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Although no one can actually claim to be the "Founder" of the Commonwealth Games, the Games was first proposed by Englishman, Astley Cooper in 1891 as a festival ". Reverend J Astley Cooper was largely responsible for the concept of a sporting contest amongst the countries of the British Commonwealth. He wrote an article in 1891 for the magazine Greater Britain, in which he suggested that a festival combining sporting, military and literary events that would draw closer the ties and increase the goodwill and understanding of the Empire. His suggestion generated a great deal of interest in Britain and the British Colonies.

The holding of the first recorded Games between Empire athletes coincided with the celebrations in connection with the Coronation of His Majesty King George the Fifth in 1911, and was known as the 'Festival of Empire'. A large and representative Committee, with the Earl of Plymouth as Chairman, arranged at the Crystal Palace Grounds in London a series of entertainment's and exhibitions pertaining to the progress and development of the British Empire. One of the features of the program was an inter-Empire Sports meeting. Invitations were sent to Australia, Canada and South Africa, to compete with the athletes of Great Britain to decide Empire supremacy. Lord Desborough and Mr. William Henry were mainly responsible for this section of the Festival.

The program consisted of Track and Field athletics, boxing, wrestling and swimming events, and a trophy in the form of a silver cup, 2ft 6in high and weighing 340oz, the gift of Lord Lonsdale, was presented to the winning country, which was Canada.

No further development took place until 1928, when the Olympic Games were in progress in Amsterdam. The splendid feelings of friendliness between the Empire athletes at that Olympiad strengthened the ideas for the revival of Empire meetings. In view of Canada's victory in 1911, it was appropriate that it should have been through the initiative of a Canadian - M M Robinson - that the British Empire Games took definite shape, and were revived at Hamilton, Canada in 1930.

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12y ago

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  1. HRH Prince Imran from Malaysia, who was elected as President of the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) last November, met with Glasgow 2014's Organising Committee to hear how preparations for the Games are moving forward and to see the planning process which will ensure the successful delivery of the Games.
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10y ago
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Queen Elizabeth II is the head of the Commonwealth Games.

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9y ago
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All the people in the commonwealth of nations. Take England for example.

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13y ago
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Mr. C.W. Games

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16y ago
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Me and my mummy

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12y ago
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Andrew Gower

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14y ago
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Q: Who is the head of the Commonwealth Games?
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