On 25 February 1850 the Wenlock Agricultural Reading Society (WARS) resolved to establish a class called The Olympian Class – "for the promotion of the moral, physical and intellectual improvement of the inhabitants of the town and neighbourhood of Wenlock and especially of the working classes, by the encouragement of outdoor recreation, and by the award of prizes annually at public meetings for skill in athletic exercise and proficiency in intellectual and industrial attainments".

[3] In 1859 Wenlock Olympian Class sent £10 to Athens as a prize for the best runner in the Long Foot Race at the Zappas Olympics which was held in November that year – open only to Greek-speaking athletes.

Lieutenant Colonel Herbert Edwardes, who Brookes had invited to speak at the games, praised their founder and the WARS's work but disagreed with the Greek influence of the name 'Olympian' by publicly suggesting the games be called "'The Shropshire Class of British Work and Play', or anything else you will; but let it tell of English men and women, English boys and girls.

Baron Pierre de Coubertin visited the Wenlock Olympian Society in 1890, which held a special festival in his honour.

Brookes was named as an honorary delegate at the 1894 Sorbonne Congress at which the IOC was established, although he was unable to attend due to ill health.