The Spalding Gentlemen's Society is a
learned society
A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership ...
based in
Spalding,
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershir ...
, England, concerned with cultural, scientific and
antiquarian subjects. It is Britain's oldest such provincial body, founded in 1710 by
Maurice Johnson (1688–1755) of
Ayscoughfee Hall. Membership is open to anyone aged 18 or over: the term "gentlemen" in the title is historical – there is no discrimination between men and women. Its
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...
museum in Broad Street, Spalding, was designed by
Joseph Boothroyd Corby
Joseph Boothroyd Corby (1839–1913) was an English architect who worked in Stamford, Lincolnshire.
Career
Joseph Boothroyd Corby was born in Stamford and was articled to the local architect Edward Browning. He later became the surveyor of the ...
and opened in 1911; additions to the building ensued in 1925 and 1960. The carved outside panels were by Jules Tuerlinckx of
Malines
Mechelen (; french: Malines ; traditional English name: MechlinMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical contex ...
, a
Belgian refugee in the First World War.
History
The Spalding Gentlemen's Society started in 1710 with informal meetings of a few gentlemen at a local
coffee house
A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café is an establishment that primarily serves coffee of various types, notably espresso, latte, and cappuccino. Some coffeehouses may serve cold drinks, such as iced coffee and iced tea, as well as other non-ca ...
in Spalding called Youngers. Many
gentlemen's clubs formed in this way around that time. They talked about local antiquities and discussed the popular London newspaper ''
The Tatler''. In 1712 the society was organised in a more formal way as a ''Society of Gentlemen, for the supporting of mutual benevolence, and their improvement in the liberal sciences and in polite learning''. Officers were appointed and minutes were kept.
Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch
Francis Scott, 2nd Duke of Buccleuch, KT, FRS (11 January 1695 – 22 April 1751) was a Scottish nobleman.
Family background
Buccleuch was the son of Sir James Scott, Earl of Dalkeith (son of James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth and Anne Scott, ...
(1695–1751), became Patron in 1732.
Records of the society's earliest activities have been published by the
Lincoln Record Society as ''The Correspondence of the Spalding Gentlemen's Society, 1710–1761'' and ''Minute-Books of The Spalding Gentlemen's Society, 1712–1755''. Later works appear in catalogues as produced by "Spalding Gentleman's Society" in 1892 and 1893.
Notable members
Noteworthy and early members of the "Gentlemen's Society at Spalding" include:
*Sir
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton (25 December 1642 – 20 March 1726/27) was an English mathematician, physicist, astronomer, alchemist, theologian, and author (described in his time as a " natural philosopher"), widely recognised as one of the g ...
. Stukeley's unpublished memoir of Newton mentions his joining the society, and making a substantial donation of books.
*
Ayuba Suleiman Diallo, freed slave, Muslim cleric and aristocrat from Senegal
*Dr
William Stukeley
William Stukeley (7 November 1687 – 3 March 1765) was an English antiquarian, physician and Anglican clergyman. A significant influence on the later development of archaeology, he pioneered the scholarly investigation of the prehistor ...
, cleric and antiquary
*Sir
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
, President of the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, r ...
, whose museum and library formed the nucleus of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docume ...
*
"Honest Tom" Martin
Thomas Martin (8 March 1696/7 – 7 March 1771), known as "Honest Tom Martin of Palgrave", was an antiquarian and lawyer.
Early life
Martin was born at Thetford in the school house of St. Mary's parish, which is the only parish of that town si ...
, antiquary
*
Alexander Pope
Alexander Pope (21 May 1688 O.S. – 30 May 1744) was an English poet, translator, and satirist of the Enlightenment era who is considered one of the most prominent English poets of the early 18th century. An exponent of Augustan literature, ...
, poet
*
Alexander Gordon, antiquary
*Sir
Joseph Banks, naturalist and botanist
*
Emanuel Mendes da Costa
Emanuel Mendes da Costa (5 June 1717 – 31 May 1791) was an English botanist, naturalist, philosopher, and collector of valuable notes and of manuscripts, and of anecdotes of the literati. Da Costa became infamous for embezzling funds while wor ...
