Cowes timeline

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1272 - The earliest record of East Shamlord, now East Cowes district.

1539/40 - Henrician forts built at
East and West Cowes.

1545 - Henry VIII’s ship the Mary
Rose sank in the Solent.

1600s – Shipbuilding at East Cowes including Joseph Nye in the 1690s.

1750s - Smuggling was already a problem.

1775 - Rice and other products from South Carolina and Georgia were
being unloaded at Cowes.

1777 - William Arnold appointed as Collector of Customs at East Cowes.

1788 - Sea bathing became popular at West Cowes and early sailing matches took place.

1794 - Report that the harbour was full of ships and that horses were being landed for Hessian troops stationed on the Island.

1803 - Shipbuilder, Thomas White (1773-18) bought Nye’s Yard at East Cowes.

1814 - First mention of an ‘Isle of Wight Annual Regatta’.

1815 - The Yacht Club founded at Thatched House Tavern in London. Meetings held
at the Medina House Hotel, East Cowes.

1820 - The Yacht Club becomes the Royal Yacht Club under the patronage of
George IV.

1826 - At 9.30am on the 10th August the first Cowes Week race officially started.

1833 - The Royal Yacht Club becomes the Royal Yacht Squadron by permission of
William IV.

1851 - Visit of the schooner America and the ‘Round the Island Race’ that started the America’s Cup.

1857 - The Royal Yacht Squadron moves into West Cowes Castle.

1870 - First torpedo boats built by J. Samuel White.

1901 - Death of Queen Victoria at Osborne House, East Cowes.

1902 - S E Saunders moved his boatbuilding business, from Goring-on-Thames to
West Cowes.

1913 - S E Saunders won the contract as sole builder of lifeboats for the RNLI
until 1919.

1929 - S E Saunders Ltd became Saunders-Roe Ltd.

1936 - The yacht Britannia is scuttled off St Catherine’s following the death of
King George V.

1937 - Saunders-Roe built Bluebird in which Sir Malcolm Campbell set several world
water speed records.

1942 - 4th/5th May. Night bombing by Germans during WWII. The Polish Destroyer,
Blyskawica’s guns save both towns.

1959 - First hovercraft built by Saunders-Roe Ltd.

1970s - Cowes Maritime Museum began when library staff started collecting plans,
photographs and models from the shipbuilding firm J. Samuel White.

1977 - A giant Union Jack is painted a on the door of the Columbine shed to celebrate the Silver Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth II.

1981 - White’s former yard finally closed.

2001 - The America's Cup Jubilee. A celebration of the 150th anniversary
of the event.

Page last updated on: 01/09/2011