1.
Royal Academy of Arts
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The Royal Academy of Arts is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. The Royal Academy of Arts was founded through an act of King George III on 10 December 1768 with a mission to promote the arts of design in Britain through education and exhibition. Supporters wanted to foster a national school of art and to encourage appreciation, fashionable taste in 18th-century Britain was based on continental and traditional art forms, providing contemporary British artists little opportunity to sell their works. From 1746 the Foundling Hospital, through the efforts of William Hogarth, the success of this venture led to the formation of the Society of Artists of Great Britain and the Free Society of Artists. Both these groups were primarily exhibiting societies, their success was marred by internal factions among the artists. The combined vision of education and exhibition to establish a school of art set the Royal Academy apart from the other exhibiting societies. It provided the foundation upon which the Royal Academy came to dominate the art scene of the 18th and 19th centuries, supplanting the earlier art societies. Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect, used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support of the Academy, the painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president. Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788, the instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of 40. William Hoare and Johann Zoffany were added to this list later by the King and are known as nominated members, among the founder members were two women, a father and daughter, and two sets of brothers. The Royal Academy was initially housed in cramped quarters in Pall Mall, although in 1771 it was given temporary accommodation for its library and schools in Old Somerset House, then a royal palace. In 1780 it was installed in purpose-built apartments in the first completed wing of New Somerset House, located in the Strand and designed by Chambers, the Academy moved in 1837 to Trafalgar Square, where it occupied the east wing of the recently completed National Gallery. These premises soon proved too small to house both institutions, in 1868,100 years after the Academys foundation, it moved to Burlington House, Piccadilly, where it remains. Burlington House is owned by the British Government, and used rent-free by the Royal Academy, the first Royal Academy exhibition of contemporary art, open to all artists, opened on 25 April 1769 and ran until 27 May 1769. 136 works of art were shown and this exhibition, now known as the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition, has been staged annually without interruption to the present day. In 1870 the Academy expanded its programme to include a temporary annual loan exhibition of Old Masters. The range and frequency of these exhibitions have grown enormously since that time. Britains first public lectures on art were staged by the Royal Academy, led by Reynolds, the first president, a program included lectures by Dr. William Hunter, John Flaxman, James Barry, Sir John Soane, and J. M. W. Turner
2.
Westminster School
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Westminster School is an English independent day and boarding school located within the precincts of Westminster Abbey. It has the highest Oxford and Cambridge university acceptance rates of any school or college in the world. With origins before the 12th century, the tradition of Westminster probably dates back as far as AD960. Boys are admitted to the Under School at age seven and to the school at age thirteen. The school has around 750 pupils, around a quarter are boarders, most of whom go home at weekends and it is one of the original seven public schools as defined by the Public Schools Act 1868. Charging up to £7,800 per term for day pupils and £11,264 for boarders in 2014/15, Westminster is the 13th most expensive HMC day school and 10th most expensive HMC boarding school in the UK. In 1540, Henry VIII ordered the dissolution of the monasteries in England, including that of the powerful Abbots of Westminster, the Royal College of St. Peter carried on with forty Kings Scholars financed from the royal purse. By this point Westminster School had certainly become a public school, during Mary Is brief reign the Abbey was reinstated as a Roman Catholic monastery, but the school continued. Elizabeth I refounded the School in 1560, with new statutes to select 40 Queens Scholars from boys who had attended the school for a year. Queen Elizabeth frequently visited her scholars, although she never signed the statutes nor endowed her scholarships, Elizabeth I appointed William Camden as headmaster, and he is the only layman known to have held the position until 1937. Regardless of politics, he thrashed Royalist and Puritan boys alike without fear or favour, Busby also took part in Oliver Cromwells funeral procession in 1658, when Robert Uvedale, a Westminster schoolboy, succeeded in snatching the Majesty Scutcheon draped on the coffin. Busby remained in office throughout the Civil War and the Commonwealth, when the school was governed by Parliamentary Commissioners, and well into the Restoration. In 1679, a group of scholars killed a bailiff, ostensibly in defence of the Abbeys traditional right of sanctuary, dr Busby obtained a royal pardon for his scholars from Charles II and added the cost to the school bills. Until the 19th century, the curriculum was made up of Latin and Greek. After the Public Schools Act 1868, in response to the Clarendon Commission on the financial and other malpractices at nine pre-eminent public schools, the school began to approach its modern form. It was legally separated from the Abbey, although the organisations remain close, there followed a scandalous public and parliamentary dispute lasting a further 25 years, to settle the transfer of the properties from the Canons of the Abbey to the School. School statutes have been made by Order in Council of Queen Elizabeth II, the Dean of Christ Church, Oxford and the Master of Trinity College, Cambridge are ex officio members of the schools governing body. Westminster Under School was formed in 1943 in the school buildings in Westminster
3.
Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)
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The Speaker of the House of Commons is the presiding officer of the House of Commons, the United Kingdoms lower chamber of Parliament. The office is held by John Bercow, who was initially elected on 22 June 2009. He was returned as an MP in the 2010 general election and was re-elected as Speaker when the House sat at the start of the new Parliament on 18 May 2010. He was again returned as an MP in the 2015 general election and was re-elected, unopposed, the Speaker presides over the Houses debates, determining which members may speak. The Speaker is also responsible for maintaining order during debate, the Speaker does not take part in debate or vote. Aside from duties relating to presiding over the House, the Speaker also performs administrative and procedural functions, the Speaker has the right and obligation to reside in Speakers House at the Palace of Westminster. The office of Speaker is almost as old as Parliament itself, the earliest year for which a presiding officer has been identified is 1258, when Peter de Montfort presided over the Parliament held in Oxford. Early presiding officers were known by the title parlour or prolocutor, Edward III was frail and in seclusion, his prestigious eldest son, Edward the Black Prince, terminally ill. It was left to the son, a furious John of Gaunt. He arrested De la Mare and disgraced other leading critics, in the next, Bad Parliament, in 1377, a cowed Commons put forward Gaunts steward, Thomas Hungerford, as their spokesman in retracting their predecessors misdoings of the previous year. On 6 October 1399, Sir John Cheyne of Beckford was elected speaker, the powerful Archbishop of Canterbury, Thomas Arundel, is said to have voiced his fears of Cheynes reputation as a critic of the Church. Eight days later, Cheyne resigned on grounds of ill-health, although he remained in favour with the king, in such a situation, the influence of the speaker should not be underestimated. Sir Thomas More was the first speaker to go on to become Lord Chancellor, until the 17th century, members of the House of Commons often continued to view their Speaker as an agent of the Crown. As Parliament evolved, however, the Speakers position grew into one that involved more duties to the House than to the Crown, such was definitely the case by the time of the English Civil War. This change is said to be reflected by an incident in 1642. The development of Cabinet government under King William III in the late 17th century caused further change in the nature of the Speakership, Speakers were generally associated with the ministry, and often held other government offices. For example, Robert Harley served simultaneously as Speaker and as a Secretary of State between 1704 and 1705, the Speaker between 1728 and 1761, Arthur Onslow, reduced ties with the government, though the office did remain to a large degree political. The Speakership evolved into its modern form—in which the holder is an impartial and apolitical officer who does not belong to any party—only during the middle of the 19th century, over 150 individuals have served as Speaker of the House of Commons
4.
