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Agnes Maude Royden (1876-1956) was born on 23 Nov 1876, the youngest daughter of the ship-owning Conservative MP from Liverpool, Sir Thomas Bland Royden (later first baronet of Frankby Hall, Cheshire). She was educated first at Cheltenham Ladies College, then at Lady Margaret Hall in Oxford from 1896-1899, where she met Kathleen Courtney and Ida O'Malley. She obtained a second-class degree in modern history.

After graduating she spent three years working with the Victoria Women's Settlement in Liverpool. In these years around 1900 Royden's political views moved away from her family's Conservatism until she joined the Labour Party after the First World War. In 1905 Royden undertook parish work in South Luffenham for the Reverend William Hudson Shaw, whom she had met at Oxford. She became friends with him and his second wife Effie. They remained close friends, Royden marrying Shaw after Effie's death. The marriage took place just two months before Shaw's death in 1944. Shaw enabled Royden to lecture in the Oxford University Extension Delegacy Scheme, for which he also lectured. Royden was one of the first female lecturers for the Scheme. In 1908 Royden became a regular speaker for the National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies (NUWSS). She was appointed to its executive committee in 1911, edited its newspaper 'The Common Cause' between 1913-1914 and wrote 5 pamphlets for them. From 1910, she supported the Tax Resistance League and was the first Chair of the Church League for Women's Suffrage. From 1911 was a member of the executive committee of the London Society for Women's Suffrage (LSWS). By 1912 she was giving well over 250 speeches a year and ran 'Speakers classes' for NUWSS and LSWS. In 1913 she was also appointed president of the Chester Women's Suffrage Society, vice president of the Oxford Women Students' Suffrage Society. 1912 was an important year for the future of the women's movement. It was in this year that the Labour Party made support for female suffrage part of its policy for the first time. When, that same year, the NUWSS launched the Election Fighting Fund policy, which promised support to any party officially supporting suffrage in an election where the candidate was challenging an anti-suffrage Liberal, the effect was to effectively support the Labour Party. The women's suffrage campaign had long been associated with the Liberal Party and had always been non-party, welcoming the left and right wing into its numbers. After this step, however, some members, such as Eleanor Rathbone, left the organisation in opposition to this step. Royden, however, supported the move and was one of the speakers at the joint meeting of the NUWSS and the Labour Party held in the Albert Hall in Feb 1914. Later in 1914 at the outbreak of the First World War, Royden found herself in conflict with many in the NUWSS, which under the leadership of Millicent Fawcett, had thrown itself enthusiastically into support for work to support the war effort. At the end of 1914 she became the secretary of the Fellowship of Reconciliation with other Christian Pacifists. In Feb 1915 she resigned as editor of 'Common Cause' and gave up her place on the executive council. She had intended to attend the women's peace congress in the Hague in 1915 that year but was unable to do so when travel via the North Sea was forbidden. None the less, when the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom was established there, she became the vice-president. Despite this, even outside of the NUWSS, she campaigned for the vote for women through the National Council for Adult Suffrage and when a limited franchise was granted in 1918, she was asked to address the celebratory meeting organised by the older group at the Queen's Hall. In the post-war period, her main interests were concerned with the role of women in the Church. Between 1917-1920 Royden became an assistant preacher to Dr Fort Newton at the City Temple. Though a committed Anglican, as a woman she was not normally permitted to preach in the Church of England. In 1920 she was granted an interdenominational pulpit at the Kensington Town Hall through the Fellowship Services. This position was soon transferred to the Guildhouse in Eccleston Square and she continued to preach socially radical sermons from there for some years, on issues such as unemployment, peace and marriage. Percy Dearmer and Martin Shaw assisted her. In turn Royden continued to assist Hudson Shaw in his parish St Botolph's Bishopsgate in the City of London, including a controversial appearance to preach in a service on Good Friday 30 Mar 1923.

In 1922 Royden was invited to stand as a Labour candidate for the Wirral constituency but declined for the sake of her work in the church. Royden made several preaching tours across the world from the 1920s to the 1940s and undertook large-scale article writing: She visited America in 1911, 1923, 1928, and 1941-1942. The 1928 visit was part of a world tour that included Australia, New Zealand and China. Whilst in 1928 and 1934-1935 she visited India with Dame Margery Corbett Ashby and met Ghandi. Royden continued her work for peace, through her 'Peace Army' proposals of 1923 and her support of the League of Nations. People such as Rev 'Dick' Shepherd and Herbert Gray in turn supported Royden. Royden resigned from the Guildhall post in 1936 to concentrate her efforts in this area until 1939. In 1939, however, Royden renounced pacifism believing Nazism to be a greater evil than war. In 1944 she married Hudson Shaw. After 1945, she was mainly occupied by writing and radio broadcasts on religion. Her last book was A Threefold Cord 1947 an autobiographical work. Royden died at her home in London on the 30 Jul 1956.

The Royal Westminster Ophthalmic Hospital was established on High Holborn in 1816. It was amalgamated with Moorfields Eye Hospital in 1946. For information relating to the Hospital after 1948 see Moorfields Eye Hospital (H47/MR).

The Kirchner Convalescent Home was a gift to the Royal Waterloo Hospital in 1914 by Mr and Mrs Frederick J. Kirchner. The property was Sea Copse Hill, Wootton, Isle of Wight. The house stood in nine acres of land and was handed over to the Hospital fully furnished with beds, linen and household equipment. The house was sold in 1924 by the Board of Governors and the proceeds went towards general hospital purposes.

The Royal Waterloo Hospital was founded in 1816 by John Bunnell Davis as the Universal Dispensary for Children. The name was changed in 1821 to the Royal Universal Dispensary for Children. It occupied premises at St Andrew's Hill, Doctor's Commons, in the City of London. Between 1823 and 1824 a new building was erected on the corner of Waterloo Bridge Road and Stamford Street in Lambeth. It was intended to admit in-patients and consequently the Institution was renamed the Royal Universal Infirmary for Children. Unfortunately John Bunnell Davis died suddenly before the new building was completed. With his death the hospital lost some of its influential supporters and found itself heavily burdened with debt. The plan to admit in-patients had to be postponed.

