The plaque reads:
"Site of the / KING'S ARMS / TAVERN / where the first / meeting of the / MARINE SOCIETY / was held on / 25 June 1756"
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Founded in 1756 with the aim of providing men to fight in the King's ships as Britain faced war with most of Europe, The Marine Society was the world's first charity dedicated to seafarers.
Its founder, Jonas Hanway (1712-1786), was a trader; he feared the onset of war would mean the men who crewed his ships would be poached to fight in the King's navy. His solution - to recruit boys from poor backgrounds, give them some naval training, and send them to the King's navy - was as pragmatic as it was philanthropic. It meant his business interests could continue unhindered.
So began The Marine Society's relationship with what would, over a hundred years later, come to be called the Royal Navy.
The charity's success exceeded all expectations, leading Admiral Boscawen (1711-1761) to write 'no scheme for manning the navy has ever had the success of The Marine Society'.
By 1763, 10,000 men had been recruited. Each had been given a clean suit of clothes, taught the importance of personal hygiene, and given a rudimentary education.
By 1772, such was The Marine Society's importance in the life of the nation, it was incorporated in an Act of Parliament.
By the time of the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 a significant proportion of manpower for the King's navy was being supplied, trained and equipped by The Marine Society.
These men were volunteers, each one far more effective than a pressed man. Nelson was aware the advantage of having trained, motivated, disciplined and well equipped men gave him - something that at the time no other nation had.
Britain's naval hero took pride in acknowledging his and the nation's debt to The Marine Society.
But by this time men were also being trained to serve in merchant ships. In 1786 the world's first pre-sea training ship, named 'Marine Society', was purchased to provide trained manpower for what would later be called the Royal Navy and the Merchant Navy.
Acknowledging the dividend from such an investment in practical training, throughout the nineteenth century and into the twenty first, the Admiralty provided a succession of training ships.
Throughout the distinguished history of The Marine Society there have been mergers and acquisitions, all of which have served to enrich the core aims of the charity.
The biggest such merger was in 1976 when the Seafarers Education Service (SES), itself a potent force in lifelong learning and professional development, merged with The Marine Society. The SES had been founded in 1919 by Albert Mansbridge, who had earlier founded the Workers' Educational Association, still today the largest volunteer sector provider of adult learning in the UK.
In 2004 the Sea Cadets came aboard, bringing together two organisations which cherish their role in promoting the sea as a career to young people.
Centuries have come and gone. Yet much of what is delivered today would be recognised and applauded by Vice Admiral Horatio Lord Nelson.
The Marine Society is a dynamic force in championing the cause of seafarers and providing for them a range of well-managed services that would otherwise be denied them.
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