A Liverpool Exemplar - John Hulley

John Hulley was born on the 19th February 1832 at 10 Gloucester Street, Liverpool, the only son of John Nevitt Hulley, surgeon, and his wife Elizabeth Speed. From an early age he had a keen interest in physical activities, education and fitness. He was taught by Louis Huguenin, the famous French gymnast who had settled in Liverpool in 1844 as a teacher of Gymnastics. John 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. John was destined to succeed his teacher and became the uncrowned king of the local gymnasts.

The Rotunda, next to The Lyceum, Bold Street

In January 1858 John Hulley and cotton merchant Charles Pierre Melly, an ancestor of the musician George Melly, founded the Liverpool Athletic Club at the Rotunda Gymnasium, Bold Street, Liverpool. In 1861 John delivered speeches on the role of physical education in which he stressed the need for physical as well as mental excellence. In his short life, John Hulley would organise six Olympic festivals – four in Liverpool (1862/63/64 /67) and two in Llandudno, North Wales (1865/66) – described as the forerunners to the modern Olympic games. The first Liverpool Olympic Festival took place at Mount Vernon Parade Ground in June 1862 and saw crowds of up to 10,000 gather to watch athletes and gymnasts compete across a variety of disciplines. The second Olympic Festival was held on the 13th June 1863 also at the Mount Vernon Parade Ground in front of 12,000 to 15,000 spectators followed by a third which took place in the Zoological Gardens on 9 July 1864. His prowess in the field of physical education was formally recognised by the Wenlock Olympian Society in October 1864 when they elected him to honorary membership and awarded him a silver medal as a mark of their appreciation of his talented and valuable services in the cause of physical education.

The sixth Olympic Festival was held on the 28th June 1867 at the Myrtle Street gymnasium and continued on the 29th June at the Sheil Park Athletic Grounds, Liverpool. In planning for it John Hulley drew attention to his decision that all the contests would be open to amateurs only. He had taken the most stringent precautions that not only the 'professional' but the 'semi-professional' element would be strictly excluded as it was among these classes that disputes and disturbances most frequently arose. This could possibly be the first occasion in which the differences between professional and amateur sportsmen came into the public arena.

In January 1869 he recognised the commercial potential of the new velocipede in relation to exercises and gymnastics and contacted several of the principle makers in Paris, New York and elsewhere. He procured a velocipede from Paris and organised a 'Velocipede Club' at the Liverpool Gymnasium. On the 22nd of May 1869, together with a committee, he organised a number of bicycle races held at the racecourse at Hoylake where 1000 people watched the events.

Memorial Statue on the River Mersey Promenade

John Hulley faded from the public spotlight after being in its glare for over 12 years and the severe winter in Liverpool in 1874-75 proved fatal and he died on the 6th January 1875 at 91 Grove Street, Liverpool, aged 42. Many acknowledgements and tributes to John Hulley's devotion to physical education were made during his lifetime and a statue was unveiled by Princess Anne on June 14th 2019.

see also:- http://www.thefootballvoice.com/2020/09/a-liverpool-exemplar-lucy-cradock.html