History of Organisations
The History of Organisations. This historic theme delves into the history of British institutions and organisations, that have supported society for over a thousand years.
Use the timelines and maps to discover the history behind the myriad of organisations in Britain.
Oxford University
Organisations have, historically, provided charitable, educational and religious services to others. The law permits them to provide almost any goods or services on a not for profit basis. In Britain some of the earliest of these organisations were providing help and care to those on pilgrimage such as the Knights Hospitaller who offered care to sick, poor or injured pilgrims visiting the Holy Land on Pilgrimage.
The Hospital of St Cross Winchester Hampshire was founded between 1133 and 1136 by Henry de Blois, Bishop of Winchester and brother of King Stephen. It is a Medieval almshouse and the oldest charitable institution in the United Kingdom. It still provides places for twenty five elderly men.
St Cross Hospital Winchester Founded 1133 - 1136
The English trades formed Guilds that took care of their members and their families and this in turn led to the development of 'Freemasonry'.
Village parishes were another type of organisation that 'organised' itself to take care of it's community. The church took care of the distribution of Poor relief and providing services such as fixing roads, essential in order for a community to function.
Great organisations have had a massive role to play in our history. The British Red Cross is one such organisation who have helped hundreds of thousands both in war and peace time since being founded in the mid C19th.
We are used to thinking about philanthropy and volunteering in connection with organisations. The Industrial Revolution brought despair and destitution to many members of society. There was a great need for social reform, to make society fairer for all.
Educational Organisations
Some of our earliest organisations were the universities and schools founded and supported by wealthy donors, places such as Winchester College founded in 1382, Oxford and Cambridge University and their various colleges Schools and hundreds of scientific and literary institutions.
Winchester College
| Year | Event | Narrative |
|---|---|---|
| 1066 earlier than | Christian Church in Britain See Church and Religion Timeline. | The Christian Church was probably the most powerful organisation in Europe at this time and was the one common thread running through European nations |
| 1066 earlier than | Anglo Saxon Guilds and Livery Companies | The earliest Guilds and Livery companies were formed much earlier than we generally anticipate and date back to the Anglo Saxon Period. You can see a brief summary about how Saxon Guilds benefited society here but you might also be interested in our History of Organisations Theme. |
| 1518 | Royal College of Physicians. | Founded by a royal charter from king Henry VIII, the Royal College of Physicians of London is the oldest medical college in England. The leading physicians of the time wanted the power to grant licenses to those qualified to practice medicine and to punish unqualified practitioners and those engaging in malpractice. A small group of physicians led by the scholar Thomas Linacre petitioned king Henry VIII to establish a college of physicians |
| 1600 | East India Company. | English company formed from a group of merchants for the development of trade links with East and Southeast Asia and India, incorporated by royal charter on December 31, 1600. Starting as a monopolistic trading body, the company became involved in politics and acted as an agent of British imperialism in India from the early 18th century to the mid-19th century. In addition, the activities of the company in China in the 19th century served as a catalyst for the expansion of British influence there. |
| 1660 | The Royal Society. | A group of 12 met at Gresham College after a lecture by Christopher Wren, then the Gresham Professor of Astronomy, and decided to found 'a Colledge for the Promoting of Physico-Mathematicall Experimentall Learning'. This group included Wren himself, Robert Boyle, John Wilkins, Sir Robert Moray, and William, Viscount Brouncker. The Society was to meet weekly to witness experiments and discuss what we would now call scientific topics. |
| 1694 | Bank of England HistoryBank of England founded 1694 by Royal Charter. | Bank of England HistoryBank of England founded 1694 by Royal Charter. The goldsmith bankers had been damaged by the lax financial management of the Stuart kings. There were calls for a national or public bank to mobilise the nation's resources. Many schemes were proposed. The successful one, from William Paterson, envisaged a loan of £1,200,000 to the Government, in return for which the subscribers would be incorporated as the "Governor and Company of the Bank of England". Although the new bank would have risked its entire capital by lending it to the Government, the subscription proved popular and the money was raised in a few weeks. The Royal Charter was sealed on 27 July 1694, and the Bank started its role as the Government's banker and debt-manager, which it continues today. More available on linked article. Joint Stock Companies |
