The Plymouth Athenaeum charitable society office will be closed from Friday, 20th December at 5.00pm until 10.00am on Monday, 6th January 2020.
All enquiries related to the Plymouth Athenaeum charitable society will be looked at as soon as possible in the week beginning Monday, 6th December. We will reply to appropriate enquiries.
Theatre enquiries related to ticketing and the box office for shows at the Athenaeum go through our partners, the Barbican Theatre.
They can be contacted via info@barbicantheatre.co.uk or (01752) 267131.
Le Navet Bete & Barbican Theatre Present: Treasure Island
Thursday, 12th December 2019 – Sunday, 5th January 2020
It’s Christmas Eve in the Admiral Benbow Inn. Jim Hawkins is serving ale to the one and only customer the pub ever has. Suddenly the door slams open and in strides Billy Bones, the infamous pirate, to change Jim’s life forever…
Teaming up once again with Barbican Theatre, Plymouth favourites Le Navet Bete return to the city for their 9th Christmas production, following their recent smash hits The Three Musketeers, Aladdin and Dracula: The Bloody Truth.
Treasure Island – a hilarious rip-roaring comedy adventure encountering swashbuckling pirates, tropical islands and high seas. Join the four lads from Le Navet Bete as they play out the legendary tale as you’ve NEVER seen it before.
Set sail with Long John Silver and some other characters you may not expect and prepare for a belly laughing journey to the Caribbean and back. X will mark the spot this Christmas!!
In person at the Barbican Theatre & B-Bar (Mon-Fri 11am-3pm)
Or by telephone through the Box Office on 01752 267131 (Mon-Fri 11am-3pm)
If you require disabled/accessible seating, please call 01752 267131 to discuss your requirements.
Please note that the ticket prices listed are inclusive of all Booking Fees and Charges. See our Terms and Conditions for more details regarding this and on policies regarding exchanges, latecomers and more.
Le Navet Bete & Barbican Theatre Present: Treasure Island
Thursday, 12th December 2019 – Sunday, 5th January 2020
It’s Christmas Eve in the Admiral Benbow Inn. Jim Hawkins is serving ale to the one and only customer the pub ever has. Suddenly the door slams open and in strides Billy Bones, the infamous pirate, to change Jim’s life forever…
Teaming up once again with Barbican Theatre, Plymouth favourites Le Navet Bete return to the city for their 9th Christmas production, following their recent smash hits The Three Musketeers, Aladdin and Dracula: The Bloody Truth.
Treasure Island – a hilarious rip-roaring comedy adventure encountering swashbuckling pirates, tropical islands and high seas. Join the four lads from Le Navet Bete as they play out the legendary tale as you’ve NEVER seen it before.
Set sail with Long John Silver and some other characters you may not expect and prepare for a belly laughing journey to the Caribbean and back. X will mark the spot this Christmas!!
In person at the Barbican Theatre & B-Bar (Mon-Fri 11am-3pm)
Or by telephone through the Box Office on 01752 267131 (Mon-Fri 11am-3pm)
If you require disabled/accessible seating, please call 01752 267131 to discuss your requirements.
Please note that the ticket prices listed are inclusive of all Booking Fees and Charges. See our Terms and Conditions for more details regarding this and on policies regarding exchanges, latecomers and more.
THE first inductees into The Athenaeum’s ‘Wall of Fame’ have been announced.
As part of the celebrations to mark the 200th anniversary of the opening of the original Athenaeum building, we are commemorating Members who made a significant and lasting contribution to the organisation or to the betterment of society generally.
The initial 14 to be inducted are:
Charles Spence Bate (scientist; President 1861-62 & 1869-70)
Charles Darwin (scientist)
Charles Darwin
Gerald Hamilton Edwards (genealogist)
John Foulston (architect of the original Athenaeum)
John Foulston
Stanley Gibbons (stamp dealer)
James Rendel Harris (palaeographer and Biblical scholar)
Sir William Snow Harris (electrical researcher; President 1825-26, 1847-48, 1853-54)
William Snow Harris
Jonathan Nash Hearder (electrical engineer)
Rita Lang (President 1949-51)
Joshua Brooking Rowe (historian and naturalist)
Emma Scott (President 1917-18)
Emma Scott
Charles Hamilton Smith (Writer, Illustrator, Soldier, Spy; Hon President 1851-59)
Charles Hamilton Smith
Henry Woollcombe (founder; President 1812-46)
Henry Woollcombe
Richard Nicholls Worth (geologist, journalist and historian).
The ‘Wall of Fame’ will be situated on the walls leading from the Lower Foyer to the Library level of the building.
It will provide an opportunity for visitors to the building to learn about the history of the organisation.
The commemorative pictures of the 14 inductees on the ‘Wall of Fame’ will contain an image and brief biographical information.
Half of those inducted into the ‘Wall of Fame’ were nominated by our Library Committee, the other half by Members.
David Ryles delivers the Plymouth Athenaeum’s annual President’s Address for 2019.
As part of the celebrations of the 200th anniversary of the opening of the original Athenaeum building, the subject of his Address was ‘The Presidents of The Athenaeum since 1812’.
