They were designed in 1756 by Sir Thomas Slade, and were enlarged from his design for the 32-gun Southampton-class frigates, which had been approved four months earlier.
[1] The 36-gun frigates, of which this was to be the only British design in the era of the 12-pounder frigate, carried the same battery of twenty-six 12-pounders as their 32-gun predecessors; the only difference lay in the secondary armament on the quarterdeck which was here doubled to eight 6-pounders.
Slade's 36-gun design was approved on 13 July 1756, on which date two ships were approved to be built by contract to these plans.
A third ship was ordered about two weeks later, to be built in a royal dockyard.
Both Venus- and Southampton-class frigates were highly maneuverable and more capable of withstanding heavy weather than their French equivalents during the Seven Years' War.