| 1698 | London Stock Exchange. | Starting life in the coffee houses of 17th century London, London Stock Exchange quickly grew to become the City’s most important financial institution. John Castaing begins to issue “at this Office in Jonathan’s Coffee-house” a list of stock and commodity prices called “The Course of the Exchange and other things”. |
| 1711 | South Sea Company Chartered in 1711 | The South Sea Company was formed to develop trade with South America and as a rival to the Whig dominated Bank of England and East India Company, primarily as a source of funding of governmentloan debt. Holders of government securities were compelled to exchange them for shares at par in th new company which had been chartered and given a monopoly on the Trade with South America, he west coast of North America and all Spanish colonies. In 1719 a further scheme was created for the company to assume more of the British National Debt this led to the South Sea Bubble and it bursting. An act of parliament known as the Bubble Act 1720 was not repealed until a century later but eventually to avoid such disasters the Limitation of Liabilities Act would enable wider participation in share ownership at reasonable risk to the shareholders. This would in turn enable the proliferation of Joint Stock Companies and eradicate the monopolistic control of the need for a Royal Charter. |
| 1768 | Royal Academy of Arts established by King George III to promote art design in Britain. | Established by King George III to promote art design in Britain. |
| 1787 | Marylebone Cricket Club founded. | Aristocrats and noblemen played their cricket in White Conduit Fields at Islington, London. As London's population grew, so did the nobility's impatience with the crowds who gathered to watch them play. In pursuit of exclusivity, they decided to approach Thomas Lord, a bowler with White Conduit CC, and asked him to set up a new private ground. An ambitious entrepreneur, Lord was encouraged by Lord Winchilsea to lease a ground on Dorset Fields in Marylebone. He staged his first match Middlesex versus Essex on 31st May |
| 1788 | The Times newspaper | Daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register |
| 1788 | The African Association. | Dedicated to the exploration of West Africa, with the mission of discovering the origin and course of the Niger River and the location of Timbuktu, the "lost city" of gold. The formation of this group was effectively the "beginning of the age of African exploration". Organized by a dozen titled members of London’s upper-class establishment and led by Sir Joseph Banks. |
| 1799 | West India Dock Company. | Robert Milligan was a wealthy West Indies merchant and shipowner. Outraged at losses due to theft and delay at London's riverside wharves, Milligan headed a group of powerful businessmen, including the chairman of the West India Merchants of London, George Hibbert, who promoted the creation of a wet dock circled by a high wall. The group planned and built West India Docks, lobbying Parliament to allow the creation of a West India Dock Company. Milligan served as both Deputy Chairman and Chairman of the West India Dock Company. The Docks were authorised by the West India Dock Act 1799 |
| 1805 | Royal Society of Medicine. | Founded as as the Medical and Chirurgical Society of London when leading members of the Medical Society of London split from the society to form a new society that would bring together branches of the medical profession "for the purpose of conversation on professional subjects, for the reception of communications and for the formation of a library |
| 1809-1810 | Rothschilds establishes London Business 1810 | Nathan Mayer Rothschild opened for business in London base in St Swithin's Lane. The earliest known dealing of Rothschilds dealing in Gold bullion took place in London. Once his sons joined the firm, the name was changed to N M Rothschild & Sons. Their connections across Europe are renowned. A business started by a father in the Frankfurt Ghetto's that spreads its wings and sons across Europe creating an incredible enterprise and strong connections with Britain and its established institutions. Amazing feats and partnerships with governments would follow. Funding Wellington's Waterloo army in the field with local coin and bailing out the Bank of England during financial crisis being just two examples. The lasting legacy will impact and connect widely during the next 200 plus years. Not bad for a family startup. |