The name of the institution was again altered in 1843 to the Royal Infirmary for Children and in 1852 to the Royal Infirmary for Children and Women. This second change was as the result of the receipt of an annual bequest of £450 from the Hayles Estate on condition that the hospital admitted in-patients and treated women. The first in-patients entered the hospital in 1856. Further changes of name took place on the extension of the hospital in 1875, when the title Royal Hospital for Women and Children was adopted, and in 1903, when on the rebuilding of the Hospital the name of the Royal Waterloo Hospital for Children and Women was chosen.

In 1948 the hospital became part of the National Health Service as one of the Saint Thomas' Hospital Group, providing beds for children, general medical and surgical, skin and psychiatric patients. It was also used for the training of medical students. The Royal Waterloo Hospital closed on 27th July 1976.

The establishment of the Society of Painters in Water Colours grew out of discontent at the disadvantage suffered by watercolours being hung amidst oil painting at the exhibitions of the Royal Academy of Art in Somerset House.
At a meeting at the Stratford Coffee House, Oxford St, London, on the 20 Nov 1804, William Frederick Wells initiated the establishment of the Society Associated for the Purpose of Establishing an Annual Exhibition of Paintings in Water Colours, in conjunction with the artists William Sawrey Gilpin, Robert Hills, John Claude Nattes, John and Cornelius Varley, Francis Nicholson, Samuel Shelley, William Henry Pyne and Nicholas Pocock. By the time of their first exhibition in April 1805, it had become known as the Society of Painters in Water Colours, and had gained six more members. The success of this exhibition, which enjoyed 12,000 visitors, encouraged its development into an annual event.

As a cooperative society, the Society's profits were shared among exhibitors, and at its peak in 1809, when there were more than 22,000 visitors, a profit of over £626 was divided between the twenty full members and seven associates. However poor financial management, and the uncertainty caused by renewed war with France, seems to have contributed to a decline in visitors and profits, ending in the collapse and winding up of the Society in 1812.

The Society was re-formed as the Society of Painters in Oil and Watercolours, in Dec 1812, with largely the same membership and struggled along until 1820, when on the 30 November 1820 the Society of Painters in Water Colours was reborn, reverting to the exclusive exhibition or water colours.

1860 saw the beginning of Diploma Collection - artworks presented to the Society by members following their election. Under the Presidency of Sir John Gilbert, the Society obtained the designation of 'Royal' following the agreement of Queen Victoria to sign the Diploma, in 1881.

Annual exhibitions of water colours began in 1805, with the Winter exhibition introduced in 1862. They were held in a variety of galleries located at Brook Street, Pall Mall, Old Bond Street, Spring Gardens, and the Egyptian Hall in Piccadilly. In 1823 the Society moved to number 6 Pall Mall East, where is stayed until 1938 when it moved to number 26 Conduit St. Following the expiration of the lease in Conduit St in 1980, the Bankside Gallery Charitable Limited Company was established by the Society in conjunction with the Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers (previously the Royal Society of Painter-Etchers) who had shared the Society's premises since 1888, and with whom it had members in common.

John Joseph Jenkins, Secretary of the Society 1854-1864, collected the papers of the Society and compiled notes with the intention of writing its history. Though he did not achieve this, they were used extensively by John Lewis Roget in his two volume publication History of the 'Old Water-Colour Society', (Longmans, Green and Co, London, 1891).

The Society's Art Club was founded in 1884 to promote interest in watercolour painting by holding evening conversazioni, which were attended by professional and amateur artists. It was wound up after its centenary in 1984 and transformed into the Friends of the Bankside Gallery.

In 1923 the Old Watercolour Society Club (OWSC) was founded, and produced volumes of essays by artists and academics relating to watercolour artists from 1924-1994.

The Royal United Services Institution was formed in 1916. In the previous year Lord Lynedoch had formed a General Military Club which merged with the Navy Club soon after the opening of its first premises. It is now known as the Royal United Services Institute.

The Royal Standard Benefit Society was a mutual sickness and burial society founded in 1828. According to Dickens's Dictionary of London, 1879, the object of the Society was to provide members with weekly payments in cases of sickness, monies towards their own or their wives' funerals, the expenses of their wives' lying-in, replacement of tools if lost in a fire, and superannuation. The Society was open to "respectable healthy men under 35 years of age" who earned over 28 shillings a week, and charged a joining fee and a quarterly subscription.

Dickens Dictionary of London consulted at: http://www.victorianlondon.org/dickens/dickens-f.htm.

Spelthorne was one of the Middlesex Hundreds, containing the parishes of Ashfrod, East Bedfont, Feltham, Hampton, Hanworth, Laleham, Littleton, Staines, Stanwell, Sunbury, Teddington and Shepperton. The hundred was held by the Crown.

1805 was during the Napoleonic Wars when many militia forces and volunteer forces were formed to participate in the war effort.

Prince William, the third son of King George the Third, was made Duke of Clarence in 1789. From 1797 he lived in Bushy House, Teddington, as ranger of Bushy Park. He became King William IV in 1830.

Foundation of the Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1907, with Sir Patrick Manson (then Dr) as President and Ronald Ross as Vice-President, by James Cantlie (later Sir James Cantlie) and George Carmichael Low. The objectives of the Society, which have remained vitually unchanged since, were the ' ... study and discussion of diseases met with in tropical [warm] countries involving ... medical men with tropical experience [and] every medical man engaged in the practice of medicine wherever his lot may be cast'; permssion granted by George V for the Society to call itself the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene, 1920; RSTMH moved to its current premises, Manson House, 26 Portland Place (designed by Robert Adam in 1778), 1931; first ordinary meeting held in new building. Jan 1932; formal opening of the new building by HRH the Prince of Wales, March 1932.

The Royal Society of St. George was established as a patriotic society in London in 1894, with the aim of promoting Englishness and the English way of life. It is not affiliated to any political party. The City of London Branch was formed before the Second World War.

