William Penny Brookes
Encyclopedia
Dr. William Penny Brookes (13 August 1809 – 11 December 1895) was an English surgeon
, magistrate, botanist
, and educationalist especially known for his promotion of physical education and personal betterment. Motivated by Ancient Greek ideals of the all-round, engaged man, he founded a reading society in 1850 for the education of the working classes, and an Olympian branch of this organisation organised a Games in his town in 1859. The success was such that they founded the Wenlock Olympian Society the year after, in 1860. Brookes was born, lived, worked and died in the small market town of Much Wenlock
, Shropshire
, England
, and was partly educated in Italy
and France
. His active campaign to get Physical Education
on the school curriculum brought him into contact with Baron Pierre de Coubertin
. In 1890, the young French aristocrat
visited Much Wenlock and stayed with Dr Brookes. The Society staged a mock Games especially for the Baron and, inspired by the event and his discussions with Brookes, Coubertin went on to set up the International Olympic Committee
in 1894 which was followed by the Athens 1896 Olympic Games that came under the auspices of the Committee.
Dr. Brookes was a social reformer, who tirelessly campaigned to give opportunities for "every grade of man" to expand their knowledge and become mentally and physically fit. He established the Agricultural Reading Society to help local people to read in 1841. He established the Olympian Class of that Society in 1850 to help local people to keep fit. It was this Olympian Class that was renamed to Wenlock Olympian Games in 1859. He also opened the door for the working class to enter competitive sport, which, in the United Kingdom, had previously been the privilege of only the elite.
, where his father, William Brookes, was a local doctor. He studied medicine in London
, and then traveled to Italy to study at Padua
, famous for the Orto botanico di Padova, its 16th century herb gardens, where he developed his interest in herbal medicines and botany. During further medical studies in Paris at the Sorbonne University, he learned of his father's death, and, returning to Much Wenlock in 1831, inherited the family home and his father's large medical practice.
As a botanist, he provided information on plants growing around Much Wenlock for Charles Hulbert
's The History and Description of the County of Salop (1837), and William Allport Leighton
's Flora of Shropshire (1841). His herbarium is held at the Much Wenlock Museum. He also became actively involved in the local community, becoming a Justice of the Peace
in 1841 and remaining an active magistrate for nearly 40 years. It is likely that he would have been confronted with cases of petty crime, drunkenness, and theft in the local community, which could have influenced his desire to develop the need for structured physical exercise and education for the working classes. Also in 1841, he founded the Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society, an early lending library "for the promotion and diffusion of useful information". From these endeavours evolved various lecture classes including art, music, botany and subsequently the Wenlock Olympian Class.. All the lectures and the library founded by Dr. Brookes were open to "all grade of man," such egalitarianism being the subject of criticism.
In 1850, the Agricultural Reading Society resolved to establish a class called "The Olympian Class", "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in Athletic exercise and proficiency in Intellectual and industrial attainments". The first meeting was held in October 1850, and included athletics and country sports such as quoits, football and cricket. The event quickly expanded, and within a few years attracted competitors from as far away as London and Liverpool.
Brookes was a Philhellene, greatly respecting ancient Greek democratic ideals, wherein all men were allowed and indeed expected to vote, take an active part in governance, and compete in sport. In nineteenth century Britain it was only young men educated at public schools or the sons of professionals who were able to enter competitive sport; Brookes applied the ethos of the ancient Olympic Games, holding that they were open to "every grade of man," to allow working class men to compete in sport.
When the first Wenlock Olympian Games were staged in 1859, there was heavy criticism of Brookes's insistence that the Games be open to "every grade of man". It was felt that such an event would cause rioting, lewd behaviour, and that men would leave their wives. Brookes tirelessly avoided requests to limit the Games to the pupils of public schools and the sons of professionals. The Games were a huge success and none of the threatened disturbances occurred.
In 1859, Brookes established contact with the organisers of an Olympic Games revival
in Athens
sponsored by Evangelis Zappas. In 1860, the Class officially became the Wenlock Olympian Society, adopted some of the athletics events from the Athens games, and added them to their program. The first athlete to be listed on the honour roll of the Society was Petros Velissariou (an ethnic Greek from Smyrna
, in the Ottoman Empire
) who was one of the first international Olympians. In 1865, Brookes helped establish the National Olympian Association based in Liverpool. Their first Olympic Games, a national event, held in 1866 at The Crystal Palace
, London, was a success and attracted a crowd of over ten thousand spectators. W.G. Grace, who would later gain fame as a cricketer, won the hurdles event. The Amateur Athletic Club, later to become the Amateur Athletics Association, was formed as a rival organisation to the National Olympian Association. In 1877, he requested an Olympian prize from Greece in honour of Queen Victoria's jubilee. In response, King George I of Greece
sent a silver cup which was presented at the National Olympian Games held in Shrewsbury. This brought Brookes into contact with the Greek government, but his attempts to organise an international Olympian Festival in Athens in 1881 failed.
