General Assembly minutes

12 vols, 8 files, 15 .pdf files

The minutes record meetings of the General Assembly of the whole body of members. The laws of the Royal Academy provided for one General Assembly annually, or more often if requisite. The laws state that the purpose of the General Assembly is ‘to elect a President; to confirm new laws; to hear complaints and redress grievances; and transact any other business relative to the Society’. It was the business of the Secretary to keep the minutes of the meetings. The minutes are prefaced by a list of those members who were in attendance. They record the results of the election of Presidents, members and other officers of the Royal Academy. Also recorded are the details of the voting by members for the award of prizes (premiums) of gold and silver medals to Schools students (until taken over by Council in 1931), and the election of students to travelling scholarships. Reports of committees read out to the General Assembly are often cited in full, as are transcripts of addresses to royalty submitted to the General Assembly for approval. The minutes also record occasional disputes between the Council and General Assembly about the relative powers of the two bodies, as in 1803, 1951 and 1965. The reports of discussions held at the meetings become much more detailed during the Secretaryship of Humphrey Brooke, (1952-68).

Vols 1-12 conserved and rebound, 2002-03. Files 13-21 housed August 2023. Files 22 onwards preserved as digital records (.PDF).

There are two sets of rough minutes for meetings held in January 1775 in the RA scrapbooks. It was agreed that the minutes should not be entered. There is an index to the General Assembly and Council minutes for the period 1768-1868.