The Royal Society of Portrait Painters was founded early in 1891. The impetus for the formation of the Society arose because some young portrait painters felt that their work was being excluded by the Royal Academy (of which they were not members) and so planned firstly an exhibition, then a Society of Portrait Painters. Members of the Society included Archibald John Stuart Wortley (the first President); James Jebusa Shannon; Percy Jacomb Hood; and Arthur Melville. The first exhibition was held in June 1891.

In 1911 the Society, by the permission of George V, gained the status of a Royal Society. Despite financial instability and problems finding venues for exhibitions the Society flourished and attracted critical and public attention; the annual exhibitions becoming an established part of the art calendar. The Society can boast a distinguished list of past and present members. In 1986 it became a Registered Company and in 1987 a charity.

The Society of Painter-Etchers was a voluntary society formed in 1880 by Seymour Haden and James J Tissot, Alphonse Legros and Hubert Herkomer, Robert Walker Macbeth, Heywood Hardy, who sought recognition of etching as a painter's art, rather than merely a craftsman's means of reproducing an artist's painting in multiples. It was also a protest against the Royal Academy's unwillingness to accept artists' etchings as original works of art and their refusal to elect artist-etchers as Academicians, though is elected craftsmen-engravers to membership and showed their copies of Academicians' paintings in the annual exhibitions.

It gained immediate support from fellow printmakers, and the following year an additional number were elected to the Society and the group prospered, so much so that in 1888 Queen Victoria granted a Royal title to the Society and in 1898 allowed its name to be enlarged to include Engravers, and in 1911 King George V granted a Charter of Incorporation and Bye-laws.
In 1989, to accommodate advances in technology and fully represent current printmaking in all its forms, the RE, as the Society had become known, voted to include all kinds of artists' prints in its exhibitions and to elect as members outstanding artists working in any of the various printmaking media. The revision of the name to The Royal Society of Painter-Printmakers, further reflects this change, and was approved by HM The Queen, The Privy Council, and the Home Office.
The Society has assembled a unique Diploma Collection of Prints, comprising a representative work from each new member upon election. This growing collection of more than a thousand prints, including works by such well reputed artists as Sickert, Poynter, Alma-Tadema, Griggs, Brockhurst, Knight, Sutherland, Hermes, Gross, Hayter, Bawden, and Rothenstein, is now held in trust by the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford. From the beginning the Society had members in common with the Royal Watercolour Society (RWS) and a long term partnership ensued, with the Society sharing premises with the RWS. In 1980, they jointly established the Bankside Gallery Charitable Limited Company, where their regular exhibitions now take place. The Society's major exhibition of Member's work generally in May each year.

Royal Society Club is a Dining Club and an independent body, membership of which is limited to Fellows of the Royal Society. The modern Club traces its lineage to the mid-18th century, although such institutions are at least as old as the Royal Society itself. Meetings are social rather than scientific, but inevitably matters of scientific interest have continued to form the main topics for discussion.

The Journal Book Copy was transcribed retrospectively in the early eighteenth century, and then regularly to the early nineteenth century, for the purpose of greater security.

Begins with the very first meeting of the newly formed Society, held in Gresham College on 28 November 1660 following a lecture by Christopher Wren. A copy of the Journal Book Original was made retrospectively in the early eighteenth century, and then regularly to the early nineteenth century for the purposes of greater security. In 1988 at the Special General Meeting of 17 November 1988 the Council approved a proposal, expressed in detail in an Appendix , to formally amend Statute 60, to separate the business meetings of the Society from the scientific lectures and meetings. The scientific discussions and lectures open to Fellows alone had been replaced with a programme of lectures and meetings open to all, with ordinary meetings of Fellows having become brief formal meetings for Statutory business.
Decisions on the venues and dates of lectures , which broke the tradition that lectures be tied to Ordinary meetings, had been made by Council on 16 June 1988, minute 22.

The origins of the Royal Society lie in an "invisible college" of natural philosophers who began meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. Its official foundation date is 28 November 1660, when 12 of them met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren, the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and decided to found 'a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning'. This group included Wren himself, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker. The Society was to meet weekly to witness experiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics. The first Curator of Experiments was Robert Hooke. It was Moray who first told the King, Charles II, of this venture and secured his approval and encouragement. The Royal Society first appears in print in 1661, and in the second Royal Charter of 1663 the Society is referred to as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'. The Society found accommodation at Gresham College and rapidly began to acquire a library (the first book was presented in 1661) and a repository or museum of specimens of scientific interest. After the Fire of 1666 it moved for some years to Arundel House, London home of the Dukes of Norfolk. It was not until 1710, under the Presidency of Isaac Newton, that the Society acquired its own home, two houses in Crane Court, off the Strand. In 1662 the Society was permitted by Royal Charter to publish and the first two books it produced were John Evelyn's Sylva and Micrographia by Robert Hooke. In 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions was edited by Henry Oldenburg, the Society's Secretary. The Society took over publication some years later and Philosophical Transactions is now the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication. From the beginning, Fellows of the Society had to be elected, although the criteria for election were vague and the vast majority of the Fellowship were not professional scientists. In 1731 a new rule established that each candidate for election had to be proposed in writing and this written certificate signed by those who supported his candidature. These certificates survive and give a glimpse of both the reasons why Fellows were elected and the contacts between Fellows. The Society moved again in 1780 to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown, an arrangement made by Sir Joseph Banks who had become President in 1778 and was to remain so until his death in 1820. Banks was in favour of maintaining a mixture among the Fellowship of working scientists and wealthy amateurs who might become their patrons. This view grew less popular in the first half of the 19th century and in 1847 the Society decided that in future Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work. This new professional approach meant that the Society was no longer just a learned society but also de facto an academy of scientists. The Government recognised this in 1850 by giving a grant to the Society of £1,000 to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment. Therefore a Government Grant system was established and a close relationship began, which nonetheless still allowed the Society to maintain its autonomy, essential for scientific research. In 1857 the Society moved once more, to Burlington House in Piccadilly, with its staff of two. The Royal Society Building Over the next century the work and staff of the Society grew rapidly and soon outgrew this site. Therefore in 1967 the Society moved again to its present location on Carlton House Terrace with a staff which has now grown to over 120, all working to further the Royal Society's roles as independent scientific academy, learned society and funding body .

