William Sully Unwin was an English clergyman and amateur rower

Rowing (sport)

Rowing is a sport in which athletes race against each other on rivers, on lakes or on the ocean, depending upon the type of race and the discipline. The boats are propelled by the reaction forces on the oar blades as they are pushed against the water...

. He won the Diamond Challenge Sculls

Diamond Challenge Sculls

The Diamond Challenge Sculls is a rowing event for men's single sculls at the annual Henley Royal Regatta on the River Thames at Henley-on-Thames in England...

 at Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta

Henley Royal Regatta is a rowing event held every year on the River Thames by the town of Henley-on-Thames, England. The Royal Regatta is sometimes referred to as Henley Regatta, its original name pre-dating Royal patronage...

 and the Wingfield Sculls in 1884 and 1885, and rowed for Oxford

Oxford University Boat Club

The Oxford University Boat Club is the rowing club of the University of Oxford, England, located on the River Thames at Oxford. The club was founded in the early 19th century....

 in the Boat Race in 1885 and 1886.

Unwin was born at Rotherham

Rotherham

Rotherham is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Don, at its confluence with the River Rother, between Sheffield and Doncaster. Rotherham, at from Sheffield City Centre, is surrounded by several smaller settlements, which together form the wider Metropolitan Borough of...

, Yorkshire

Yorkshire

Yorkshire is a historic county of northern England and the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its great size in comparison to other English counties, functions have been increasingly undertaken over time by its subdivisions, which have also been subject to periodic reform...

, the son of William Unwin and his wife Elizabeth. His father was a tutor at Oxford

Oxford

The city of Oxford is the county town of Oxfordshire, England. The city, made prominent by its medieval university, has a population of just under 165,000, with 153,900 living within the district boundary. It lies about 50 miles north-west of London. The rivers Cherwell and Thames run through...

 living at Park Town in 1881. He was of the non-collegiate St Catherine's Society, Oxford  and rowed for Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College, Oxford

Magdalen College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Oxford in England. As of 2006 the college had an estimated financial endowment of £153 million. Magdalen is currently top of the Norrington Table after over half of its 2010 finalists received first-class degrees, a record...

. In 1884 he won the OUBC Sculls, the Diamond Challenge Sculls at Henley and the Wingfield Sculls. He won the same three races in 1885, and was also bow in the winning Oxford boat in the Boat Race. In 1886 he was in the Boat Race again but lost the Wingfield Sculls to F I Pitman

Frederick I Pitman

Frederick Islay Pitman was a British rower who rowed in the Boat Race three times and won the Diamond Challenge Sculls and the Wingfield Sculls in 1886.-Biography:...

, whom he had beaten in the previous year.

Unwin became a clergyman and in 1895 was in Kewick

Keswick, Cumbria

Keswick is a market town and civil parish within the Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria, England. It had a population of 4,984, according to the 2001 census, and is situated just north of Derwent Water, and a short distance from Bassenthwaite Lake, both in the Lake District National Park...

 where he attempted to establish a rowing club. Later he had a living in Norfolk. In 1933 he was active in establishing the Council for the Preservation of Rural England in Norfolk.

Unwin married Mary Frances Sully at Bridgwater in 1905.