Designed by William Chambers in 1759
Designed by William Chambers in 1759
The Badge commissioned by the Council in the late 1970's. First worn by HRH the Duke of Edinburgh on 5th December 1979 when he presided at the Design Management Symposium. The Badge is made of 18 carat yellow, white and red gold, showing a formalized image of the Society's House as its centrepiece surrounded by four curved panels on which are engraved the words 'President / Royal Society / of Arts'. Four pearls are set at the diagonal points of the design and the concave rims between the panels and the picture are pierced with tiny slots. The oval plaque at the head of the badge bears a charge derived form Prince Philip's coat-of-arms encircled by the Garter and surmounted by a Princely diadem.\n\nThe badge was designed by Professor R Y Godden RDI (who also designed the badges worn by the Chairman of Council and the Master of the Faculty of RDIs), made by Mr John Donald and engraved by Mr George Lukes.
The President is the titular head of the Society. Past Presidents include Viscount Folkestone 1755-1761,Lord Romney 1761-1793,Duke of Norfolk 1794-1815, HRH The Duke of Sussex 1816-1843,HRH Albert, Prince Consort 1843-1861, William Tooke 1862, HRH The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) 1863-1901, Sir Frederick Bramwell 1901, HRH The Prince of Wales (later King George V) 1901-1910, Lord Alverstone 1910, HRH The Duke of Connaught 1911-1942, Sir Edward Crowe 1942-1943, E F Armstrong 1943-1945, Viscount Bennett 1945-1947, HRH The Princess Elizabeth 1947-1952, HRH The Duke of Edinburgh 1952-2011\n\nRecords comprise correspondence and papers from 1947 with the President and Royal Household staff about administrative arrangements. Other items of correspondence can be found within AD/MA/100
With the approval of His Royal Highness the President, the Society instituted the Presidential Award for Design Management in 1964, an initiative originally suggested by the Council of Industrial Design. The Awards were first given in 1965 and have continued. The award takes the form of a Wedgwood plaque and is intended to recognise outstanding examples of design policy in commercial and industrial organisations and public undertakings in this country, under British control. Consideration is, therefore, given only to these organisations which have maintained a consistently high standard in all aspects of design management, great and small, from factory building to stationery.\nRecords comprise administrative correspondence and papers
Minutes, agendas, administrative correspondence and press releases relating to the Presidential Awards for Design Management.
Plaque made by Wedgwood and the surrounds by G Bucklow and Sons Ltd
Plaque made by Wedgwood and the surrounds by G Bucklow and Sons Ltd. Photograph by Engravers Guild Ltd
Includes conveyance, schedules of statements of account, mortgage and undertaking as to rates and tithe
Loose copy of Journal with original cover
Press cuttings from a range of national and local papers with report on the conference, pasted into a bound volume
Press cuttings from a range of national and local papers with report on the conference, pasted into a bound volume
Press cuttings from a range of national and local papers with report on the conference, pasted into a bound volume
Press cuttings from a range of national and local papers with report on the conference, pasted into a bound volume
The campaign for the preservation of ancient cottages began at a special meeting in May 1926 when Sir Frank Baines read a paper entitled 'The Preservation of Ancient Cottages', during which he announced that the Society had undertaken 'to initiate and endeavour to organise a movement, directed towards the final preservation of the cottage architecture of this country' and that the Society would 'call to a conference all those anxious to help and devise a scheme to accomplish our aims'. This conference was held on January 26, 1927 with the Prime Minister, Stanley Baldwin in the chair. He proposed a resolution approving the action of the Society and signifying the intention of the meeting 'to assist in the establishment of a substantial fund for application on the broadest national lines in furtherance of this movement'.\nBy July 1927 the amount received had reached just over £4,500 and eventually reached £15,000. In the early days of the campaign the Society was successful in saving the three Thomas a Becket cottages near Worthing and it purchased and reconditioned the group of cottages known as Arlington Row at Bilbury, Gloucestershire, among others.\nIn 1929 the Society purchased in its entirety the village of West Wycombe in Buckinghamshire, which was then about to be put up for sale in 60 lots. In 1934, after extensive repairs, the Society handed over the village to the National Trust for permanent preservation. \nThe Society took no further important action in this campaign until 1953 when it decided to expend the balance of the fund, over £1000. It approached the National Trust and was responsible for the overhaul and repair of the roofs of the famous group of cottages at Chiddingstone in Kent.\n\nSeries includes minutes of a committee, printed material and images