Major-General Frederick Hammersley

Birth Date: 25 Jul 1824 Dulwich, Kent, UK

Christening Date: 13 Sep 1824 Christening Place: Lee, Kent, England Age at Christening: 0

Father's Name: Charles Hammersley Mother's Name: Emily

Educated at Eton.

Later lived at Ashe Grange, Aldershot, Surrey, UK

Major-General and Inspector of Army Gymnasia.

Frederick served in the Crimea and was decorated for gallantry. [Source: Ancestry.co.uk. UK, Military Campaign Medal and Award Rolls, 1793-1949) Service Date: 1854-1855 Service Location: Crimea Regiment or Unit Name: 14th Regiment Campaign or Service: Crimean War - Siege of Sabastopol in the early part, and subsequently as Deputy Assistant Quartermaster-General

He founded the Army School of Physical Training at Aldershot, where there is a portrait of him, and is known as 'the father of Army gymnastics'.

'''1854''' He married Sarah Keating, daughter of Dean Keating of Limerick, Ireland, on 14 Mar 1854. They had 3 children, including one daughter Florence and a boy, Frederick (1858-1923).  (There is a memorial to Major-General Frederick Hammersley and his wife Sarah Mary Ann Hammersley in the cemetery of St. Peter's Church, Ash, Surrey, England).

===1871 England Census for Ash, Surrey===

• Frederick Hammersley 46 M 46 Dulwich, Kent, Lieut-Colonel, Army, unattached
• Sarah M Hammersley 44 F spouse Ireland
• Mary E Hammersley 13 daughter, born Ireland
• Florence Hammersley 8 born Hale, near Farnham, Surrey
• servant Ann O Shea F 30 Ireland
• servant Louisa Hövemeier F 20 Germany
• servant Henrietta Knöttge F 19 Germany
• servant John Edwards M 17 Puttenham, Surrey

In 1860 Major Hammersley of the 14th Regiment of Foot and twelve Non Commissioned Officers were selected to attend a six month course of Physical Training at Oxford University. The War Office had decided that the soldier’s physical education and training should be extended beyond drill and arms training.

In 1861 the Army’s first gymnasium was built in South Camp and Hammersley was subsequently appointed as Inspector of Gymnasia and was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. Hammersley held the post of Inspector of Gymnasia until 1876.'

He was co-founder and first chairman of the Amateur Athletices Club in 1866, which became the Amateur Athletics Association in 1880.

His work led directly to the Grand Military Tournament and Assault at Arms of 1880, which became the Royal Naval & Military Tournament in 1884 and later the Royal Tourament, which was axed by the Labour Government in 1999.

There is a Hammersley Barracks at Aldershot today (Army School of Physical Training, Hammersley Barracks, Fox Lines, Queens Avenue, Aldershot, Hants GU11 2LB).

Sheldrake’s Military Gazette stated in an obituary (27 December 1901) that 'In the private paths of life and especially in the village in which he has breathed his last, he has long since won for himself the sobriquet of ‘the dear old General’ and his loss will be felt most keenly by the older villagers with whom he would stop and exchange pleasant greetings, whilst his hands were ever open to the poor.'

Frederick (1858-1923) also became a Major-General and took part in the Sudan expedition of 1884-5, the Nile expedition of 1898 (where he fought at the Battle of Khartoum), the South African War (severely wounded at Talana Hill) and the Gallipoli campaign of 1915, where he commanded the 11th Division.

Sources

• Lundy, Darryl. "Maj.-Gen. Frederick Hammersley." The Peerage, published 14 November 2021. < link > Accessed 23 November 2021.
• Reference: FamilySearch Genealogy - SmartCopy: Nov 29 2017, 15:32:12 UTC