York Minster
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The Cathedral and Metropolitical Church of Saint Peter in York, commonly known as York Minster, is the cathedral of York, England, and is one of the largest of its kind in Northern Europe. The minster is the seat of the Archbishop of York, the second-highest office of the Church of England, and is the church for the Diocese of York. It is run by a dean and chapter, under the Dean of York, the title minster is attributed to churches established in the Anglo-Saxon period as missionary teaching churches, and serves now as an honorific title. Services in the minster are sometimes regarded as on the High Church or Anglo-Catholic end of the Anglican continuum, the minster has a very wide Decorated Gothic nave and chapter house, a Perpendicular Gothic Quire and east end and Early English North and South transepts. The nave contains the West Window, constructed in 1338, and over the Lady Chapel in the east end is the Great East Window, in the north transept is the Five Sisters Window, each lancet being over 52 feet high. The south transept contains a window, while the West Window contains a heart-shaped design colloquially known as The Heart of Yorkshire. York has had a verifiable Christian presence from the 4th century, however, there is circumstantial evidence pointing to much earlier Christian involvement. Tradition speaks of 28 British bishops, one for each of the greater British cities, over whom presided the Archbishops of London, York and Caerleon-on-Usk. The first recorded church on the site was a structure built hurriedly in 627 to provide a place to baptise Edwin. Moves toward a substantial building began in the decade of the 630s. A stone structure was completed in 637 by Oswald and was dedicated to Saint Peter, the church soon fell into disrepair and was dilapidated by 670 when Saint Wilfrid ascended to the See of York. He repaired and renewed the structure, the attached school and library were established and by the 8th century were some of the most substantial in Northern Europe. In 741 the church was destroyed in a fire and it was rebuilt as a more impressive structure containing thirty altars. The church and the area then passed through the hands of numerous invaders. There was a series of Benedictine archbishops, including Saint Oswald of Worcester, Wulfstan and Ealdred, Ealdred died in 1069 and was buried in the church. The church was damaged in 1069 during William the Conquerors harrying of the North, the Danes destroyed the church in 1075, but it was again rebuilt from 1080. Built in the Norman style, it was 111 m long and rendered in white, the new structure was damaged by fire in 1137 but was soon repaired. The choir and crypt were remodelled in 1154, and a new chapel was built, the Gothic style in cathedrals had arrived in the mid 12th century
5.
Freemasons' Hall, London
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It is in Great Queen Street between Holborn and Covent Garden and has been a Masonic meeting place since 1775. There have been three Masonic buildings on the site, with the current incarnation being opened in 1933. Parts of the building are open to the daily, and its preserved classic Art Deco style, together with its regular use as a film. In 1775 the premier Grand Lodge purchased a house fronting the street, behind which was a garden, a competition was held for the design of a Grand Hall to link the two houses. The front house was the Freemasons Tavern, the house was to become offices. The winning design was by Thomas Sandby and it is an imposing Art Deco building, covering two and one quarter acres. Initially known as the Masonic Peace Memorial, the name was changed to Freemasons Hall at the outbreak of the World War II in 1939, the financing for building the hall was raised by the Masonic Million Memorial Fund. This fund raised over £1 million and it is a Grade II* listed building. Many non-Masonic organisations also use the Grand Temple for numerous events as diverse as Fashion shows, bronze doors, each weighing one and a quarter tonnes, open on to a Chamber 123 feet long,90 feet wide and 62 feet high capable of seating 1,700. A large pipe organ is installed, built by the leading British organ builders Henry Willis & Sons, from the province of Northamptonshire and Huntingdonshire, Brother Luke Howard was passed in the Second Degree on the 25th March 2017. A historic moment for for the province as its first ceremony within the Grand Temple, Masons from around the province came in attendance to witness Bro Lukes passing upon which he was entrusted with the knowledge of the Second Degree. In addition to the Grand Temple, there are a further 23 masonic temples, or meeting rooms, within the building, used by Lodges, all are highly ornate in their various art deco styles, and no two are identical. Amongst the temples which are of note, Temple No 1 was very large. However, the temple was converted into a space, by removing the furnishings. In addition to these 23 Temples, and the Grand Temple, there are very simple and plain temples reserved for Lodges of Instruction. Unlike the Grand Temple the other 23 temples are not normally open to the public, as they are in constant demand by private London Lodges, approximately 1800 lodges and chapters meet regularly in London, and a high proportion of these meet at Freemasons Hall. The Library and Museum is a Charitable Trust and is registered with the Charity Commission, the Library and Museum is open to the general public from Monday to Friday 10am–5pm and entry is free of charge. The Museum has a collection of objects with Masonic decoration, including clocks, furniture, glassware, jewellery, porcelain, pottery, regalia, displayed items include belongings of famous Freemasons such as King Edward VII and Winston Churchill
6.
