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
H. A. Humphrey H. A. Humphrey Herbert Alfred Humphrey MInstCE MIMechE MIEE FCGI (2 December 1868 – 9 March 1951) was a British engineer, inventor of the Humphrey pump. Humphrey was born in Gospel Oak, London. He trained at the Finsbury Technical College and the Central Institution (which later became the City and Guilds College). He patented the Humphrey pump in 1906. During World War I he worked as a chemical engineer, working on improving the production of explosives. He was awarded the Melchett Medal in 1939 by the Institute of Fuel. In 1945 he retired to Hermanus, Cape Province, Union of South