May 12, 2020 · Enlightenment inspiration. The organisation was founded on 22 March 1754, when 11 ‘noblemen, clergy, gentlemen and merchants’ gathered in Rawthmell’s coffee house in London’s Covent Garden to create the Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in Great Britain (the ‘Royal’ prefix was not adopted until 1908).They were led by William Shipley, a drawing master ...