| 1815 | News of Waterloo Reaches London by Rothschilds Network before the Government could be told | The ultimate social and communications network, the Rothschilds were not Bankers but the Reuters of their time without the technology to facilitate it. The family used superior information networks to create their fortunes. Few banks would inspire Byron to write poetry about them but Rothschilds and Barings did. |
| 1820 | Royal Astronomical Society. | It began as the Astronomical Society of London to support amateur astronomical research. It became the Royal Astronomical Society in 1831 on receiving its Royal Charter from William IV. |
| 1820 | Royal Society of Literature. | Established by King George IV to reward literary merit and excite literary talent. |
| 1824 | Royal Society For The Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. | First animal welfare society to be founded in the world. It was established by a group of 22 reformers led by Richard Martin MP, William Wilberforce MP, and the Reverend Arthur Broome in "Old Slaughter's Coffee House", St Martin's Lane, near the Strand. |
| 1826 | Zoological Society of London. | Inspired by members of the Linnean Society. The society was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles, the Marquess of Lansdowne, Lord Auckland, Sir Humphry Davy, Robert Peel, Joseph Sabine, Nicholas Aylward Vigors along with various other nobility, clergy, and naturalists |
| 1827 | London Evening Standard | newspaper was founded by barrister Stanley Lees Giffard anearly owner of the paper was Charles Baldwin. |
| 1830 | Royal Geographical Society. | Started as the Geographical Society of London as an institution to promote the 'advancement of geographical science. Founding members of the Society included Sir John Barrow, Sir John Franklin and Sir Francis Beaufort. |
| 1833 | Great Western Railway. | It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament in 1835 and ran its first trains in 1838. It was engineered by Isambard Kingdom Brunel |
| 1833 | Temperance Society founded. | Joseph Livesey formally introduced teetotalism to the heavily industrialised northwest of England though his Preston Temperance Society. |
| 1840 | Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. | Incorporated by Royal Charter, emerged when two Dublin ship owners, Charles Wye Williams and Captain Richard Bourne, who were successfully running paddle steamers in the 1820s. It was a costly business but both men realised that the future of steam lay in operating larger ships on longer voyages and subsidised ‘mail’ services. |
| 1841 | Thomas Cook travel company. | Begun by Thomas Cook Baptist preacher as he organized days out for Temperance societies. |
| 1843 | British Archaeological Society | Founded by Charles Roach Smith, Thomas Wright and Thomas Joseph Pettigrew, to encourage the recording, preservation, and publication of archaeological discoveries, and to lobby for government assistance for the collection of British antiquities |
| 1845 | White Star Line. | Shipping company established in Liverpool by John Pilkington and Henry Wilson. The company's initial focus was on the Australian gold mine trade and taking people out to the gold rush. |
| 1847 | Siemens Halske | This was established as a partnership by Werner Siemens in Berlin in 1847, to take advantage of the latest advances in communications technology, and quickly established a reputation as one of the leading innovators in the field. Why would this be significant in British History? With two world wars ahead and with Germany as the major aggressor, industrial and manufacturing might would impact on economic power to even go to war and also how those wars would be conducted. Leading technological organisations would be significant in war as much if not more than in peace time. |
| 1849 | Boots Pharmaceutical Industry. | John Boot, an agricultural worker, moved to Nottingham to start a new business. He opened a small herbalist store on Goose Gate in 1849, from which he prepared and sold herbal remedies. His business soon proved popular, especially with the working poor of Nottingham's new industries, who could not afford the services of a doctor. |
| 1852 | Cable and Wireless. | John Pender, a Manchester cotton merchant, joined other businessmen as director of the English and Irish Magnetic Telegraph Company. This company ran a telegraph cable service between London and Dublin. This was only two years after the first submarine cable between England and France had been laid. This was the beginning of Pender’s submarine cable empire and Cable & Wireless. |
| 1852 | Wells Fargo and Company’s Express | They provided financial services by the fastest means available: overseas by sailing ship or steamer; and overland by stagecoach, Pony Express or railroad. Within a few years, business was transacted electronically by telegraph |
| 1853 | Otis Elevator Company. | Founded in New York by Elisha Otis, the company pioneered the development of the 'safety elevator', invented by Otis in 1852, which used a special mechanism to lock the elevator car in place should the hoisting ropes fail. |
