ORGANISATIONS
Mathematical Society Spitalfields.
Like many of the ‘societies’ of its time the Mathematical Society of Spitalfields, founded in 1717, was run as a club where people of like minded interests could meet, discuss and debate the latest news, views and ideas of their chosen interest, in this case mathematics with a bit of physics thrown in for good…
Read MoreOctavia Hill
Octavia Hill, social reformer and one of the founders of the National Trust. Octavia Hill was born in 1838 into a family of social reformers, her grandfather was Thomas Southwood Smith a public health reformer and her father was a friend of Jeremy Bentham so from an early age she was exposed to the need…
Read MoreThe Framework Knitters Declaration 1812
The issuing of this declaration by the framework knitters was in response to the machines that as the workers saw it was bringing down wages and producing inferior quality goods. The framework knitters (also called stockingers), launched the Luddite protests in Nottingham in 1811, justifying their actions by referring to the 1663 Charter of the…
Read MoreClothworkers Company
The Clothworkers Company, one of the livery companies of London. The grandeur of England is to be attributed to its golden fleece, the wealth of the loom making England a second Peru and the back of the sheep and not the entrails of the earth being its chief mine of riches. The silkworm is no…
Read MoreGeorge Vulliamy designs on Victoria Embankment.
George Vulliamy was the designer of the iconic lamp posts and benches on the Victoria Embankment in London but what is his link to the Society of Women Artists?
Read MoreThe Derby Philosophical Society
The Derby Philosophical Society was founded by Erasmus Darwin when he had to leave his beloved Lunar Society behind in Birmingham.
Read MoreThe Royal Society
The Royal Society for the promotion of natural knowledge is one of Britain’s longest standing organisations, its members some of the worlds most brilliant minds.
Read MoreThe Haberdasher’s Company
The Haberdasher’s Company is one of the Great City of London Companies and was founded in the 15th century and was granted it’s first charter in 1448. But what did the haberdashers actually sell and what legacy has this great company left?
Read MorePublic Drinking Fountains
Public drinking fountains in London resulted from the Public Drinking Foundation Movement established in 1858 to provide clean water to London’s poor.
Read MoreThe Goldsmiths Company
The Goldsmiths Company, founded in the 14th century, still plays an important role in society today. It maintains the Assay Office and the annual Pyx trial by which the nations currency is protected from being debased.
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