The origins of the Royal Society lie in an "invisible college" of natural philosophers who began meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. Its official foundation date is 28 November 1660, when 12 of them met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren, the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and decided to found 'a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning'. This group included Wren himself, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker. The Society was to meet weekly to witness experiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics. The first Curator of Experiments was Robert Hooke. It was Moray who first told the King, Charles II, of this venture and secured his approval and encouragement. At first apparently nameless, the name The Royal Society first appears in print in 1661, and in the second Royal Charter of 1663 the Society is referred to as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'. The Society found accommodation at Gresham College and rapidly began to acquire a library (the first book was presented in 1661) and a repository or museum of specimens of scientific interest. After the Fire of 1666 it moved for some years to Arundel House, London home of the Dukes of Norfolk. It was not until 1710, under the Presidency of Isaac Newton, that the Society acquired its own home, two houses in Crane Court, off the Strand. In 1662 the Society was permitted by Royal Charter to publish and the first two books it produced were John Evelyn's Sylva and Micrographia by Robert Hooke. In 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions was edited by Henry Oldenburg, the Society's Secretary. The Society took over publication some years later and Philosophical Transactions is now the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication. From the beginning, Fellows of the Society had to be elected, although the criteria for election were vague and the vast majority of the Fellowship were not professional scientists. In 1731 a new rule established that each candidate for election had to be proposed in writing and this written certificate signed by those who supported his candidature. These certificates survive and give a glimpse of both the reasons why Fellows were elected and the contacts between Fellows. The Society moved again in 1780 to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown, an arrangement made by Sir Joseph Banks who had become President in 1778 and was to remain so until his death in 1820. Banks was in favour of maintaining a mixture among the Fellowship of working scientists and wealthy amateurs who might become their patrons. This view grew less popular in the first half of the 19th century and in 1847 the Society decided that in future Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work. This new professional approach meant that the Society was no longer just a learned society but also de facto an academy of scientists. The Government recognised this in 1850 by giving a grant to the Society of £1,000 to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment. Therefore a Government Grant system was established and a close relationship began, which nonetheless still allowed the Society to maintain its autonomy, essential for scientific research. In 1857 the Society moved once more, to Burlington House in Piccadilly, with its staff of two. Over the next century the work and staff of the Society grew rapidly and soon outgrew this site. Therefore in 1967 the Society moved again to its present location on Carlton House Terrace with a staff which has now grown to over 120, all working to further the Royal Society's roles as independent scientific academy, learned society and funding body.

This system of assessment began in December 1831, and became the norm for most papers, although the Reports were not necessarily presented in person. The Statutes of the Royal Society for 1831 describe the process by which papers were judged; those failing to gain a majority vote on two meetings of the Committee were rejected, but the Committee could call upon any Fellow to present a written Report to assist the process of deliberation before the second meeting, Formal printed sheets first appeared in 1898 and continue to the present day.

The origins of the Royal Society lie in an "invisible college" of natural philosophers who began meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. Its official foundation date is 28 November 1660, when 12 of them met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren, the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and decided to found 'a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning'. This group included Wren himself, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker.

The Society was to meet weekly to witness experiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics. The first Curator of Experiments was Robert Hooke. It was Moray who first told the King, Charles II, of this venture and secured his approval and encouragement. At first apparently nameless, the name The Royal Society first appears in print in 1661, and in the second Royal Charter of 1663 the Society is referred to as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'.

The Society found accommodation at Gresham College and rapidly began to acquire a library (the first book was presented in 1661) and a repository or museum of specimens of scientific interest. After the Fire of 1666 it moved for some years to Arundel House, London home of the Dukes of Norfolk. It was not until 1710, under the Presidency of Isaac Newton, that the Society acquired its own home, two houses in Crane Court, off the Strand.

In 1662 the Society was permitted by Royal Charter to publish and the first two books it produced were John Evelyn's Sylva and Micrographia by Robert Hooke. In 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions was edited by Henry Oldenburg, the Society's Secretary. The Society took over publication some years later and Philosophical Transactions is now the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication.

From the beginning, Fellows of the Society had to be elected, although the criteria for election were vague and the vast majority of the Fellowship were not professional scientists. In 1731 a new rule established that each candidate for election had to be proposed in writing and this written certificate signed by those who supported his candidature. These certificates survive and give a glimpse of both the reasons why Fellows were elected and the contacts between Fellows.

The Society moved again in 1780 to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown, an arrangement made by Sir Joseph Banks who had become President in 1778 and was to remain so until his death in 1820. Banks was in favour of maintaining a mixture among the Fellowship of working scientists and wealthy amateurs who might become their patrons. This view grew less popular in the first half of the 19th century and in 1847 the Society decided that in future Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work.

This new professional approach meant that the Society was no longer just a learned society but also de facto an academy of scientists. The Government recognised this in 1850 by giving a grant to the Society of £1,000 to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment. Therefore a Government Grant system was established and a close relationship began, which nonetheless still allowed the Society to maintain its autonomy, essential for scientific research. In 1857 the Society moved once more, to Burlington House in Piccadilly, with its staff of two.

The Royal Society Building Over the next century the work and staff of the Society grew rapidly and soon outgrew this site. Therefore in 1967 the Society moved again to its present location on Carlton House Terrace with a staff which has now grown to over 120, all working to further the Royal Society's roles as independent scientific academy, learned society and funding body .

These Council Minutes were created at the end of the eighteenth century at the same time as the Journal Books Copy and continued to the early nineteenth century for security reasons.

Certificates of Election were created as a result of a meeting of Council on 7 December 1730 when a draft of a new statute was proposed with the intention of limiting membership of the Society. The Statute proposed that each candidate for election should be recommended by three existing Fellows, 'who shall deliver to one of the Secretaries a paper signed by themselves, signifying the name, addition, profession, occupation, and chief qualifications of the Candidate for election, as also notifying the usual place of habitation'. Such certificates were dated and hung in the meeting room for ten gatherings of Fellows before being balloted, and bear the signatures of those Fellows supporting the candidate, with the date of election. Certificates were not made compulsory until 1847 when new statutes were enacted. Therefore there may not be a certificate for every Fellow elected in the period 1731 to 1849.

