Royal Institution for its founding were given by the Society for Bettering the Conditions and Improving the Comforts of the Poor, under the guidance of philanthropist Sir Thomas Bernard and American-born British scientist Sir Benjamin Thompson, Count Rumford. Since its founding it has been based at 21 Albemarle Street in Mayfair. Its Royal Charter was granted in 1800. Throughout its history, the Institution has supported public engagement with science through a programme of lectures, many of which continue today. The most famous of these are the annual Royal Institution Christmas Lectures, founded by Michael Faraday. The Royal Institution was founded as the
Royal Institution of Australia Royal Institution of Australia is the first and only sister organisation outside of the UK of the Royal Institution of Great Britain (RiGB). The Royal Institution of Australia is housed at The Science Exchange in South Australia, which is Adelaide's former Stock Exchange building. Built in 1901 and designed by the architects Hedley Allen Dunn in collaboration with Henry Fuller, this red brick building in Federation/Edwardian style with Arts and Crafts influences (including a stained glass window by Morris & Co., with three of the six panels after the designs of Edward Burne-Jones) is listed among the 120 nationally significant