402 JOUENAL OF THE EOYAL HORTICULTUEAL SOCIETY. 
ORIGINAL CHARTER OF THE HORTICULTURAL 
SOCIETY OF LONDON. 
A.D. 1809. 
George the Third, by the Grace of God, of the United Kingdom of 
Great Britain and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, to all to 
whom these presents shall come, Greeting : Whereas several of our 
loving Subjects are desirous of forming a Society for the Improve- 
ment of Horticulture in all its branches, ornamental as well as 
useful, and having subscribed considerable sums of money for that 
purpose, have humbly besought us to grant unto them and such 
other persons as shall be approved and elected as hereinafter is 
mentioned. Our Royal Charter of Incorporation for the purposes 
aforesaid : 
Know ye, that We, being desirous to promote such improvement, 
have, of our especial grace, certain knowledge, and mere motion. Given 
and Granted, and we do hereby Give and Grant, that Our Right Trusty 
and Wellbeloved Cousin and Counsellor George Earl of Dartmouth, 
Knight of the Most Noble Order of the Garter, Our Right Trusty and 
Wellbeloved Cousin and Counsellor Edward Earl Powis, Our Right 
Reverend and Wellbeloved Father in God Brownlow Lord Bishop of 
Winchester, Our Right Trusty and Wellbeloved John Lord Selsey, Our 
Right Trusty and Wellbeloved Counsellor Charles Greville, Our Right 
Trusty and Wellbeloved Counsellor Sir Joseph Banks, Baronet and 
Knight of the Most Honourable Order of the Bath, Our Trusty and 
W^ellbeloved William Townsend Alton, John Eliot, Thomas Andrew 
Knight, Charles Miller, Richard Anthony Salisbury, and John Trevelyan, 
Esquires, and James Dickson, Thomas Hoy, and William Smith, 
Gardeners, and such others as shall from time to time be appointed and 
elected in the manner hereinafter directed, and their Successors, be and 
sha]l for ever hereafter continue to be, by virtue of these Presents, one 
Body Politic and Corporate, by the name of " The Horticultural 
Society of London " ; and them and their Successors, for the pur- 
poses aforesaid. We do hereby constitute and declare to be one Body 
Politic and Corporate, and by the same name to have perpetual Succes- 
sion, and for ever hereafter to be Persons able and capable in the Law, 
and have power to purchase, receive, and possess any Goods and Chattels 
whatsoever, and (notwithstanding the Statutes of Mortmain), to pur- 
chase, hold, and enjoy, to them and their Successors, any Lands, 
Tenements, and Hereditaments whatsoever, not exceeding, at the time or 
times of purchasing such Lands, Tenements, and Hereditaments respec- 
tively, the yearly value at a Rack Rent of One Thousand Pounds in the 
whole, without incurring the penalties or forfeitures of the Statutes of 