| 1863 | International Committee of the Red Cross. | A humanitarian organisation founded in Switzerland following work done by Jean Henri Durant who was inspired by the work of Florence Nightingale. He advocated the formation of national voluntary relief organizations to help nurse wounded soldiers in the case of war. In addition, he called for the development of international treaties to guarantee the protection of neutral medics and field hospitals for soldiers wounded on the battlefield. |
| 1868 | Trade Unions Congress. | Manchester and Salford Trades Council convened the founding meeting in the Manchester Mechanics' Institute |
| 1870 | British Red Cross. | Florence Nightingale directly influenced the establishment of the British Red Cross in 1870. She encouraged the leading men of her day to set up the organisation. Royal Victoria Hospital, Netley near Southampton, which became a significant Red Cross hospital. |
| 1877 | Kyrle Society | founded by Miranda Hill sister of Octavia Hill who was it's treasurer. The Kyrle Society, formed to “Bring Beauty Home to the People” and supported by William Morris among others, was forerunner of all today’s amenity societies and also the Civic Trust. The Trust wanted to enhance the quality of life in communities with art, books and open spaces. Hospitals, schools and clubrooms were decorated and community events organised. |
| 1885 | National Trust. | Octavia Hill, Robert Hunter and Hardwicke Rawnsley (who collected rents for Octavia Hill as a young man) worked together to raise public awareness of the railway developments threatening the Lake District. This collaboration led to the foundation of The National Trust for the Preservation of Historic Buildings and Natural Beauty, to hold land and buildings in perpetuity “for ever, for everyone”. |
| 1886 | Coca Cola. | John Pemberton, an Atlanta pharmacist, created a fragrant, caramel-coloured liquid and took it down to a local pharmacy called Jacobs' Pharmacy. Here, the mixture was combined with carbonated water and sampled by customers who greatly enjoyed it. Pemberton's bookkeeper, Frank Robinson, named the mixture Coca‑Cola, and wrote it out in his distinctive script. To this day, Coca‑Cola is written the same way. |
| 1887 | The Anatomical Society was founded to "promote, develop and advance research and education in all aspects of anatomical science". | The Anatomical Society was founded to "promote, develop and advance research and education in all aspects of anatomical science". |
| 1889 | Army Cadet Force. | Founded by Octavia Hill, social reformer to give focus to urban youths who were struggling to find direction in life. Her father James Hill was a friend of Jeremy Bentham. She was co-founder of the National Trust. |
| 1891 | Lister Institute. | One of the UK’s oldest medical charities.Originally a Research Institute developing, and subsequently producing on a commercial scale, vaccines and antitoxins |
| 1894 | Michael Marks and Tom Spencer built their company 10 years on from when Marks had his penny bazaar in Leeds. They built their business around 5 key qualities, quality, Marks and Spencervalue, service, innovation and trust. | |
| 1897 | Women's Institute. | The first Women's Institute was formed in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada as a branch of the Farmer's Institute. Inspired by a talk given by Adelaide Hoodless at a meeting of the Farmer's Institute. Local farmers Erland and Janet Lee were instrumental in setting up the new organisation. |
| 1897 | Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company (Marconi). Marconi filed his final specification for the world's first patent for a system of telegraphy using Hertzian waves in 1896 and set up his company in an old silk factory in Chelmsford UK. | Communication 19th century |
| 1902 | Britain's LEA's Local Education Authorities founded by Education Act 1902 | Education 20th Century Organisations Government |
| 1907 | Scout Movement. | Robert Baden - Powell a soldier, artist, actor and free-thinker. Best known for his spirited defence of the small South African township of Mafeking during the Boer War, he was propelled to further fame as the Founder of Scouting. |
| 1907 | Royal Dutch Shell Group. | Marcus Samuel was a London shopkeeper. He sold antiques, but added oriental shells to his products. He wanted a share of the interior design market, demnd was enormous and he began importing shells from the Far East, laying the foundations for his import/export business. His sons took over and they exported British machinery, textiles and tools to newly industrialising Japan and the Far East and on return imported rice, silk, china and copperware to the Middle East and Europe. In London, they traded in commodities such as sugar, flour and wheat worldwide. They became interested in interested in the oil exporting business based in Baku, Azerbaijan and eventually began transporting oil in steam ships. |