Major-General Frederick Hammersley (25 July 1824 − 22 December 1901) was a British Army officer who after serving in the Crimean War was at the forefront in developing an exercise regime for the British Army leading to him becoming the first Inspector of Gymnasia and being known as ‘The Father of Army Gymnastics’.
Early life
He was born in Dulwich in Surrey in 1824, the son of Emily and Charles Hammersley.1871 England Census for Frederick Hammersley, Surrey, Ash: Ancestry.com Hammersley joined the Army with a commission by purchase as an Ensign in the 14th Regiment of Foot (West Yorkshire Regiment) in 1842, was promoted Lieutenant in April 1846 and Captain in April 1851. He served during the Siege of Sebastopol during the Crimean WarObituary in Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, Saturday 28 December 1901, p. 8 with the rank of Brevet Major (June 1856) and Deputy Assistant Quartermaster General.UK, Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949 for Frederick Hammersley, Asia, Crimean War 1854-1855, Other Regiments, Units and Staff, Medical Corps, Turkish, Sardinian Contingent Land Transport Corps, Ordanance Corps, etc; Ancestry.com
Inspector of Gymnasia During the Crimean War about 27,000 British troops died - the majority not as a result of wounds in battle but of disease.Christodoulou, Glenn 'Nightingale at Scutari: death and disease in the Crimean War', Journal of the Crimean War Research Society, Volume 14, No. 2, July 1996 Investigations after the War decided that so many had died owing to their poor physical condition, resulting in their inability to fight off the effects of the diseases.Muscles trained to ensure that soldiers are always fit for purpose, The Times, 4 December 2010 In 1860 a number of military reforms began as a result of the poor performance of the British Army during the Crimean War, and one of these reforms was to investigate methods of improving the physical fitness of soldiers in the Army. In 1860 Major Hammersley was appointed Sergeant and Instructor in Physical Training at Aldershot in Hampshire where he became known as ‘the father of Army gymnastics’.
It was thought that the officer who would be in charge of overseeing the new fitness training should undergo the same training as his men.Bogdanovic, Nikolai. Fit to Fight: A History of the Royal Army Physical Training Corps 1860–2015, Osprey Publishing (2017), Google Books p. 14 As a result, he and twelve carefully selected non-commissioned officers (NCOs), chosen for their unexceptional physical stature (who later became known as the Twelve Apostles),Unit History: Army School of Physical Training Aldershot, Forces War Records were put through a twelve month course of physical training at the University of Oxford under the PT specialist and educator Archibald MacLaren (1820–1884) who had trained in Europe and who in 1858 had opened a renowned gymnasium in Oxford where he taught fencing and gymnastics.Biography of Archibald MacLaren , ATHLOS: a website dedicated to athletics literatureHistory of the Oxford Gymnasium, Oxford History: Schools On completing the course it was apparent that each man's physical fitness had considerably improved and they became the foundation of what was to be called the Army Gymnastic Staff (AGS). Today this is the Royal Army Physical Training Corps.
After completing the course of gymnastics at Oxford Hammersley was offered the recently created rank of Superintendent of Gymnasia, to be based at the newly established School of Gymnastics in the Wellington Lines at Aldershot. Before accepting the position Hammersley wrote to his father for advice, to which his father answered in the negative, advising his son that he should not be tempted by the offer of an "easy berth" in accepting a position "hardly fit for a gentleman, much less an officer, who aspires to military distinction." Hammersley, described as "a man of outstanding ability" and a "practical athlete with one of the finest physical developments I have ever seen" disregarded his father's advice and accepted the offer. Through his efforts and dedication to improving the physical fitness of the British soldier, gymnastics training in the Army was successfully established.Campbell, James Dunbar "The army isn't all work": Physical culture in the evolution of the British army, 1860-1920, PhD Thesis - The University of Maine DigitalCommons@UMaine (2003) p.46 In 1866 Hammersley became the first Chairman of the Amateur Athletic Club, which in 1880 became the Amateur Athletic Association.Campbell, p. 49
Members of the AGS were based at the newly built military gymnasiums (the first, the Cranbrook Gymnasium, was built at Aldershot in 1861) where they instructed soldiers in the new physical training techniques. Other members of the AGS joined Army units where they instructed soldiers in fencing, gymnastics and other elements of physical training in addition to organising recreational sporting activities. As a result of the new exercise regime the sickness and mortality rates in the British Army decreased and the reforms were approved in the 1864 Report on Gymnastic Instruction in the Army.
Later life Hammersley held the rank of Inspector of Military Gymnasia at Aldershot from 1860 to 1876, and was promoted to Lieutenant-Colonel in January 1868 on half-pay,Hart's Army List, 1869Lieutenant Colonel E.A.L. Oldfield, History of the Army Physical Training Corps, (Aldershot: Gale & Polden Ltd., 1955). pp. 2-3 Colonel and Assistant Quarter-Master General at Aldershot in 1873, and retired on a pension in 1879 with the honorary rank of Major-General.Bogdanovic, p. 21Cheltenham Chronicle, Saturday 19 December 1891, p. 10Hammersley, Major General Frederick (Inspector: 1860–1876): Hantsweb: Aldershot Military MuseumStowe, David Major-General Frederick Hammersley: ‘The father of Army gymnastics’, Pelican Road website In 1876 he was succeeded as Inspector of Gymnasia by Lieutenant-Colonel G. F. Gildea (1876-1880). A devout Christian, Hammersley worshipped at St Peter's Church in Ash where he regularly contributed to church funds and appeals. In 1886 he was appointed to the newly formed Burial Board for Ash Cemetery.History of Ash Burial Board, Normandy Historians website
Major General Fred Hammersley died in December 1901 aged 77, leaving a widow, Sarah Mary Ann née Keating (1826–1922), two daughters, Mary Catherine Hammersley (c1857–1928) and Florence Hammersley (born 1863) and a son, Frederick Hammersley (1858–1924), who himself reached the rank of Major-General. He lived at Ashe Grange in Ash in Surrey1901 England Census for Frederick Hammersley, Surrey, Ash: Ancestry.com and his funeral took place at St Peter's Church in Ash on 27 December 1901.Surrey, England, Church of England Burials, 1813-1997 for Frederick Hammersley, Ash, St Peter, 1900 Jul-1920 May: Ancestry.com He is buried in the churchyard there.Gloucestershire Echo, Saturday 28 December 1901, p. 3 He left an estate valued at £31,398 17s.England & Wales, National Probate Calendar (Index of Wills and Administrations), 1858-1995 for Frederick Hammersley, 1902: Ancestry.com
Hammersley Barracks in Aldershot, Hampshire, were named in his memory.Barrack Finder, Friends of the Aldershot Military Museum website
Medal entitlement Frederick Hammersley was entitled to the following medals:
Ribbon Description Notes Crimea Medal 1855 Order of the Medjidie 5th Class 1855 Turkish Crimea Medal 1855 Sardinian Crimea Medal 1855
References