The Royal Bath and West of England Society is a

charitable society A charitable organization or charity is an organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being (e.g. educational, religious or other activities serving the public interest or common good). The legal definition of a ch ...

founded in 1777 to promote and improve agriculture and related activities around the

West Country The West Country (occasionally Westcountry) is a loosely defined area of South West England, usually taken to include all, some, or parts of the counties of Cornwall, Devon, Dorset, Somerset, Bristol, and, less commonly, Wiltshire, Glo ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. Based at the Royal Bath and West of England Society Showground near Shepton Mallet in

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

, the society is a registered charity in

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is Eng ...

(no. 1039397). Nowadays the society offers a variety of services relating to agriculture and veterinary science including public and professional events, seminars and advice,

scholarships A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarsh ...

, and a marketplace for countryside products.

Foundation

In 1775

Edmund Rack Edmund Rack (c.1735 – 22 February 1787), born in Norfolk, England, became well known in Bath, Somerset; he was a writer, particularly about agriculture, and founded notable societies. Life Rack was born in Attleborough, Norfolk, about 1735, so ...

, a

draper Draper was originally a term for a retailer or wholesaler of cloth that was mainly for clothing. A draper may additionally operate as a cloth merchant or a haberdasher. History Drapers were an important trade guild during the medieval period, ...

and the son of a labouring weaver, moved from his native

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

to the city of Bath. Despite his modest upbringing, Rack had developed interests both in literature and agriculture, and especially the application of modern methods to farming. He was struck on his arrival by the poor standard of agricultural practise in the West Country, and in a series of letters to the '' Farmer's Magazine'' and the ''

Bath Chronicle The ''Bath Chronicle'' is a weekly newspaper, first published under various titles before 1760 in Bath, England. Prior to September 2007, it was published daily. The ''Bath Chronicle'' serves Bath, northern Somerset and west Wiltshire. History ...

'' argued that it was in the interest of all involved to make a concerted effort to improve productivity. Thus on the 28 August 1777 the ''Bath Chronicle'' printed a notice addressed to "The Nobility and Gentry in the counties of Somerset, Gloucester, Wiltshire and Dorset in general, and the Cities of Bath and Bristol in particular". This notice, paid for by Rack, proposed the formation of a "Society in this City, for the encouragement of Agriculture, Planting, Manufactures, Commerce, and the Fine Arts...". A number of

philanthropists Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material ...

responded, and at a meeting on 8 September inaugurated the ''Bath and West of England Society for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures and Commerce'', nominating Rack as the society's secretary. The same year, the ''Aims, Rules and Orders of the Society'' were published, which set out the activities of the society for the years to come. These involved the improvement of areas such as animal husbandry, farm implements and country crafts through education, experimentation and prize-giving. In 1780 a site at

Weston Weston may refer to: Places Australia * Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra * Weston, New South Wales * Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra * Weston Park, Canberra, a park Canada * Weston, Nova Scotia * ...

, Bath was taken over for use by the society as an experimental farm. Although this particular venture ended around a decade later, for the next 196 years the society's headquarters were located in properties within the city of Bath, until in 1974 its administration moved to a new permanent home in Shepton Mallet.

18th and 19th centuries

The year 1780 saw the first major publication of the society when Volume I of the ''Letters and Papers'' appeared. These disseminated advice and scientific opinion on agriculture and other subjects of interest, and were printed irregularly until finishing with Volume XV in 1829. Later in its history the society resumed publishing with a full journal. In 1859 the decision was made to move the annual meetings of the society out of the city of Bath, and each year convene in a different town in the society's area. These were combined with annual

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which breeding stock is exhibit ...

s which proved enormously popular, and continue to the present day. The society was then renamed in 1869 as the 'Bath and West of England Society and Southern Counties Association for the Encouragement of Agriculture, Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce' to reflect its influence in areas outside the vicinity of the city, and further name changes occurring in the 1890s finished with the 'Bath and West and Southern Counties Society'.

Since the 20th Century

A final change of name created the present 'Royal Bath and West of England Society', and in 1994 the society was registered as a full charity under British law. The society continues to organise events around the west of England including a

flower show Flower shows are horticultural exhibitions with an emphasis on flowers. For flower festival A garden festival is a festival and exposition held to celebrate the arts of gardening, garden design, landscaping and landscape architecture. There ...

and the

Royal Bath and West Show The Royal Bath and West is an agricultural show for the West of England. Held every year at its permanent show ground near Shepton Mallet, Somerset, it is one of a number of County shows in the United Kingdom and is a four-day show. In 2009 and ...

, which in 2005 attracted 150,000 visitors. The current president of the society is HRH The Countess of Wessex. The Royal Bath and West Showground is the location for many events throughout the year, including the

New Wine New Wine is a not-for-profit Christian evangelical organization based in the United Kingdom, that assists Christian churches with organizational leadership training and fundraising. The organization also holds its own annual summer conferences, ...

summer conferences.

Notes

References

* *Bryant, P., Bennett, S. and Collins, T., 2002. The story of the 'Bath and West' innovation and application: Bath Royal Literary & Scientific Institution Millennium Lecture, Monday, 9 October 2000 nline ed. Shepton Mallet: Royal Bath and West of England Society. Available from: http://www.bathandwestsociety.com/media/The-Story-of-the-Bath-West-Innovation-Application.pdf ccessed 06/03/2019

External links

Royal Bath and West of England Society websiteEarly history of the societyHistory of the Society's Library and Archives
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Bath And West Of England Society 1777 establishments in England Bath and West of England Society Charities based in Somerset Shepton Mallet