Thomas Sandby
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Thomas Sandby RA was an English draughtsman, watercolour artist, architect and teacher. In 1743 he was appointed secretary to the Duke of Cumberland, who later appointed him Deputy Ranger of Windsor Great Park. Along with his younger brother Paul, he was one of the members of the Royal Academy in 1768. His most notable work was the Freemasons Hall in London. Sandby was born in Nottingham, the son of Thomas Sandby, a textile worker, another source says that Thomas initially went to London for the purpose of having one of his pictures – a view of Nottingham – engraved. In 1743 Sandby was appointed secretary and draughtsman to William Augustus, Duke of Cumberland. Sandby was at the battle of Dettingen in 1743, jamess Park to commemorate the victories. In this year the Duke was appointed ranger of Windsor Great Park, Sandby again accompanied the duke to the Netherlands during the War of the Austrian Succession, and probably remained there till the conclusion of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle in October 1748. He drew four views of the camps in the Low Countries, covering extensive tracts of country, the Great Lodge was enlarged under his supervision as a residence for the Duke. The lower lodge was occupied by himself, in 1754, Thomas made eight drawings of the lake which were engraved on copper by Paul Sandby and other engravers and dedicated to the Duke of Cumberland. They were republished by John Boydell in 1772, although devoted to his work at Windsor and preferring a retired life, Sandby spent part of each year in London. He rented a house in Great Marlborough Street from 1760 to 1766 and he was on the committee of the St. Both he and his brother Paul were among the 28 original members of the Royal Academy who were nominated by George III in 1768 and he was elected Academys first professor of architecture, delivering the first of a series of six lectures in that capacity on 8 October 1770. He continued these lectures with alterations and additions annually till his death and they were never published, but the manuscripts were held in the library of the Royal Institute of British Architects. The illustrations were sold with his drawings after his death. In February 1769 Sandby entered a competition to design the Royal Exchange at Dublin, the Hall was extended in the 1820s by Sir John Soane, but was demolished in 1930 after suffering irreparable structural damage in a fire in 1883. He built several houses in the neighbourhood of Windsor, including St Leonards Hill for the Duchess of Gloucester, designs exist for many others of his architectural works which cannot now be identified. In 1777 he was appointed, jointly with James Adam, architect of his majestys works, the name of his first wife is stated to have been Schultz
7.
Westminster
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Westminster is an area of central London within the City of Westminster, part of the West End, on the north bank of the River Thames. Historically the area lay within St Margarets parish, City & Liberty of Westminster and it has been the home of the permanent institutions of Englands government continuously since about 1200 and is now the seat of British government. In a government context, Westminster often refers to the Parliament of the United Kingdom, the closest tube stations are Westminster, St Jamess Park on the Jubilee, Circle, and District lines. Within the area is Westminster School, a public school which grew out of the Abbey. Bounding Westminster to the north is Green Park, a Royal Park of London, the area has a substantial resident population, indeed most of its listed buildings are residential. A proportion of residents are people of limited means, living in council, hotels, large Victorian homes and barracks exist nearer to Buckingham Palace. The name describes an area no more than 1 mile from Westminster Abbey, the settlement grew up around the palace and abbey, as a service area for them. The need for a church, St Margarets Westminster for the servants of the palace. It became larger and in the Georgian period became connected through urban development with the City along the Strand. It did not become a local government unit until created as a civil parish. Indeed, the Cathedral and diocesan status of the church lasted only from 1539 to 1556, as such it is first known to have had two Members of Parliament in 1545 as a new Parliamentary Borough, centuries after the City of London and Southwark were enfranchised. The historic core of Westminster is the former Thorney Island on which Westminster Abbey was built, the abbey became the traditional venue of the coronation of the kings and queens of England from that of Harold Godwinson onwards. From about 1200, near the abbey, the Palace of Westminster became the royal residence, marked by the transfer of royal treasury. Later the palace housed the developing Parliament and Englands law courts, thus London developed two focal points, the City of London and Westminster. The monarchs later moved to St James Palace and the Palace of Whitehall a little towards the north-east, the main law courts have since moved to the Royal Courts of Justice. The Westminster area formed part of the City and Liberty of Westminster in Middlesex, the ancient parish was St Margaret, after 1727 this became the civil parish of St Margaret and St John, the latter a new church required for the increasing population. The area around Westminster Abbey formed the extra-parochial Close of the Collegiate Church of St Peter surrounded by —, until 1900 the local authority was the combined vestry of St Margaret and St John, which was based at Westminster City Hall in Caxton Street from 1883. The Liberty of Westminster, governed by the Westminster Court of Burgesses, also included St Martin in the Fields, Westminster had its own quarter sessions, but the Middlesex sessions also had jurisdiction
8.