The Address was part of the Society’s Autumn Lecture series, and was originally delivered on Thursday, 3rd October 2019.
The Plymouth Athenaeum is a charitable society which promotes and encourages learning and study in science, technology, literature and art.
It was founded on 17th October 1812 as the Plymouth Institute, but was soon renamed the Plymouth Institution. It adopted its current name in 1961.
Drake’s Leat was constructed in the late 16th century to tap the River Meavy on Dartmoor in order to supply Plymouth with water. It was one of the first municipal water supplies in the country.
In this lecture, David Ryles, who is President of the Plymouth Athenaeum, tells the story of ‘How Water Came To Plymouth – Drake and his Leat’.
David Ryles, who studied Geography at Liverpool University, worked as a water engineer for South West Water for more than 30 years.
The Plymouth Athenaeum’s Library catalogue can be searched online.
The Library has around 3,500 books and archive material including complete volumes of the Charity’s Transactions and Proceedings.
A range of current magazines and periodicals are available in the Library. Members may also borrow from the collection of books of local and regional interest. There is also general non-fiction and a reference section.
“William Snow Harris was an early member of The Plymouth Institution and was to become President in 1847 – 1848. He is a man to whom thousands upon thousands of sailors should be grateful.
He was born in Plymouth in 1791 and attended Plymouth Grammar School. In 1812, after one year at Edinburgh University, he matriculated in ‘Materia Medica’, ‘Chemistry’ and ‘Practise of Medicine’. He worked in the field of medicine, returning to Plymouth in 1818 as a practising surgeon.
Making a financially secure marriage helped him to spend time studying his major interest – electricity. He realised that ships could suffer badly when struck by lightning and set out to discover why and to invent a means of combating the results.
The solution that he came up with was to insert pure copper strips in the masts and to lead the power of the strikes safely into the sea.
That, maybe, was the easy part, as he now faced the stupidity of political wrangling and the inertia of the Royal Navy.
He did, however, have some influential champions, one of whom was the Duke of Clarence, later to become the Sailor King, William IV. In July 1827, the Duke, in his role as Lord High Admiral, came to Devon to inspect the Royal Dockyard at Devonport.
Henry Woollcombe, The Athenaeum’s founding father, was deeply involved with this visit due to his civic position. This may have helped Snow Harris to have another opportunity to further his case for the adoption of his invention.
On 17th July 1827, the Duke and his entourage came to the Athenæum to hear Snow Harris on the subject of ‘Lightning Conductors for Ships’. Woollcombe entered in his Journal at the end of some very busy days: –
“The visit to the Athenæum on Tuesday last was very gratifying, Harris performed his experiments as usual with great clearness and dexterity and spoke unembarrassedingly, unaffectedly. The Duke was attentive and understood the subject and I doubt not will have it tried in the Navy. Sir Edward Owen and Mr. Barrow both came in and held some discussion with Harris but I think Harris made good and presented all his statements”.
Mr Barrow was to become Sir John. He was also to be the major obstacle for Snow Harris. Barrow was a senior civil servant and Permanent Secretary at the Admiralty. During the 22 years that it took Snow Harris to have his life saving invention adopted by the Royal Navy, Barrow wielded his great power. In the meantime the Russian Navy had noted the faltering steps to carry out half hearted trials in Britain and moved forward on its own. The Czar was so impressed that he gave Snow Harris a massive vase and a ring. The vase was lost in the destruction of 1941.
Eventually fame and fortune was to come to the genial and patient Snow Harris. After being awarded the Copley Medal by the Royal Society he was granted a government pension and, following the personal intervention of Queen Victoria, he was knighted in 1847. (For much greater detail on the subject see Hugh Cannell’s book ‘Lightning Strikes’).
The painting of the visit of the Duke of Clarence to the Plymouth Athenaeum in 1827.
The Lounge Picture
Not surprisingly the Society was proud of the Royal Visit. To commemorate the day, Henry Woollcombe commissioned John Ball to paint a picture of the event. The painting was finished in 1832 and first shown in the Athenæum in 1833. It remained in the possession of Woollcombe, who passed it on to his nephew at Hemerdon. In 1965 it was given by the Woollcombe family to the Society. It now graces the east wall of the Athenæum Lounge.
John Ball, the artist, a member of the Society, produced a unique record of a unique occasion. Unfortunately he used bitumen in his paint which has left, despite cleaning, several of those represented with black eyes!
The picture shows Snow Harris addressing the Duke, suitably attired in a special Naval Uniform and a pink sash and surrounded by the most prominent members of the Plymouth Institution. It also has the advantage of recording features of the Lecture Room, including the President’s Chair and the frieze.”
The Plymouth Athenaeum charitable society office will be closed from Friday, 20th December at 5.00pm until 10.00am on Monday, 6th January 2020.
All enquiries related to the Plymouth Athenaeum charitable society will be looked at as soon as possible in the week beginning Monday, 6th December. We will reply to appropriate enquiries.
Theatre enquiries related to ticketing and the box office for shows at the Athenaeum go through our partners, the Barbican Theatre.
They can be contacted via info@barbicantheatre.co.uk or (01752) 267131.