Brookes was also heavily involved in many other local activities. He became Chairman of the Wenlock Gas Company in 1856, which first brought lighting to the town. He was a Commissioner for Roads in the area, and also became a Director of both the Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway Company. The first train to Wenlock coincided with the Wenlock Olympian Games of 1861. He managed the Much Wenlock National School, where, in 1871, he helped introduce drill and physical exercise into the curriculum. He believed that as children at the school were likely to be employed in jobs that required physical strength, such as farming or quarrying, development of their physical strength was equally as important as their mental ability.
When undertaking his own education, Brookes had always sought the very best teachers. Hence his travel to Padua
in Italy, one of the finest place in the world at that time for learning about herbal medicine and botany, where the medical university is located in the grounds of the medieval herb gardens. Again he went to the Sorbonne
in Paris to seek the best teacher in the field. Brookes was also progressive for his day in noting the link between mental and physical agility.
In 1889, he invited Baron Pierre de Coubertin
, the organiser of an International Congress on Physical Education, to Much Wenlock. Meetings between Dr. Brookes and Baron de Coubertain took place at The Raven Hotel (as did the feast which concluded each year’s Olympian Games), and today in The Raven Hotel there are displayed many artefacts from those early years, including original letters from Baron Pierre de Coubertain to William Penny Brookes. A meeting of the Wenlock Olympian Games was held in de Coubertin's honour in 1890, with much pageantry. On his return to France, de Coubertin gave a glowing account of his stay in an article, "Les Jeux Olympiques à Much Wenlock", and referred to his host's efforts to revive the Olympics. He wrote : "If the Olympic Games that Modern Greece has not yet been able to revive still survives today, it is due, not to a Greek, but to Dr W P Brookes" (a moot point since international Olympic Games had already been held in 1859, 1870 and 1875 in Athens and events from the 1859 Olympic Games sponsored by Evangelis Zappas were adopted in to the programme of future Wenlock Olympian Games). Although de Coubertin later sought to downplay Brookes's influence, he kept in touch with him for several years and sent him a gold medal to be used at the Wenlock games.
Brookes died four months before the 1896 Summer Olympics
, under the auspices of the nternational Olympic Committee], was held in Athens in 1896.
The Wenlock Olympian Society
maintains his original ideals, and continues to organise annual games. The William Brookes School in Much Wenlock is named after him.
Surgeon
In medicine, a surgeon is a specialist in surgery. Surgery is a broad category of invasive medical treatment that involves the cutting of a body, whether human or animal, for a specific reason such as the removal of diseased tissue or to repair a tear or breakage...
, magistrate, botanist
Botany
Botany, plant science, or plant biology is a branch of biology that involves the scientific study of plant life. Traditionally, botany also included the study of fungi, algae and viruses...
, and educationalist especially known for his promotion of physical education and personal betterment. Motivated by Ancient Greek ideals of the all-round, engaged man, he founded a reading society in 1850 for the education of the working classes, and an Olympian branch of this organisation organised a Games in his town in 1859. The success was such that they founded the Wenlock Olympian Society the year after, in 1860. Brookes was born, lived, worked and died in the small market town of Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock
Much Wenlock, earlier known as Wenlock, is a small town in central Shropshire, England. It is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford...
, Shropshire
Shropshire
Shropshire is a county in the West Midlands region of England. For Eurostat purposes, the county is a NUTS 3 region and is one of four counties or unitary districts that comprise the "Shropshire and Staffordshire" NUTS 2 region. It borders Wales to the west...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, and was partly educated in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. His active campaign to get Physical Education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
on the school curriculum brought him into contact with Baron Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French educationalist and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games...
. In 1890, the young French aristocrat
Aristocracy (class)
The aristocracy are people considered to be in the highest social class in a society which has or once had a political system of Aristocracy. Aristocrats possess hereditary titles granted by a monarch, which once granted them feudal or legal privileges, or deriving, as in Ancient Greece and India,...
visited Much Wenlock and stayed with Dr Brookes. The Society staged a mock Games especially for the Baron and, inspired by the event and his discussions with Brookes, Coubertin went on to set up the International Olympic Committee
International Olympic Committee
The International Olympic Committee is an international corporation based in Lausanne, Switzerland, created by Pierre de Coubertin on 23 June 1894 with Demetrios Vikelas as its first president...
in 1894 which was followed by the Athens 1896 Olympic Games that came under the auspices of the Committee.
