey Regiment. Unfortunately, most of the War saw him held as a prisoner of war after being captured during an unofficial truce in December 1914, and he spent the rest of the hostilities in captivity. Rought was released on 14 December 1918, and six weeks later died in a London hospital, allegedly after eating a bad oyster at his Surrey home.
Rought was educated at Bristol’s Clifton College between 1896-1901. He played rugby for Clifton RUFC and rowed for the Bristol Ariel Rowing Club, and was in their coxed fours that won at the Reading Amateur Regatta in 1906. After joining Thames RC, Rought enjoyed success in the Stewards’ Cup at Henley in 1909 and 1911. His finest moment, however, was in 1912 when he won the Diamond Sculls at Henley with Bruce Logan , a year after they lost the semi-final after dead-heating with Julius Beresford and Arthur Cloutte, before a toss of a coin decided which pair went through to the final. Rought and Logan, along with Beresford, Karl Vernon and Geoffrey Carr, were all members of the Thames coxed fours that won the silver medal at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics.
Great Britain