Jack
Wilson, right, with his rowing partner Ran Laurie
With the
wonderful news of British sporting success in the 2012 London Olympics it seems
right to remember some Budleigh residents of the past who may have inspired
today's champions.
John
Hyrne Tucker Wilson, known as Jack Wilson, was a British rowing champion and
Olympic gold medallist whose family lived at Elvestone on Fore Street Hill. Born
on 17 September 1914 in Bristol, Rhode Island, USA,
to British parents, he was educated in Texas
and ShrewsburySchool
in Shropshire, before attending PembrokeCollege, Cambridge.
While
at Cambridge, he rowed in three successive Boat
Races (1934–36) in which Cambridge defeated Oxford. During the 1935
and 1936 races, he rowed alongside Ran Laurie, father of the actor Hugh Laurie,
who became his rowing partner after Cambridge
and a life-long friend.
After
graduating from University, Wilson took a post as a District Commissioner with
the Sudan Political Service, missing an opportunity to partic…