Royal Academy of Arts as somewhat anachronistic. But efforts are made to award each prize to a student producing work that bears a relation to the intentions of the original benefactor. The Royal Academy has an important collection of books, archives and works of art accessible for research and display. A large part of these collections have been digitised and can be investigated through the Collection website. The first president of the Royal Academy, Sir Joshua Reynolds, gave his noted self-portrait, beginning the Royal Academy collection. This was followed by gifts from other founding members, such as Gainsborough and Benjamin West. Subsequently each elected
HMS Liberty (1768) HMS Liberty (1768) Liberty was a sloop owned by John Hancock, an American merchant. Seized by customs officials in Boston in 1768, it was commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS "Liberty", and was burned the next year by American colonists in Newport, Rhode Island in one of the first acts of open defiance against the British crown by American colonists. The ship was originally owned by John Hancock. In 1768, British officials alleged that Bostonians locked a customs official in the "Liberty"s cabin while the cargo of Madeira wine was unloaded in an effort to evade the Townshend Acts.