The Archive
The Archive of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition 1851 dates from 1849 when the Society of Arts and its president, Prince Albert, the Prince Consort, conceived the idea of holding a Great Exhibition in London in 1851. The archive covers all aspects of the organisation of the Exhibition including the granting of the Royal Charter, appointment of Commissioners, choice of the Hyde park site and Joseph Paxton's "Crystal Palace", the organising of local and national Committees and the logistics of running the exhibition. It includes correspondence to and from Prince Albert and the Commission, minutes, plans, prints, reports and catalogues of the exhibits.
The Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 used the £186,000 surplus from the exhibition to purchase an estate in South Kensington. The Commission's Archive includes material relating to the purchase of this land, the design of various buildings for the site, the development of the area and the running of the estate. It includes work by Gottfried Semper, J. Pennethorne, Thomas Donaldson and C.R.Cockerell. There is material relating to the various institutions who have resided on the estate, including the Royal Albert Hall, South Kensington Museum (which became the V & A) and Imperial College.
The Commission has been awarding fellowships and scholarships since 1891. The Archive contains material relating to these various schemes as well as to the students who have held these prestigious awards. Previous award holders include 12 Nobel Laureates.
Enquiries
The Royal Commission Archive will respond to short enquiries by letter or email. Visits, by appointment only, are welcome from bona fide researchers.
Other sources of information are :-
For further details and enquiries see the Contact Us page
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