Kensington
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Kensington is an affluent district within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in West London. Its commercial heart is Kensington High Street, the affluent and densely populated area contains the major museum district of South Kensington, which has the Royal Albert Hall for music and nearby Royal College of Music. The area is home to many of Londons European embassies, the first mention of the area is in the Domesday Book of 1086, where it was written in Latin as Chenesitone, which has been interpreted to have originally been Kenesignetun in Anglo-Saxon. A variation may be Kesyngton, in 1396 and he in turn granted the tenancy of Kensington to his vassal Aubrey de Vere I, who was holding the manor in 1086, according to Domesday Book. The bishops heir, Robert de Mowbray, rebelled against William Rufus, Aubrey de Vere I had his tenure converted to a tenancy in-chief, holding Kensington after 1095 directly of the crown. He granted land and church there to Abingdon Abbey at the deathbed request of his young eldest son, Geoffrey. As the Veres became the earls of Oxford, their estate at Kensington came to be known as Earls Court, while the Abingdon lands were called Abbots Kensington and the church St Mary Abbots. The original Kensington Barracks, built at Kensington Gate in the late 18th century, were demolished in 1858, the focus of the area is Kensington High Street, a busy commercial centre with many shops, typically upmarket. The street was declared Londons second best shopping street in February 2005 thanks to its range, however, since October 2008 the street has faced competition from the Westfield shopping centre in nearby White City. Kensingtons second group of buildings is at South Kensington, where several streets of small to medium-sized shops. This is also the end of Exhibition Road, the thoroughfare that serves the areas museums. To the west, a border is kept along the line of the Counter Creek marked by the West London railway line, in the north east, the large Royal Park of Kensington Gardens is a green buffer. The other main area in Kensington is Holland Park, just north of Kensington High Street. Kensington is, in general, an affluent area, a trait that it now shares with its neighbour to the south. In early 2007, houses sold in Upper Phillimore Gardens for in excess of £20 million, Kensington is also very densely populated, it forms part of the most densely populated local government district in the United Kingdom. This high density is not formed from high-rise buildings, instead, unlike northern extremities of the Borough, Kensington lacks high-rise buildings except for the Holiday Inns London Kensington Forum Hotel in Cromwell Road, which is a 27-storey building. The Olympia exhibition hall is just over the border in West Kensington. Kensington is part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, the head office of newspaper group DMGT is located in Northcliffe House in Kensington, which is the office part of the large Barkers building
9.