The number of Fellows elected annually varies, and the Statutes have to be changed to accommodate the changed numbers. In 2006 the numbers of Foreign Fellows were raised from 6 to 8, to take effect in 2007 (require amendment of Statute 3 (c) and Standing Orders 22 c) and 26.)

The number of new nominations made in any year is unlimited. Once nominated, candidates remain eligible for election for seven years. If not elected within this period, an individual may be proposed as a candidate again after a break of three years and then remains eligible for election for a period of three years. This three year cycle may be repeated without limit eg there were 564 candidates for election as Fellows in 2005. The Society does not provide details of the identities of nominated candidates to anybody outside the Fellowship, except those individuals consulted in confidence during the refereeing process.

The nominations process was made easier in 2001 by reducing from six to two the number of Fellows signatures required on a certificate of proposal. This change was introduced because it was felt that the larger number of signatures might discriminate against minorities in science, such as women, those in new and emerging subjects or those in institutions and organisations with few existing Fellows.

In addition, the President of the Royal Society periodically writes to Vice-Chancellors, and Chairs and Chief Executives of Research Councils, to encourage them to put forward names of potential candidates. Any suggestions generated through this route are considered before 30 September by the President, Vice-Presidents and one or more members of the Council of the Royal Society. These suggestions, if thought suitable, then follow the normal nomination process, with the proposing and seconding of a candidate by existing Fellows.

The Society has also broadened the scope of candidates to encourage nomination and election of scientists, technologists and engineers whose major contribution to their subject has been other than through original research, for example by leadership, inspiration or furtherance of science in a senior managerial or administrative capacity, or through science communication.

The proposing Fellow is responsible for informing the candidate that he or she has been nominated. The proposer must ensure, in consultation with the candidate, that all information relevant to the nomination is up to date.

The bonds which for many years were demanded of Fellows as an assurance for the regular payment of their fees to the Royal Society.

The origins of the Royal Society lie in an "invisible college" of natural philosophers who began meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. Its official foundation date is 28 November 1660, when 12 of them met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren, the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and decided to found 'a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning'. This group included Wren himself, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker. The Society was to meet weekly to witness experiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics. The first Curator of Experiments was Robert Hooke. It was Moray who first told the King, Charles II, of this venture and secured his approval and encouragement. At first apparently nameless, the name The Royal Society first appears in print in 1661, and in the second Royal Charter of 1663 the Society is referred to as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'. The Society found accommodation at Gresham College and rapidly began to acquire a library (the first book was presented in 1661) and a repository or museum of specimens of scientific interest. After the Fire of 1666 it moved for some years to Arundel House, London home of the Dukes of Norfolk. It was not until 1710, under the Presidency of Isaac Newton, that the Society acquired its own home, two houses in Crane Court, off the Strand. In 1662 the Society was permitted by Royal Charter to publish and the first two books it produced were John Evelyn's Sylva and Micrographia by Robert Hooke. In 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions was edited by Henry Oldenburg, the Society's Secretary. The Society took over publication some years later and Philosophical Transactions is now the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication. From the beginning, Fellows of the Society had to be elected, although the criteria for election were vague and the vast majority of the Fellowship were not professional scientists. In 1731 a new rule established that each candidate for election had to be proposed in writing and this written certificate signed by those who supported his candidature. These certificates survive and give a glimpse of both the reasons why Fellows were elected and the contacts between Fellows. The Society moved again in 1780 to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown, an arrangement made by Sir Joseph Banks who had become President in 1778 and was to remain so until his death in 1820. Banks was in favour of maintaining a mixture among the Fellowship of working scientists and wealthy amateurs who might become their patrons. This view grew less popular in the first half of the 19th century and in 1847 the Society decided that in future Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work. This new professional approach meant that the Society was no longer just a learned society but also de facto an academy of scientists. The Government recognised this in 1850 by giving a grant to the Society of £1,000 to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment. Therefore a Government Grant system was established and a close relationship began, which nonetheless still allowed the Society to maintain its autonomy, essential for scientific research. In 1857 the Society moved once more, to Burlington House in Piccadilly, with its staff of two. The Royal Society Building Over the next century the work and staff of the Society grew rapidly and soon outgrew this site. Therefore in 1967 the Society moved again to its present location on Carlton House Terrace with a staff which has now grown to over 120, all working to further the Royal Society's roles as independent scientific academy, learned society and funding body .

This Copy version was transcribed in the eighteenth century, possibly for reasons of security like the Journal Books and the Council Minutes. It is known that one volume of the Register was lost (Volume 2) and then recovered - but not before a replacement had been made, leaving three versions in total (Original, Duplicate and Copy). A further copy of the original Volumes 1and 2 was made (date unknown) and returned to the Society in 1814, being presented to Sir Joseph Banks (MSG/776). Volume 10 of the series does not exist - this was left as a deliberate gap in the sequence, to be filled if original papers became available for copying.

The tribute to James Joseph Sylvester, was established as a bronze medal to be awarded triennially for the encouragement of mathematical research.

