1. John Hulley was an English gymnastics and athletics entrepreneur who encouraged public participation in physical education to improve health and well-being, and was one of the instigators of the Olympic movement in Britain.
37 Facts About John Hulley
1. 2.
John Hulley organised a series of Assault-at-Arms gymnastic events in Liverpool and Manchester.
3.
John Hulley organised six Olympic Festivals between 1862 and 1867 in Liverpool and Llandudno.
4.
John Hulley was born on 19 February 1832 at 10 Gloucester Street, Liverpool, Lancashire, the only son of John Nevitt Hulley surgeon, and his wife Elizabeth Speed of Overton, Flintshire.
5.
John Hulley was baptised at St David's Church, Brownlow Hill, Liverpool on 19 July 1832.
6.
John Hulley's ancestors came from Frodsham and previously Rainow in Cheshire.
7.
From an early age Hulley had a keen interest in physical activities, education and fitness.
8.
John Hulley was taught by Louis Huguenin, the famous French gymnast who had settled in Liverpool in 1844 as a teacher of Gymnastics.
9.
John Hulley attended Huguenin's school in a court at the top of Lord Street for several years before matriculating from the Collegiate Institute, Shaw Street, Liverpool in 1850.
10.
John Hulley was destined to succeed his teacher and became the uncrowned king of the local gymnasts.
11.
The Mercury's report acknowledged the work of John Hulley in making a success of the festival.
12.
Melly addressed the invited guests and explained that judging from the success of the Rotunda Gymnasium, and the large receipts from its subscribers during its short career, it was believed that if the services of Mr John Hulley could be secured then an institution might be founded which would be not only of benefit to the public, but to those who gave their money to it.
13.
John Hulley again organised the festival which included an athletic meeting held on the side of the Great Orme and a Grand Procession of Illuminated Boats on the Bay.
14.
John Hulley followed this event by organising a swimming fete for juveniles at the same venue on 27 July 1866.
15.
John Hulley addressed a large gathering on the Parade and spoke about the need for British holiday resorts to follow the lead of those on the continent in the matter of dress.
16.
John Hulley's speech was reported in the Pall Mall Gazette of 7 September 1866.
17.
John Hulley, with help from William Penny Brookes and Ernst Ravenstein, staged Britain's first National Olympian Games held on 31 July 1866 by the River Thames at Teddington for aquatic events and 1 August 1866 at the Crystal Palace Park Cricket Ground for other events.
18.
In planning for the forthcoming Olympic Festival in Liverpool, John Hulley drew attention to his decision that all the contests would be open to amateurs only.
19.
John Hulley had taken the most stringent precautions that not only the "professional" but the "semi-professional" element would be strictly excluded and it was among these classes that disputes and disturbances most frequently arose.
20.
John Hulley gave a long speech at the former venue and offered this advice:.
21.
John Hulley was a patron of the Mercantile Assistants' Athletic Festival which took place at Spekeland Park, Smithdown Lane, Liverpool on 11 July 1868.
22.
John Hulley eventually procured a velocipede from Paris and organised a "Velocipede Club" at the Liverpool Gymnasium.
23.
John Hulley went on to criticise Hulley as "one of the most, it not the most unpopular man in the town, though whether that is his fault or his misfortune is not for me to determine".
24.
John Hulley acknowledged that Hulley was undoubtedly a public benefactor, but went on to suggest that everyone in Liverpool was familiar "with his grotesque figure" and his hair reminded him of the waves in The Tempest.
25.
On 16 July 1869 at the Ancient Unitarian Chapel, Toxteth Park, John Hulley married Georgiana Bolton, only daughter of Mr Robert Lewin Bolton, merchant of Liverpool and granddaughter of Thomas Bolton who was Mayor of Liverpool in 1840.
26.
Apart from a brief mention in an event at the Gymnasium in February 1873, John Hulley faded from the public spotlight after being in its glare for over 12 years.
27.
John Hulley was survived by his wife Georgiana and daughter Georgiana Theodosis.
28.
John Hulley's funeral was conducted by Hugh Stowell Brown, a well-known Baptist minister.
29.
John Hulley was at one time apparently a very popular man in Liverpool, but there were not more than a dozen people at his funeral.
30.
John Hulley looked to improve physical health in the vicinity of where people in the age of industry ordinarily lived and worked.
31.
Until now, John Hulley has suffered from obscurity following his early death.
32.
The plaque commemorating the life and work of the Liverpool Gymnasiarch John Hulley was unveiled on Friday 25 April 2014 by the Lord-Lieutenant of Merseyside and the Lord Mayor of Liverpool at the Lifestyles Park Road Sports Centre.
33.
John Hulley congratulated the managers upon having in Mr Hulley a director, who is working not merely for the salary he earns, and which they will be the first to admit is a very inadequate recompense for his labour, but who is working out of a real and enthusiastic interest in the business he is employed to do.
34.
Mr John Hulley was well known in Liverpool as a most enthusiastic teacher of gymnastic exercises, and by his advocacy of the importance and value of physical training, he was mainly instrumental in the forming of the Gymnasium Company of Liverpool, and in the subsequent erection of the fine building now standing in Myrtle-street for gymnastic purposes.
35.
An account of John Hulley's life was featured in the Liverpool Citizen of 25 February 1888 by an unknown writer who obviously had a close association with him.
36.
YES, it is perfectly true that Liverpool, once upon a time, possessed a real live gymnasiarch, and it is equally true that John Hulley was the man.
37.
John Hulley began to define Olympism long before the formation of the International Olympic Committee.