This was an online lecture by Jonathan King, who is Von Hȕgel Fellow at the Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, University of Cambridge
It was attended by 41 members, who were able to see and hear the speaker and the photographs, and were able to interact with each other.
Ranelagh Gardens in the 18th century was the first Benthamite panopticon – a place for music and Mozart, where people came to listen, and to see and be seen. In the next century Cremorne filled a similar role; the gardens’ fireworks were famously depicted by James McNeill Whistler, though earlier ignored by Turner. The Royal Hospital hosted army and navy exhibitions in 1890 and 1890, leading to the founding of the Maritime Museum in Greenwich. Most famously the Royal International Horticultural Exhibition of 1912 brought the flower show to Chelsea – from South Kensington and Regents Park.