The origins of the Royal Society lie in an "invisible college" of natural philosophers who began meeting in the mid-1640s to discuss the ideas of Francis Bacon. Its official foundation date is 28 November 1660, when 12 of them met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren, the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and decided to found 'a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning'. This group included Wren himself, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker. The Society was to meet weekly to witness experiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics. The first Curator of Experiments was Robert Hooke. It was Moray who first told the King, Charles II, of this venture and secured his approval and encouragement. At first apparently nameless, the name The Royal Society first appears in print in 1661, and in the second Royal Charter of 1663 the Society is referred to as 'The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge'. The Society found accommodation at Gresham College and rapidly began to acquire a library (the first book was presented in 1661) and a repository or museum of specimens of scientific interest. After the Fire of 1666 it moved for some years to Arundel House, London home of the Dukes of Norfolk. It was not until 1710, under the Presidency of Isaac Newton, that the Society acquired its own home, two houses in Crane Court, off the Strand. In 1662 the Society was permitted by Royal Charter to publish and the first two books it produced were John Evelyn's Sylva and Micrographia by Robert Hooke. In 1665, the first issue of Philosophical Transactions was edited by Henry Oldenburg, the Society's Secretary. The Society took over publication some years later and Philosophical Transactions is now the oldest scientific journal in continuous publication. From the beginning, Fellows of the Society had to be elected, although the criteria for election were vague and the vast majority of the Fellowship were not professional scientists. In 1731 a new rule established that each candidate for election had to be proposed in writing and this written certificate signed by those who supported his candidature. These certificates survive and give a glimpse of both the reasons why Fellows were elected and the contacts between Fellows. The Society moved again in 1780 to premises at Somerset House provided by the Crown, an arrangement made by Sir Joseph Banks who had become President in 1778 and was to remain so until his death in 1820. Banks was in favour of maintaining a mixture among the Fellowship of working scientists and wealthy amateurs who might become their patrons. This view grew less popular in the first half of the 19th century and in 1847 the Society decided that in future Fellows would be elected solely on the merit of their scientific work. This new professional approach meant that the Society was no longer just a learned society but also de facto an academy of scientists. The Government recognised this in 1850 by giving a grant to the Society of £1,000 to assist scientists in their research and to buy equipment. Therefore a Government Grant system was established and a close relationship began, which nonetheless still allowed the Society to maintain its autonomy, essential for scientific research. In 1857 the Society moved once more, to Burlington House in Piccadilly, with its staff of two. The Royal Society Building Over the next century the work and staff of the Society grew rapidly and soon outgrew this site. Therefore in 1967 the Society moved again to its present location on Carlton House Terrace with a staff which has now grown to over 120, all working to further the Royal Society's roles as independent scientific academy, learned society and funding body.

The Register Books exist in Original and Copy form. The Original set was copied in the eighteenth century, possibly for reasons of security as were the Journal Books and the Council Minutes. It is known that one volume of the Register was lost (Volume 2) and then recovered, but not before a replacement had been made, leaving three versions. A further copy of Volumes 1 and 2 of the Register was made (date unknown) and returned to the Society in 1814, being presented to Sir Joseph Banks (MSG/776). Volume 10 of the series does not exist - this was left as a deliberate gap in the sequence, to be filled if original papers became available for copying. MS/245 may once have been considered as part of, or supplementary to, the Register Book. It contains copies of original documents in Classified Papers 23(i) and (ii) on the subject of inoculation, and is copied and bound in similar style.

British seamen and British shipowners under the National Health Insurance Scheme of 1911 were required to pay a contribution to the National Insurance Fund. The Lascar Fund became established so that contributions by shipowners could be made with respect to foreign seamen employed in British ships. This fund later became The Seamen's Pension Fund and subsequently after receiving a grant of Royal Charter in 1931, The Royal Seamen's Pension Fund. A scheme for the Constitution of a Governing Body was established in 1919. This Governing Body comprised of seven representatives of shipowners and seven representatives of all persons entitled to benefits from the fund. The fund was administered until 1928 by an officer of the Ministry of Health, after which time it was deemed necessary to set up a separate establishment with its own secretary for the body. Initially, benefits were awarded only to those seamen who were members of approved societies. In 1929, the Governing Body decided that benefit should be broadened to all those seamen residing in the United Kingdom who had either served in the British merchant marine or British fishing fleets. The overarching requisite for being eligible for benefit was number of years of service at sea as a master and seaman, being resident and dwelling in Britain, natural born or naturalised British subjects. Preference was given to those applicants who served not less than 24 years actual sea service in foreign going ships. The minimum age a pension could be awarded was 65 for a man and 60 for a woman (requiring not less than 15 years service at sea). In 1928 pensions were made payable for life.

A Scottish box-club to benefit Scots merchants and craftsmen was in operation in London by 1613. In 1665, Letters Patent were granted for the establishment of a "Scottish Hospital" to look after the sick and train the able-bodied poor in Westminster. The Hospital was built on land in the parish of St Ann Blackfriars and was opened in 1676. In the same year, the royal charter was renewed, and its reach was extended to include the City of London as well as Westminster. The charter was re-incorporated in 1775 by George III to cater for the greater needs of the Corporation as a result of a growing influx of Scots to London after the Union of 1707. The administration and headquarters of the hospital moved in 1782 to a house in Crane Court and additional buildings were also purchased a few years later in nearby Fleur de Lis Court, off Fetter Lane. By 1868 applicants for aid had to live within 12 miles of the Corporation's Hall and also had to have lived for at least two years in London. Elderly pensioners had to have lived in London for 20 years and within 12 miles of the hall. Since the renewal of the charter in 1974, applicants have to live within 35 miles of Charing Cross to be eligible for help. After the Hospital and tenements were sold to the City of London in 1874, poor Scots were helped in their own homes with a pension, if they had subscribed to the Corporation.

William Kinloch, a Calcutta merchant, died in 1812 and left the residue of his estate to the Corporation. The estate was to be invested for the benefit of "poor and disabled Scotchmen in distress, who may have lost their legs or arms, eyesight, or otherwise wounded in the army or navy, in the service of their country". By 1886 the bequest was supporting 254 pensioners. The Kinloch Bequest is still active today, providing Scottish disabled servicemen throughout the UK with pensions.In 1915 Allan William Freer bequeathed the residue of his estate to the Corporation. The income from the estate was intended "for the aid of subscribers who in later years have become reduced through ill-health or business reverses". Another servicemen's charity managed by the Corporation is the St Andrew's Scottish Soldiers' Club Fund. This fund specifically helps soldiers of the Aldershot Garrison in Hampshire, wherever they might be serving. In 1812 a school fund was set up. By 1882-3 the Corporation was paying part or the whole of the school fees for children under thirteen of poor Scottish parents. Bursaries are today awarded by the Corporation to children of the Royal Caledonian Schools and student loans to Scottish students at London's universities and colleges.

