John Graham Chambers (12 February 1843 – 4 March 1883) was a Welsh sportsman. He rowed for

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, founded inter-varsity sports, became English Champion walker, coached four winning Boat-Race crews, devised the Queensberry Rules, staged the Cup Final and the Thames Regatta, instituted championships for

billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue stick, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . Cue sports, a category of stic ...

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, cycling, wrestling and athletics, rowed beside Matthew Webb as he swam the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

and edited a national newspaper.

Early life

Chambers was born in

Llanelly House Llanelly House (also spelled Llanelli House) is one of the most notable historic properties in Llanelli, Carmarthenshire, Wales—an excellent example of an early-18th-century Georgian architecture, Georgian town house. It had been described as ...

in the town of

Llanelli ; ) is a market town and community (Wales), community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is on the estuary of the River Loughor and is the largest town in the Principal areas of Wales, ...

Carmarthenshire Carmarthenshire (; or informally ') is a Principal areas of Wales, county in the South West Wales, south-west of Wales. The three largest towns are Llanelli, Carmarthen and Ammanford. Carmarthen is the county town and administrative centre. ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. He was the son of William Chambers, a Welsh landowner of the Chambers family. He was educated at Eton and Trinity College,

, where he graduated as B.A., won the Colquhoun Sculls and became President of the University Boat Club.

Career

Chambers codified the "

Marquess of Queensberry rules The Marquess of Queensberry Rules, also known as Queensberry Rules, are a set of generally accepted rules governing the sport of boxing. Drafted in London in 1865 and published in 1867, they were so named because the 9th Marquess of Queensberry ...

" upon which modern-day boxing is based. In 1867, he established the rules, which include the required use of

boxing glove Boxing gloves are cushioned gloves that fighters wear on their hands during boxing matches and practices. Unlike "fist-load weapons" (such as the ancient cestus (boxing), cestus) which were designed as a lethal weapon, modern boxing gloves are n ...

s, the ten-count, and three-minute rounds. He is a member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame. He was also a catalyst in the founding of British amateur athletics, having founded the

Amateur Athletic Club History The Amateur Athletic Club or AAC was the predecessor of the Amateur Athletic Association (later renamed the Amateur Athletic Association of England) and from 1866 to 1879 was the de facto governing body for amateur athletics in the U ...

in 1866, and was present at the formation of the Amateur Athletic Association in 1880. In 1866, he won the 7 miles walk event at the inaugural 1866 AAC Championships. Chambers also rowed twice in the Boat Race for Cambridge in 1862 and 1863, losing both times, and coached six Light Blues crews in 1865–66, again defeats, and 1871–74 when Cambridge put together four straight victories, including the first on sliding seats in 1873.

Later life

Chambers died, aged 40, at 10 Wetherby Terrace, Earls Court, London on 4 March 1883 and is buried in

Brompton Cemetery Brompton Cemetery (originally the West of London and Westminster Cemetery) is since 1852 the first (and only) London cemetery to be Crown Estate, Crown property, managed by The Royal Parks, in West Brompton in the Royal Borough of Kensington a ...

References

Llanelli Community Heritage – John Graham Chambers Llanelly House
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chambers, John Graham Creators of sports Founders of sporting institutions 1883 deaths 1843 births People educated at Eton College Burials at Brompton Cemetery Welsh male rowers Sportspeople from Llanelli International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees 19th-century Welsh sportsmen Welsh male boxers