DOI article:
Holmes, Charles: The History of the Royal Society of Painters in Water-Colours
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.27085#0026
THE HISTORY OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY
members should be fixed at twenty-four, to which it should be raised
by the election of two men annually. At this meeting the three
office holders were re-appointed, and Pocock, John Varley, and
Glover, were put on the committee. A month later, nine “ Fellow
Exhibitors ”—the name was changed afterwards to “ Associate
Exhibitors ”—were elected, John James Chalon, William Delamotte,
Robert Freebairn, Paul Sandby Munn, Richard Ramsay Reinagle,
John Smith, Francis Stevens, John Thurston, and a lady, Miss Anne
Frances Byrne, who painted fruit and flowers.
The second exhibition was held in the room in Brook Street. A
month before it opened Gilpin resigned the presidentship of the
Society, and was succeeded by Wells ; he retained his membership,
however, and continued to exhibit. Three hundred and one draw-
ings were included in it, and the total proceeds amounted to a little
over JTj60, out of which £440 was available for division among the
members. Reinagle and John Smith were advanced to full member-
ship in December 1806, and in the following spring Thomas
Heaphy, and Augustus Pugin were elected Associates. About the
same time Reinagle was made treasurer in the place of Shelley,
who had resigned that post.
For the third exhibition the rooms in Pall Mall which had been
previously occupied by the Royal Academy were secured. It
included three hundred and twenty-four drawings, and produced a
profit of more than £470. Four days after it closed a meeting was
called to investigate a charge which had been brought against
Nattes, one of the original members, of exhibiting as his own work
drawings by other persons. The charge was proved, and he was in
consequence expelled. At the annual meeting in November 1807,
Glover was elected President, and Chalon and Heaphy full members;
and in January 1808 John Augustus Atkinson and William Turner
were made Associates ; and in the same month occurred the death of
one of the first elected Associates, Robert Freebairn. The 1808
exhibition was held in some rooms at 16 Old Bond Street, and
produced a profit exceeding £445. It was the last to which William
Delamotte contributed, though he continued to exhibit in other
galleries for nearly fifty years, and lived until 1863. In November
1808 Reinagle succeeded Glover in the Presidentship, in which
position he continued until 1812; and Atkinson and Turner were
promoted to full membership. Just before the end of this year
Shelley died, at the age of fifty-eight ; he had shown in the exhibi-
tions of the Society sixty-three drawings altogether.
At this stage of the history of the Society of Painters in Water-
h xiv
members should be fixed at twenty-four, to which it should be raised
by the election of two men annually. At this meeting the three
office holders were re-appointed, and Pocock, John Varley, and
Glover, were put on the committee. A month later, nine “ Fellow
Exhibitors ”—the name was changed afterwards to “ Associate
Exhibitors ”—were elected, John James Chalon, William Delamotte,
Robert Freebairn, Paul Sandby Munn, Richard Ramsay Reinagle,
John Smith, Francis Stevens, John Thurston, and a lady, Miss Anne
Frances Byrne, who painted fruit and flowers.
The second exhibition was held in the room in Brook Street. A
month before it opened Gilpin resigned the presidentship of the
Society, and was succeeded by Wells ; he retained his membership,
however, and continued to exhibit. Three hundred and one draw-
ings were included in it, and the total proceeds amounted to a little
over JTj60, out of which £440 was available for division among the
members. Reinagle and John Smith were advanced to full member-
ship in December 1806, and in the following spring Thomas
Heaphy, and Augustus Pugin were elected Associates. About the
same time Reinagle was made treasurer in the place of Shelley,
who had resigned that post.
For the third exhibition the rooms in Pall Mall which had been
previously occupied by the Royal Academy were secured. It
included three hundred and twenty-four drawings, and produced a
profit of more than £470. Four days after it closed a meeting was
called to investigate a charge which had been brought against
Nattes, one of the original members, of exhibiting as his own work
drawings by other persons. The charge was proved, and he was in
consequence expelled. At the annual meeting in November 1807,
Glover was elected President, and Chalon and Heaphy full members;
and in January 1808 John Augustus Atkinson and William Turner
were made Associates ; and in the same month occurred the death of
one of the first elected Associates, Robert Freebairn. The 1808
exhibition was held in some rooms at 16 Old Bond Street, and
produced a profit exceeding £445. It was the last to which William
Delamotte contributed, though he continued to exhibit in other
galleries for nearly fifty years, and lived until 1863. In November
1808 Reinagle succeeded Glover in the Presidentship, in which
position he continued until 1812; and Atkinson and Turner were
promoted to full membership. Just before the end of this year
Shelley died, at the age of fifty-eight ; he had shown in the exhibi-
tions of the Society sixty-three drawings altogether.
At this stage of the history of the Society of Painters in Water-
h xiv