Since the incorporation of the Scottish box club, the charity has been variously called "the Scottish Hospital", "the Scots Corporation", "the Scottish Corporation" and "the Scots Hall". The "Royal Scottish Corporation" became the common name from the early twentieth century. The Corporation has been based in the parish of St Ann Blackfriars (1673-1782), 7 Crane Court (1782-1927), Fleur de Lis Court, 9 Fetter Lane (1927-73) and 37 King Street (1973-). A new building was constructed on the Crane Court site after a fire in 1877 and opened in 1880.

The Royal School of Mines was established in 1851, as the Government School of Mines and Science Applied to the Arts. The School developed from the Museum of Economic Geology, a collection of minerals, maps and mining equipment made by Sir Henry De la Beche, and opened in 1841. The Museum also provided some student places for the study of mineralogy and metallurgy. Sir Henry was the director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and when the collections outgrew the premises the Museum and the Survey were placed on an official footing, with Government assistance. The Museum of Practical Geology and the Government School of Mines Applied to the Arts opened in a purpose designed building in Jermyn Street in 1851. The officers of the Geological Survey became the lecturers and professors of the School of Mines. The name was changed in 1863 to the Royal School of Mines, and was moved to South Kensington in 1872.
The Royal College of Chemistry was affiliated to the Government School of Mines Applied to the Arts in 1853, effectively becoming its department of Chemistry.
The Royal College of Science was formed in 1881 by merging some courses of the Royal School of Mines with the teaching of other science subjects at South Kensington. It was originally named the Normal School of Science (the title was based on the Ecole Normale in Paris), but in 1890 was renamed the Royal College of Science. In 1907 the Royal School of Mines and Royal College of Science were incorporated in the Royal Charter of the Imperial College of Science and Technology.
The Council of Professors was succeeded by the Imperial College Board of Studies, which was established in October 1911.
In 1998 the Royal School of Mines Departments of Geology and Earth Resources Engineering became part of the T H Huxley School of Environment, Earth Sciences and Engineering, along with the Centre for Environmental Technology and the Environment Office.

The Department of Geology has its origins in the Museum of Economic Geology, a collection of minerals, maps and mining equipment made by Sir Henry De la Beche, and opened in 1841. The Museum also provided some student places for the study of mineralogy and metallurgy. Sir Henry was the director of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, and when the collections outgrew the premises the Museum and the Survey were placed on an official footing, with Government assistance. The Museum of Practical Geology and the Government School of Mines Applied to the Arts, with its Geology Department, opened in a purpose designed building in Jermyn Street in 1851. The officers of the Geological Survey became the lecturers and professors of the School of Mines (renamed the Royal School of Mines in 1863). Sir Andrew Ramsay was appointed to the first Chair of Geology in 1851 and retired in 1876. The department moved to South Kensington in 1877, and was transferred from the Royal College of Science to the Royal School of Mines in 1966.
The Technology of Oil (later Oil Technology) programme was established in 1913, with Applied Geophysics being introduced in the 1930s. Previously, the Departments of Physics, Mathematics, Meteorology and Chemistry had contributed towards research in Geophysics. Geochemistry studies were first undertaken in the Department in 1948, leading to the establishment of the Geochemical Prospecting Research Centre in 1954 (by 1965 the Applied Geochemistry Research Group). In the early 1970s Oil Technology was divided into Petroleum Geology and Petroleum Engineering, with the latter being incorporated into the Mineral Resources Engineering Department of the Royal School of Mines.
In 1998 the T H Huxley School of Environment, Earth Sciences and Engineering was formed from the Department of Geology, Earth Resources Engineering, the Centre for Environmental Technology and the Environment Office.

The Murchison Museum was disbanded in 1990.

The British Postgraduate Medical School, based at Hammersmith Hospital, was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1931 and opened in 1935. It was the result of recommendations by the Athlone Report of 1921, and was a pioneer institution of postgraduate clinical teaching and research. The school has always been closely linked with the Hammersmith Hospital and the Medical Research Council, where its teaching research and clinical work is carried out. Senior Academic staff of the school provided consultant services and academic leadership for Hammersmith Hospital.
The school became part of the British Postgraduate Medical Foundation in 1947, and was known as the Postgraduate Medical School of London. In 1974 the school became independent, with a new charter and the title Royal Postgraduate Medical School.
In 1988 the school merged with the Institute of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, and became part of the Imperial College School of Medicine on its formation in 1997.

The Royal Observatory was founded by Charles II in 1675. Charles II appointed John Flamsteed as his first Astronomer Royal in March 1675. The Observatory was built to improve navigation at sea and 'find the so-much desired longitude of places'. This was inseparable from the accurate measurement of time, for which the Observatory became generally famous in the 19th century. The Royal Observatory is also the source of the Prime Meridian of the world, Longitude 0° 0' 0''. The Prime Meridian is defined by the position of the large 'Transit Circle' telescope in the Observatory's Meridian Building. This was built by Sir George Biddell Airy, the 7th Astronomer Royal, in 1850. The cross-hairs in the eyepiece of the Transit Circle precisely define Longitude 0º for the world. Since the late 19th century, the Prime Meridian at Greenwich has served as the co-ordinate base for the calculation of Greenwich Mean Time. The Greenwich Meridian was chosen to be the Prime Meridian of the World in 1884. In 1960, shortly after the transfer of the Royal Greenwich Observatory (RGO) to Herstmonceux (and later Cambridge), Flamsteed House was transferred to the National Maritime Museum's care and over the next seven years the remaining buildings on the site were also transferred and restored for Museum use. Following the closure of the RGO at Cambridge in October 1998, the site is now again known as the Royal Observatory, Greenwich.

The Royal Northern Hospital opened as the Great Northern Hospital on 30 June 1856. Its founder was Sherard Freeman Statham, an assistant surgeon at University College Hospital, and he opened the hospital in York Road, King's Cross where it served workers on the King's Cross and Euston Railways.

The arrival of the Metropolitan Railway Company in 1862 necessitated a move for the hospital. The outpatients were moved to a house in Pentonville Road, while the in-patients were accommodated at the Spinal Hospital in Great Portland Street. At this time the Spinal Hospital amalgamated with the Great Northern Hospital and became its orthopaedic department. In 1864 the in-patients moved into a newly acquired building in Caledonian Road. During 1867 the Hospital expanded into more houses in the Caledonian Road area but purpose-built premises were still needed.

