Student George Tomlinson founded what he called the "Conversazione Society" at the University of Cambridge on 1 April 1820.
[4] These founding members were it seems Tory, evangelical Anglican students from St John's College, Cambridge.
[3][4] Meetings were held once per week, traditionally on Saturday evenings, during which one member would give a prepared talk on a topic (or a question for debate) that was then thrown open for discussion.
The Apostles retained minutes of meetings and a leather diary of their membership, the Photo Book, stretching back to its founding.
[4] It was included in the so-called Ark, a cedar chest containing a collection of papers about the topics discussed and the results of votes on the propositions nominated for debate.
Every few years, amid great secrecy, all the Angels were invited to an Apostles' dinner at a Cambridge college.
[3] Membership consisted largely of undergraduates, but there have been graduate students and members who already have held university and college posts.
Soviet spies Anthony Blunt, Guy Burgess and John Cairncross, three of the Cambridge Five, and Michael Straight were all members of the Apostles in the early 1930s.