Royal Academy of Arts to that drawn up by Cheere in 1755. It was Sir William Chambers, a prominent architect and head of the British government's architects' department, the Office of Works, who used his connections with George III to gain royal patronage and financial support for the Academy in 1768. The painter Joshua Reynolds was made its first president, and Francis Milner Newton was elected the first secretary, a post he held for two decades until his resignation in 1788. The instrument of foundation, signed by George III on 10 December 1768, named 34 founder members and allowed for a total membership of
Fleche (1768) Fleche (1768) Fleche was a French corvette built by Louis-Hilarion Chapelle (cadet) and launched at Toulon in 1768. The British captured her at the Fall of Bastia in May 1794 and commissioned her into the Royal Navy under her existing name. She observed the naval battle of Hyères Islands, but then wrecked in 1795. "Fleche" was a French corvette built by Louis-Hilarion Chapelle (cadet) and launched at Toulon on 19 October 1768. In the early 1790s she was stationed at Smyrna. In April 1790, while under the command of "major de vaisseau" "chevalier" de Lestang-Parade, she sailed on a mission