The Boat Race 1840

[7] The umpires for the race were Calverley Bewicke (for Oxford) and Charles Jasper Selwyn (for Cambridge), while W. H. Harrison, the Commodore of the Royal Thames Yacht Club, was the referee.

[11] Cambridge saw former Blues Alfred Shadwell and cox Thomas Selby Egan return, while Oxford's crew also contained two veterans of the race, in Samuel Maberly and R. G.

[12] With a number of steamers blocking the route, Oxford made a good start and took an early lead.

The wake of the steamers caused rough water in which both crews struggled to maintain a consistent rhythm.

The lead had extended by the time the crews passed below Vauxhall Bridge and was nearly three lengths by the Spread Eagle pub.