A pre-1896 British National Olympian Association medal, with red, white & blue ribbon and name plate (blank), the reverse inscribed NATIONAL OLYMPIAN

A pre-1896 British National Olympian Association medal, with red, white & blue ribbon and name plate (blank), the reverse inscribed NATIONAL OLYMPIAN ASSOCIATION FOR PROMOTING PHYSICAL EDUCATION On 7th November 1865 The Liverpool Mercury reported the formation of The National Olympian Association with its first meeting held at the Liverpool Gymnasium. The founder and chairman was John Hulley who promoted the benefits of an Olympic Education, expressing in a lecture ''The need for athletic institutes for public gymnastic exercises ... for both sexes ... in all our towns and cities for 'the free use of the people, ? an agreeable resort for the aged and a pastime for the young.'' This meeting was the forerunner of the modern British Olympic Association and was formed mainly through the efforts of John Hulley, Dr. Brookes and Mr Ravenstein - the triumvirate of the 19th century Olympic movement. The link between physical education and the Olympic idea was expressed nicely by John Hulley in 1867. He said '''What I desire to impress upon you is that Olympic Festivals are not the end of physical education. Physical Education, or rather its dissemination, is the end. Olympian festivals are a means of securing that end.'' Hulley, Brookes and Ravenstein in no doubt influenced the thinking of the young Pierre de Coubertin.