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
Robert Hurst (scientist) Ship Research Association. In the 1973 Queen's Birthday Honours, Hurst was appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire. Hurst retired to Poole, Dorset, in 1976, where he did voluntary work with the Royal National Lifeboat Institution. He died in 1996 following his third heart attack. Robert Hurst (scientist) Robert Hurst, (3 January 1915 – 16 May 1996) was a New Zealand-born scientist. He was the first director of the experimental fast-breeder reactor complex at Dounreay, and later the director of the British Ship Research Association. During World War II he worked in bomb disposal and mine detection,