Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 is an institution founded in 1850 to administer the international exhibition of 1851, officially called the Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations, held in The Crystal Palace.
The founding President of the Commission was Prince Albert and its chief administrator was Henry Cole.
The exhibition was a great popular and financial success, and made a surplus of £186,000. An unusual decision was made to maintain the Royal Commission as a permanent administrative body to use the profits for charitable purposes. Its revised Charter charged the Commission with "increasing the means of industrial education and extending the influence of science and art upon productive industry".
The Commissioners bought 35 hectares (87 acres) of land in South Kensington which was developed as a centre of educational and cultural institutions, often known as "Albertopolis. These include:
Since 1891 the role of the Commission has been to provide postgraduate scholarships for students to study in Britain and abroad, and former scholars include 12 Nobel Prize laureates.
The Commission currently has an endowment of over £30 million, with an annual charitable disbursement of over £1 million.
Further reading
- Hermione Hobhouse - The Crystal Palace and the Great Exhibition, Art, Science and Productive Industry - A History of the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851
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