William Shipley

• William Hodges • Francis Wheatley • Richard Cosway • William Pars • Thomas Jones

Shipley's historical significance was summed up by David Allen in his biography: "Shipley's life included in its span the surge of English Commercial self-confidence which Defoe celebrated and which was to be feared by Napoleon, the spectacular first stage of the industrial Revolution from the flying shuttle to steam-powered cotton mills, the flowering of English genius in the arts from Hogarth to Turner, and the growth of English philanthropic endeavor from the first county hospitals to Hannah More's "Age if Benevolence." In the shaping of these momentous developments Shipley which was both distinctive and significant. Many credit Shipley with helping to establish the role of private organisations to serve the public; the Crown of England was so preoccupied with war and money dealings, it had little resources to further enhance culture at the time. "Merely by existing, the society challenged the way that the British state was organised. To begin with, by taking on certain tasks, they underlined just how much the state left undone. The William Shipley Group for RSA History is named after him.

• Illustration — The Society of Arts premises at 18 John Street, Adelphi, London (18c. engraving). • Illustration — The Society of Arts distributing its awards (engraving – artist unknown). From Shipley's school, came the idea for a "Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce" He published his proposals for the society in 1753, which he hoped would make Great Britain a center for intellectual advancements in the areas of arts and sciences. The resulting organisation first met at Rawthmell's coffee house on the north side of Henrietta Street, in Covent Garden on 22 March 1754. Founding members included Viscount Folkestone, Lord Romney (1712–1794), Isaac Maddox, Stephen Hales, and Thomas Baker, the naturalist. A "plan" of Shipley's devising was published in 1755 in folio, where the aims of the society were stated, "to promote the arts, manufactures, and commerce of this kingdom by giving honorary or pecuniary rewards, as may be best adapted to the case, for the communication to the society, and through the society to the public, of all such useful inventions, discoveries, and improvements as tend to that purpose". Historian Pierre-Nicolas Chantreau (1741–1808) was said to marvel "that such an institution was founded, not by those who held reins of government, but by William Shipley, "cultivateur modeste" The society would award premiums for different discoveries and inventions: "There appeared in the daily and evening papers a notice announcing premiums or awards" They offered premiums for the discovery of cobalt and the raising and curing of madder, for example. These were not just frivolous concerns but matters of Britain's most important industry, namely, textiles. According to Colley, "Cobalt dyes a brilliant blue and the madder was the principal source of all red dies until the 19th century". Quite simply, the society wanted to enable Britain's most important industry, its textile manufacturers, to be able to dye their cloth at home rather than send it abroad." Colley goes on to say that the Society was also busy trying to solve the problem of finding enough native timber for the building of ships. This was a matter of Britain's national defence. Without timber, the Royal Navy could not build ships.The Society carried out this purpose by establishing prizes for the growing of trees, such as Oaks, chestnuts, Elms and Firs. They once offered a premium to anyone able to develop a scheme to transport breadfruit from the East to the West Indies. Shipley raised the money for the endeavour through subscriptions. He also encouraged people to make new and more accurate maps by awarding special prizes to encourage exploration. Shipley's contributions to both England's economy and England's security through the Society were substantial.