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
Betsey (1768 ship) Betsey (1768 ship) Betsey was a Guineaman (slave ship), launched at Liverpool in 1768. She made several voyages transporting slaves from West Africa to the Caribbean until 1777 when the British Royal Navy purchased her at Antigua, named her rHMS "Comet", and armed her as a sloop-of-war. She sailed to England in 1778, where the Navy sold her. Between 1768 and 1777 "Betsey" made some seven or eight voyages transporting slaves from West Africa to the Caribbean. The 1776 issue of "Lloyd's Register" is the first issue available online that lists "Betsey". It shows her trade as Liverpool-Africa, and her