Dr. Brookes was a social reformer, who tirelessly campaigned to give opportunities for "every grade of man" to expand their knowledge and become mentally and physically fit. He established the Agricultural Reading Society to help local people to read in 1841. He established the Olympian Class of that Society in 1850 to help local people to keep fit. It was this Olympian Class that was renamed to Wenlock Olympian Games in 1859. He also opened the door for the working class to enter competitive sport, which, in the United Kingdom, had previously been the privilege of only the elite.
Life
William Penny Brookes was born in Much WenlockMuch Wenlock
Much Wenlock, earlier known as Wenlock, is a small town in central Shropshire, England. It is situated on the A458 road between Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth. Nearby, to the northeast, is the Ironbridge Gorge, and the new town of Telford...
, where his father, William Brookes, was a local doctor. He studied medicine in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, and then traveled to Italy to study at Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
, famous for the Orto botanico di Padova, its 16th century herb gardens, where he developed his interest in herbal medicines and botany. During further medical studies in Paris at the Sorbonne University, he learned of his father's death, and, returning to Much Wenlock in 1831, inherited the family home and his father's large medical practice.
As a botanist, he provided information on plants growing around Much Wenlock for Charles Hulbert
Charles Hulbert
-Life:The son of Thomas Hulbert of Hulbert Green, near Cheadle, Cheshire, he was born in Manchester on 18 February 1778, and educated at the grammar school of Halton, Cheshire...
's The History and Description of the County of Salop (1837), and William Allport Leighton
William Allport Leighton
-Life:He was the only son of William Leighton, by Lucy Maria, daughter and coheiress of John Allport of Prescot, near Baschurch, Shropshire. His father was the keeper of the Talbot Hotel in Shrewsbury, and the son was born there on 17 May 1805. He went to school at the Manse on Claremont Hill,...
's Flora of Shropshire (1841). His herbarium is held at the Much Wenlock Museum. He also became actively involved in the local community, becoming a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
in 1841 and remaining an active magistrate for nearly 40 years. It is likely that he would have been confronted with cases of petty crime, drunkenness, and theft in the local community, which could have influenced his desire to develop the need for structured physical exercise and education for the working classes. Also in 1841, he founded the Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society, an early lending library "for the promotion and diffusion of useful information". From these endeavours evolved various lecture classes including art, music, botany and subsequently the Wenlock Olympian Class.. All the lectures and the library founded by Dr. Brookes were open to "all grade of man," such egalitarianism being the subject of criticism.
In 1850, the Agricultural Reading Society resolved to establish a class called "The Olympian Class", "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in Athletic exercise and proficiency in Intellectual and industrial attainments". The first meeting was held in October 1850, and included athletics and country sports such as quoits, football and cricket. The event quickly expanded, and within a few years attracted competitors from as far away as London and Liverpool.
Brookes was a Philhellene, greatly respecting ancient Greek democratic ideals, wherein all men were allowed and indeed expected to vote, take an active part in governance, and compete in sport. In nineteenth century Britain it was only young men educated at public schools or the sons of professionals who were able to enter competitive sport; Brookes applied the ethos of the ancient Olympic Games, holding that they were open to "every grade of man," to allow working class men to compete in sport.
When the first Wenlock Olympian Games were staged in 1859, there was heavy criticism of Brookes's insistence that the Games be open to "every grade of man". It was felt that such an event would cause rioting, lewd behaviour, and that men would leave their wives. Brookes tirelessly avoided requests to limit the Games to the pupils of public schools and the sons of professionals. The Games were a huge success and none of the threatened disturbances occurred.
In 1859, Brookes established contact with the organisers of an Olympic Games revival
Zappas Olympics
The Zappas Olympics , simply called Olympics at the time, were a series of athletic events held in Athens, Greece, in 1859, 1870, and 1875 sponsored by the Greek businessman Evangelis Zappas. These games were the first revival of the ancient Olympic Games in the modern era...
in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
sponsored by Evangelis Zappas. In 1860, the Class officially became the Wenlock Olympian Society, adopted some of the athletics events from the Athens games, and added them to their program. The first athlete to be listed on the honour roll of the Society was Petros Velissariou (an ethnic Greek from Smyrna
Smyrna
Smyrna was an ancient city located at a central and strategic point on the Aegean coast of Anatolia. Thanks to its advantageous port conditions, its ease of defence and its good inland connections, Smyrna rose to prominence. The ancient city is located at two sites within modern İzmir, Turkey...
, in the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
) who was one of the first international Olympians. In 1865, Brookes helped establish the National Olympian Association based in Liverpool. Their first Olympic Games, a national event, held in 1866 at The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace
The Crystal Palace was a cast-iron and glass building originally erected in Hyde Park, London, England, to house the Great Exhibition of 1851. More than 14,000 exhibitors from around the world gathered in the Palace's of exhibition space to display examples of the latest technology developed in...