Maria, Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh
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Maria Walpole, the Countess Waldegrave and Duchess of Gloucester and Edinburgh, was a member of the British Royal Family, the wife of Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh. Maria Walpole was the daughter of Edward Walpole and Dorothy Clement and her grandfather was Robert Walpole, considered to be the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. She grew up at Frogmore House in Windsor, but her parents were not married, on 15 May 1759, she married James Waldegrave, 2nd Earl Waldegrave. The Earl Waldegrave died on 28 April 1763, anna and Hugh were the great-grandparents of Charles Spencer, 6th Earl Spencer, who was the great-grandfather of Diana, Princess of Wales. The Earls Spencer are descended from John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, there is a portrait of Maria in 1764–65, shortly after she was widowed, painted by Sir Joshua Reynolds, in the Dunedin Public Art Gallery. She also commissioned him in 1780 to paint The Ladies Waldegrave, on 6 September 1766 she married Prince William Henry, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh, at her home in Pall Mall, London. The Duke was a brother of King George III, the marriage was conducted in secret as the British Royal Family would not have approved of a marriage between a prince and a widow of non-royal rank and illegitimate birth. They lived at St Leonards Hill in Clewer, near Windsor and it was only in September 1772, five months after the passage of the Act, that the King became aware of Prince Williams marriage to Maria. As the Acts provisions could not be applied retroactively, Maria, due, however, to the anger of her brother-in-law at the marriage, she was never received at court. Princess Caroline died aged nine months following an inoculation, intended to protect her from the disease
10.
George Canning
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The son of an actress and a failed businessman and lawyer, Canning was supported financially by his uncle Stratford, allowing him to attend Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. Canning entered politics in 1793 and rose rapidly and he was Paymaster of the Forces and Treasurer of the Navy under William Pitt the Younger. Canning was Foreign Secretary under the Duke of Portland, who was ill, Canning was the dominant figure in the cabinet and directed the seizure of the Danish fleet in 1807 to assure Britains naval supremacy over Napoleon. In 1809, he was wounded in a duel with his foe Lord Castlereagh and was thereafter passed over as a successor to the Duke of Portland in favour of Spencer Perceval. He remained out of office until after Perceval was assassinated in 1812. The King disliked Canning and there were efforts to frustrate his foreign policies, Canning, however, successfully built wide public support for his policies. His policies ensured a major trading advantage to British merchants and supported the Americans Monroe Doctrine, Canning was the arch-enemy of the Concert of Europe system set up by the conservative powers at the Congress of Vienna in 1815. Hayes says that in terms of foreign affairs, His most important achievements was the destruction of the system of the neo-Holy Alliance which, if unchallenged and they both declined to serve under Canning and the Tories split between Peel and Wellingtons Ultra-Tories and the Canningites. Canning then invited several Whigs to join his cabinet, however, his health collapsed and he died in office in August 1827, after just 119 days in office, the shortest tenure of any British Prime Minister. Canning was born into an Anglo-Irish family at his parents home in Queen Anne Street, Marylebone, Canning described himself as an Irishman born in London. His father, George Canning, Sr. George Sr. eventually abandoned the family and died in poverty on 11 April 1771, his sons first birthday, Cannings mother, Mary Anne Costello, took work as a stage actress, a profession not considered respectable at the time. Indeed, when in 1827 it looked as if Canning would become Prime Minister, Lord Grey remarked that the son of an actress is, ipso facto, disqualified from becoming Prime Minister. Because Canning showed unusual intelligence and promise at an age, family friends persuaded his uncle, London merchant Stratford Canning. George Canning grew up with his cousins at the home of his uncle, who provided him with an income, Stratford Cannings financial support allowed the young Canning to study at Hyde Abbey School, Eton College and Christ Church, Oxford. Canning came out top of the school at Eton and left at the age of seventeen and his time at Eton has been described as a triumph almost without parallel. He proved a brilliant classicist, came top of the school, Canning struck up friendships with the future Lord Liverpool as well as with Granville Leveson-Gower and John Hookham Frere. In 1789 he won a prize for his Latin poem The Pilgrimage to Mecca which he recited in Oxford Theatre, Canning began practising law after receiving his BA from Oxford in the summer of 1791, but he wished to enter politics. Stratford Canning was a Whig and would introduce his nephew in the 1780s to prominent Whigs such as Charles James Fox, Edmund Burke, George Cannings friendship with Sheridan would last for the remainder of Sheridans life
