| Olympic medal record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Men'srowing | ||
 | 1924 Paris | Coxless four |
Charles Ryves Maxwell EleyOBE (16 September 1902 – 15 January 1983) was a Britishrower who competed in the1924 Summer Olympics, winning a gold medal with the British coxless four.[1]
Eley was born inSamford,Suffolk, the eldest of four sons of Charles Cuthbert Eley, a barrister and noted gardener, and Ethel Maxwell Ryves. His great-grandfather co-founded theEley Brothers company. Maxwell was the older brother of banker SirGeoffrey Eley.[2][3][4]
Eley was educated atEton College and first rowed atHenley Royal Regatta in 1921, when Eton won theLadies' Challenge Plate. He then went toTrinity College, Cambridge. At Cambridge, Eley,James MacNabb,Robert Morrison andTerence Sanders, who had rowed together at Eton, made up thecoxless four that in 1922 at Henley won theStewards' Challenge Cup as Eton Vikings and theVisitors' Challenge Cup asThird Trinity Boat Club. They won the Stewards' Challenge Cup again in 1923. Eley rowed forCambridge in theBoat Race in 1924 and also wonSilver Goblets at Henley in 1924 partnering James MacNabb.[5][3]
The coxless four crew won Steward's at Henley again in 1924 and went on to win the gold medal for Great Britain at the1924 Summer Olympics.[3]
Eley was withImperial Chemical Industries. DuringWorld War II he was Deputy Controller of Industrial Ammonia Supplies at theMinistry of Supply from 1940 to 1945. After the war he was Director of Nitrogen Supplies at theBoard of Trade from 1946 to 1947.[6] He was on the Central Agricultural Control Committee and received theO.B.E in the1949 New Year Honours.[7]
Eley lived at East Bergholt Place,East Bergholt, Suffolk where he developed the impressive grounds and arboretum that his father had created into one of the finest private gardens in England. His son Robert was the husband ofBridget Cracroft-Eley.[3]