, London, was a success and attracted a crowd of over ten thousand spectators. W.G. Grace, who would later gain fame as a cricketer, won the hurdles event. The Amateur Athletic Club, later to become the Amateur Athletics Association, was formed as a rival organisation to the National Olympian Association. In 1877, he requested an Olympian prize from Greece in honour of Queen Victoria's jubilee. In response, King George I of Greece
George I of Greece
George I was King of Greece from 1863 to 1913. Originally a Danish prince, George was only 17 years old when he was elected king by the Greek National Assembly, which had deposed the former king Otto. His nomination was both suggested and supported by the Great Powers...
sent a silver cup which was presented at the National Olympian Games held in Shrewsbury. This brought Brookes into contact with the Greek government, but his attempts to organise an international Olympian Festival in Athens in 1881 failed.
Brookes was also heavily involved in many other local activities. He became Chairman of the Wenlock Gas Company in 1856, which first brought lighting to the town. He was a Commissioner for Roads in the area, and also became a Director of both the Wenlock and Severn Junction Railway Company. The first train to Wenlock coincided with the Wenlock Olympian Games of 1861. He managed the Much Wenlock National School, where, in 1871, he helped introduce drill and physical exercise into the curriculum. He believed that as children at the school were likely to be employed in jobs that required physical strength, such as farming or quarrying, development of their physical strength was equally as important as their mental ability.
When undertaking his own education, Brookes had always sought the very best teachers. Hence his travel to Padua
Padua
Padua is a city and comune in the Veneto, northern Italy. It is the capital of the province of Padua and the economic and communications hub of the area. Padua's population is 212,500 . The city is sometimes included, with Venice and Treviso, in the Padua-Treviso-Venice Metropolitan Area, having...
in Italy, one of the finest place in the world at that time for learning about herbal medicine and botany, where the medical university is located in the grounds of the medieval herb gardens. Again he went to the Sorbonne
Sorbonne
The Sorbonne is an edifice of the Latin Quarter, in Paris, France, which has been the historical house of the former University of Paris...
in Paris to seek the best teacher in the field. Brookes was also progressive for his day in noting the link between mental and physical agility.
In 1889, he invited Baron Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Coubertin
Pierre de Frédy, Baron de Coubertin was a French educationalist and historian, founder of the International Olympic Committee, and is considered the father of the modern Olympic Games...
, the organiser of an International Congress on Physical Education, to Much Wenlock. Meetings between Dr. Brookes and Baron de Coubertain took place at The Raven Hotel (as did the feast which concluded each year’s Olympian Games), and today in The Raven Hotel there are displayed many artefacts from those early years, including original letters from Baron Pierre de Coubertain to William Penny Brookes. A meeting of the Wenlock Olympian Games was held in de Coubertin's honour in 1890, with much pageantry. On his return to France, de Coubertin gave a glowing account of his stay in an article, "Les Jeux Olympiques à Much Wenlock", and referred to his host's efforts to revive the Olympics. He wrote : "If the Olympic Games that Modern Greece has not yet been able to revive still survives today, it is due, not to a Greek, but to Dr W P Brookes" (a moot point since international Olympic Games had already been held in 1859, 1870 and 1875 in Athens and events from the 1859 Olympic Games sponsored by Evangelis Zappas were adopted in to the programme of future Wenlock Olympian Games). Although de Coubertin later sought to downplay Brookes's influence, he kept in touch with him for several years and sent him a gold medal to be used at the Wenlock games.
Brookes died four months before the 1896 Summer Olympics
1896 Summer Olympics
The 1896 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the I Olympiad, was a multi-sport event celebrated in Athens, Greece, from April 6 to April 15, 1896. It was the first international Olympic Games held in the Modern era...
, under the auspices of the nternational Olympic Committee], was held in Athens in 1896.
The Wenlock Olympian Society
Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games
The Wenlock Olympian Society Annual Games, dating from 1850, are a forerunner of the modern Olympic Games. They are held each year in Much Wenlock in Shropshire, England.-Overview:...
maintains his original ideals, and continues to organise annual games. The William Brookes School in Much Wenlock is named after him.
Further reading
- Ashrafian, H. (2005). "William Penny Brookes (1809–1895): Forgotten Olympic Lord of the Rings" in British Journal of Sports Medicine, 2005;39:969 doi:10.1136/bjsm.2005.019331
- Furbank, Muriel; Cromarty, Helen; McDonald, Glyn (1996). William Penny Brookes and the Olympic Connection. Much Wenlock: Wenlock Olympian Society.
- Mullins, Sam (1986). British Olympians: William Penny Brookes and the Wenlock Games. London: Birmingham Olympic Council. ISBN 0-901662-01-1
- Nicolle, Dorothy (2010). William Brookes and the Olympic Games. Wem: Blue Hills Press. ISBN 9780956029355.