Due to increasing need for another hospital in the area, a Central Hospital for North London had been proposed. It amalgamated with the Great Northern Hospital in 1884, and after a competition to design its premises, the Great Northern Central Hospital moved to Holloway Road in 1888. The outpatients joined them from Pentonville Road in April, and the new hospital was officially opened in July.

Expansion continued, due to the pressure of numbers, and thanks mainly to the hospital's Ladies Association. The Association was officially founded in 1869 but had been active for several years before that. Its aim was to aid and befriend patients and servants on discharge and to brighten the lives of the in-patients; it also helped the hospital financially. The Ladies Association Building Fund was set up in 1890 and remained active until the new block was complete in 1894. Also in 1894 the hospital opened wards for paying patients, which encountered a great deal of hostility from local doctors.

In 1895 the Great Northern Central Hospital was formally recognised as a place of study for fifth year medical students by the University of London and the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons. A grant was awarded to the hospital in 1898 by the Prince of Wales (later the King Edward) Hospital Fund for London.

A charter of incorporation was granted to the hospital in 1900, under the title of "The President, Vice-President and Governors of the Great Northern Central Hospital". All hospital property and land was thereafter vested in the Corporation, not the trustees as before. In 1907 Mr Francis Reckitt donated the money for a convalescent home, to be attached to the hospital. A suitable site was found in Clacton-on-Sea and the 'Reckitt Convalescent Home of the Great Northern Central Hospital' was opened in July 1909. The home was managed by a special committee, appointed by the management committee of the hospital.

A Home of Recovery at Earlsmead, Hornsey Lane, was donated to the hospital in May 1918, by Mr E.G. Harrop. The loan of the home, however, was only temporary and in 1919 the home moved to Summerlee, Fortis Green. Again the loan of the property expired and after negotiations by the Management Committee the hospital purchased Grovelands, a mansion in Southgate, where it opened a permanent home of recovery in February 1921. The home continued as part of the hospital until 1977 when it closed.

The name of the hospital had come into question in 1911 because of its cumbersome nature, and from that date all references to the hospital included "commonly called the Great Northern Hospital" after the title. Doubts about the hospital's name were brought up again in 1919 and in December of that year it was decided to alter the charter of incorporation to read 'Royal Northern Hospital'. The change of name was delayed until November 1921, after the hospital had amalgamated with the Royal Chest Hospital (H33/RCH). Financial difficulties had forced the chest hospital's council to opt for amalgamation with the Royal Northern in preference to closure. A supplementary charter recording the change of name was granted in June 1924.

The Royal Northern Hospital continued to expand. A School of Radiography - one of the first in the country - was founded in 1929, followed in the same year by a school of Housekeeping and Catering. In 1931 a new private block was opened, known as the Saint David's Wing, and in 1937, after a donation by Beechams Pills Limited, the Beechams Laboratories of Pathology, Bacteriology, Biochemistry and Pharmacy were also opened. 1937 also saw the opening of a fracture clinic, an occupational therapy centre and a radiotherapy department.

The introduction of the National Health Service in 1948 caused many and widespread changes in the management of the hospital. The Ladies Association and League ceased to exist at this time and the hospital was placed under the control of the North West Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board. The Northern Group Hospital Management Committee was set up to administer the Royal Northern and seven other hospitals, which now formed the Northern Group of Hospitals. These other hospitals were the Northaw House Children's Hospital, Highlands Hospital, Wood Green and Southgate Hospital, and the City of London Maternity Hospital (H10/CLM). The Maternity Nursing Association (H33/MNA) was also affiliated to the group. Although the Reckitt Convalescent Home had become part of the North East Metropolitan Regional Hospital Board in 1948, patients were still sent there by the Royal Northern on account of the close association between the two institutions.

In 1963 the Northern Group Hospital Management Committee joined with the Archway Group to form the North London Hospital Management Committee, their headquarters remaining at the Royal Northern Hospital. After 1974 the Northern Group of Hospitals came under the North East Thames Regional Health Authority; on a local level the Royal Northern was administered by the Islington District Health Authority, while Grovelands Hospital came under the Enfield District Health Authority until its closure.

The inaugural meeting of the Royal Naval Club of 1765 took place in February of that year. The object was to dine fortnightly at the St Albans' Tavern, St Albans Street from November to April. At the end of the first 'season', the meetings were transferred to the Castle Tavern, Henrietta Street and in 1767 to the Shakespeare's Head Tavern, Covent Garden. Members were elected by ballot and in 1768 an annual subscription of one guinea was imposed. The 'Widows and Legitimate Orphans' Fund' was started in 1792, using the money in hand from the surplus of the annual subscriptions. The club met at the Crown and Anchor Tavern in the Strand from 1806 to 1825 and then transferred to the Piazza Coffee House, Covent Garden, in 1826. A Copenhagen dinner was instituted in 1831 and a Trafalgar dinner in 1833. The Thatched Tavern, St James Street, became the venue of dinners in 1850 and Willis's Rooms, King Street, served that purpose from 1862 to 1889. As the 1765 club met from November to April and Parliament sat from February to June, there was room for a new club to cater for officers who were likely to be in town when Parliament was sitting. The first recorded meeting of the new club, called the Royal Navy Club of 1785, was in February of that year at the Star and Carter Tavern, Pall Mall. At the outset membership was limited to 150 whereas the 1765 club had unlimited membership. H J Kelly (d 1893), who was already secretary of the older club, was appointed first salaried secretary of the 1785 club in 1871. Before this time the books were apparently kept by the master of the tavern. Since 1862 both clubs held their meetings in Willis's Rooms and more than two-thirds of the members belonged to both, so that amalgamation seemed logical. This came into effect on 1 January 1889. Kelly was a natural choice for the secretary of the new club. Most of the prominent naval officers of their day were members of the club, which still exists today.

Royal Navy: Administration - volumes relating to local administration

Royal Navy: Administration - Volumes relating to central administration