, botanist and conchologist
*Sir
George Gilbert Scott
Sir George Gilbert Scott (13 July 1811 – 27 March 1878), known as Sir Gilbert Scott, was a prolific English Gothic Revival architect, chiefly associated with the design, building and renovation of churches and cathedrals, although he starte ...
,
Gothic revival architect
*Alfred,
Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate
*
George Vertue, engraver
*
Joseph Ayloffe, antiquary
*
John Anstis
John Anstis (29 August 1669 – 4 March 1744) was an English officer of arms, antiquarian and politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1702 and 1722. He rose to the highest heraldic office in England and became Garter King of Arms ...
, F.R.S.
Garter King of Arms
The Garter Principal King of Arms (also Garter King of Arms or simply Garter) is the senior King of Arms, and the senior Officer of Arms of the College of Arms, the heraldic authority with jurisdiction over England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Th ...
*
John Gay
John Gay (30 June 1685 – 4 December 1732) was an English poet and dramatist and member of the Scriblerus Club. He is best remembered for '' The Beggar's Opera'' (1728), a ballad opera. The characters, including Captain Macheath and Polly ...
, the poet
*Rev.
Richard Bentley
Richard Bentley FRS (; 27 January 1662 – 14 July 1742) was an English classical scholar, critic, and theologian. Considered the "founder of historical philology", Bentley is widely credited with establishing the English school of Helle ...
, D.D., classical scholar
*Captain
John Perry, engineer
*
Pishey Thompson, historian of
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the capital city, state capital and List of municipalities in Massachusetts, most populous city of the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financ ...
*
Andrew Michael Ramsay
Andrew Michael Ramsay (9 July 16866 May 1743), commonly called the Chevalier Ramsay, was a Scottish-born writer who lived most of his adult life in France. He was a Baronet in the Jacobite Peerage.
Ramsay was born in Ayr, Scotland, the son o ...
, Scottish writer
*
Lord Curzon of Kedleston
George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...
*
Lord Peckover
Alexander Peckover, 1st Baron Peckover LL FRGS, FSA, FLS (16 August 1830 – 21 October 1919), was an English Quaker banker, philanthropist and collector of ancient manuscripts.
Early years
Peckover was born at Wisbech, Cambridgeshire, the ...
, Quaker banker and philanthropist of Wisbech
*
Lord Ancaster, the Society's Patron from 1960 to 1983
*
Francis Bellinger, LRCP, (d. 1721), English physician
Gallery
File:Portrait of Sir Isaac Newton (4670221).jpg, Isaac Newton
File:Stukeley William.jpg, William Stukeley
File:Joseph Banks 1810.jpg, Joseph Banks
File:Alfred Tennyson, 1st Baron Tennyson - Project Gutenberg eText 17768.jpg, Alfred, Lord Tennyson
File:AlexanderPope.jpg, Alexander Pope
File:Alexander Gordon, 2nd Duke of Gordon, after Godfrey Kneller.jpg, Alexander Gordon
File:George Vertue by Richardson.jpg, George Vertue
File:John Anstis Garter.jpg, John Anstis
File:John Gay - Project Gutenberg eText 13790.jpg, John Gay
File:Richard Bentley - Imagines philologorum.jpg, Richard Bentley
File:Li Hung Chang, Lord Salisbury, Lord Curzon-2.jpg, Lord Curzon
References
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
*
*
The Gentlemen's Society at Spalding: its origin and progress (1851)Bound with a catalogue of the society's library, 1893
{{DEFAULTSORT:Spalding Gentlemen's Society
1710 establishments in England
Scientific organizations established in 1710
Clubs and societies in England
Culture in Lincolnshire
History of Lincolnshire
Regional and local learned societies of the United Kingdom
Science and technology in Lincolnshire
Spalding, Lincolnshire
Organisations based in Lincolnshire
Scientific societies based in the United Kingdom
Museums in Lincolnshire