Royal Charter

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For the ship of the same name, see Royal Charter (ship).

A Royal Charter is a charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the privy council to legitimize an incorporated body, such as a city, company, university or such. A Royal Charter is a kind of letters patent. In medieval Europe, cities were the only place where it was legal to conduct commerce, and Royal Charters were the only way to establish a city. The year a city was chartered is considered the year the city was "founded", irrespective of whether there was settlement there before. A Royal Charter can also create or give special status to an incorporated body. It is an exercise of the Royal Prerogative.

At one time a Royal Charter was the only way in which an incorporated body could be formed, but other means such as the registration of a limited company are now available. Among the historic bodies formed by Royal Charter were the British East India Company, the Hudson's Bay Company, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), the British South Africa Company and the American colonies.

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[edit] Belgium

The royal decree is the equivalent in Belgium of a Royal Charter. In the period before 1958, 32 higher education institutes had been by royal charter: these were typically engineering or technical institutions rather than universities.[1]

However, several non-technical higher education institutions have been founded, or refounded, under royal decree:

[edit] Canada

The Hudson's Bay Company, building in Montreal.
The Hudson's Bay Company, building in Montreal.

A Royal Charter is granted by Order-in-Council, either creating an incorporated body, or giving an existent one special status.[5] This is an exercise of the Royal Prerogative, and, in Canada, there are hundreds of organizations under Royal Charters. Such organizations include charities, businesses, colleges, universities, and cities. Today, it is mostly charities and professional institutions who receive Royal Charters.

Application for a charter is a petition to the Queen-in-Council. To receive a Royal Charter, the organization must have corporate members who have at least first degree level in a relevant field, consist of 5,000 members or more, be financially sound, and it must be in the public interest to regulate the institution under a charter. However, meeting these benchmarks does not guarantee the issue of a Royal Charter.[6]

[edit] Companies and societies

Companies, corporations, and societies in Canada founded under or augmented by a Royal Charter include:

[edit] Territories and communities

Cities under Royal Charter are not subject to municipal Acts of parliament applied generally to other municipalities, and instead are governed by legislation applicable to each city individually. The Royal Charter codifies the laws applied to the particular city, and lays out the powers and responsibilities not given to other municipalities in the province concerned.

[edit] Universities and colleges

A number of Canadian universities and colleges were founded under Royal Charter.

[edit] Hong Kong

Before 1997, a number of organizations had the Royal name attached to them:

Royal Hong Kong Golf Club - now Hong Kong Golf Club

[edit] Ireland

A number of Irish institutions still have a "Royal" prefix, even though the country has been a republic since 1949.

[edit] South Africa

The University of South Africa received a Royal Charter in 1877.

[edit] United Kingdom

Main article: List of organisations in the United Kingdom with a royal charter

Among the 750 or so organizations with Royal Charters are cities; the BBC; theatres such as the Royal Opera House and the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane; Livery Companies; Britain's older universities; professional institutions and charities.[26]

A Royal Charter is the manner in which a British town is raised to the rank of city. Most recently Inverness, Brighton & Hove and Wolverhampton were given their charters to celebrate the millennium, and Preston, Stirling, Newport, Lisburn and Newry to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2002.

Some of the older British universities operate under Royal Charters, which give them the power to grant degrees. The most recent generation of UK universities were granted the power to grant degrees by the Further and Higher Education Act, 1992 instead of by Royal Charter, while some other universities operate under Acts of Parliament.

The BBC operates under a Royal Charter which lasts for a limited period of ten years, after which it is renewed.

Most Royal Charters are now granted to professional institutions and to charities. For example, the six accountancy institutes which make up the Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies each have a Royal Charter which allows their members to call themselves Chartered Accountants. A Charter is not necessary for them to operate, but one is often sought as a recognition of "pre-eminence, stability and permanence".

A Royal Charter changes a body from a collection of individuals into a single legal entity. Once incorporated by Royal Charter, amendments to the Charter and by-laws require government approval.[26]

[edit] United States

 The factual accuracy of this section is disputed.
Please see the relevant discussion on the talk page.(March 2008)

Although several American universities which predate the American Revolution purport to hold Royal Charters, they hold instead either Letters Patent from the monarch, or another type of grant from a local authority such as a legislature.

Letters Patent from King William III and Queen Mary II:

Letters Patent from King George II:

American colleges popularly believed to have been established by Royal Charter, but actually by some other type of grant:

  • Harvard College 1639 - By Act of the Great and General Court of the Massachusetts Bay Colony
  • Yale University 1701 - as Collegiate School by Act of the General Assembly of Connecticut
  • Princeton University 1746 - as College of New Jersey by the General Assembly of the Province of New Jersey
  • Brown University 1764 - as College of Rhode Island by Letters Patent from The Governor and General Assembly of the English Colony of Rhode Island
  • Rutgers University 1766 - as Queen's College by Governor William Franklin of New Jersey
  • Dartmouth College 1769 - by Letters Patent by King George III via the Governor of the province of New Hampshire. The distinction between the Letters Patent forming Dartmouth versus those documents founding William & Mary or Kings College (Columbia) is that seal of the Province of New Hampshire appearing on the Dartmouth document, while the Great Seal of England appears on the William & Mary document.

[edit] External links

[edit] Footnotes

  1. ^ Non-University Higher Technical Education in Belgium Gilbert Van Vaek and Henk Van Daele
  2. ^ Gilbert Van Vaek and Henk Van Daele
  3. ^ Belgium Royal Historical Commission
  4. ^ The Irish International University
  5. ^ Privy Council Office: Royal Charter
  6. ^ Privy Council: Royal Charter
  7. ^ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson%27s_Bay_Company#Rent_obligation_under_Charter
  8. ^ The Royal Commonwealth Society: Values of the Royal Commonwealth Society
  9. ^ New Brunswick; reprint of: Kurley, Daniel; Times Globe: Elusive Oak; June 11, 1998
  10. ^ Royal Astronomical Society of Canada: Going Royal: A History of Public Service
  11. ^ ScoutDocs: Scouts Canada Act: Royal Charter of The Boy Scouts Association
  12. ^ Royal Academy of Dance Canada: About us
  13. ^ Royal Conservatory of Music: The RCM: History of The Royal Conservatory of Music
  14. ^ Canada Council for the Arts: Royal Winnipeg Ballet
  15. ^ The Royal Life Saving Society of Canada Saskatchewan Branch, Inc.; Constitution
  16. ^ The Canadian Encyclopedia: Royal Hamilton College of Music
  17. ^ Royal Western Nova Scotia Yacht Club: Annapolis Basin
  18. ^ Saint John: History Public Records and Archives
  19. ^ Canada's Cities: Unleash our Potential
  20. ^ Canada4Life; Nova Scotia
  21. ^ McGill University: Admin and governance: Secretariat: University Charter and Statutes: The Royal Charter of McGill University
  22. ^ Trinity College: About Trinity: History
  23. ^ Queen's University: Queen's University Royal Charter
  24. ^ Le Bas Canada 1763-1867
  25. ^ Canada Post: Canada Post confers stamp on Bishop's University; January 20, 2003
  26. ^ a b Privy Council Office - Chartered Bodies
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