Royal Society of Victoria
Encyclopedia
Victoria (Australia)
Victoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically the smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales, South Australia, and Tasmania on Boundary Islet to the north, west and south respectively....
in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
.
The Royal Society of Victoria (R.S.V.) was formed in 1859 from a merger between The Philosophical Society of Victoria (inaugural president Captain Andrew Clarke) and The Victorian Institute for the Advancement of Science (inaugural president Justice Sir Redmond Barry
Redmond Barry
Sir Redmond Barry KCMG was an Irish colonial judge in Victoria, Australia.-Early life:Barry was the son of Major-General Henry Green Barry, of Ballyclough, County Cork and his wife Phoebe Drought, daughter of John Armstrong Drought and Letita Head...
), both founded in 1854. The first president of the R.S.V. was Baron Sir Ferdinand von Mueller
Ferdinand von Mueller
Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
, then Government botanist. In 1860 the R.S.V. organised the Burke and Wills expedition
Burke and Wills expedition
In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...
.
The Society has played an important role in the life of Melbourne
Melbourne
Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...
and Victoria including establishing the Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum
Melbourne Museum is located in the Carlton Gardens in Melbourne, Australia, adjacent the Royal Exhibition Building.It is the largest museum in the Southern Hemisphere, and is a venue of Museum Victoria, which also operates the Immigration Museum and Scienceworks Museum.The museum has seven main...
and National Parks, convening the first Australian Antarctic Exploration Committee in 1885, organising the Burke and Wills expedition
Burke and Wills expedition
In 1860–61, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills led an expedition of 19 men with the intention of crossing Australia from Melbourne in the south to the Gulf of Carpentaria in the north, a distance of around 3,250 kilometres...
and establishing the Victorian Institute of Marine Sciences in 1978 (now the Marine and Freshwater Resources Institute from 1996). It continues to be active with monthly meetings throughout the year held in its historic headquarters at 9 Victoria Street
Victoria Street, Melbourne
Victoria Street is one of the major thoroughfares of inner Melbourne. Running east to west, Victoria Street touches the Hoddle Grid at the intersection of La Trobe Street and Spring Street, opposite the Carlton Gardens. It runs from its terminus at the intersection of Munster Terrace in North...
in the centre of Melbourne.
Presidents
- 1859: Baron Sir Ferdinand von MuellerFerdinand von MuellerBaron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, KCMG was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist.-Early life:...
- 1860-1863: Sir Henry BarklyHenry BarklySir Henry Barkly, GCMG, KCB, FRS, FRGS was a British politician, colonial governor and patron of the sciences.-Early life and education:...
- 1864: Sir Frederick McCoyFrederick McCoySir Frederick McCoy, KCMG, FRS was an Irish palaeontologist and museum administrator, active in Australia.-Early life:McCoy was the son of Dr Simon McCoy, M.D. and was born in Dublin; some sources have his year of birth as 1823, but 1817 is the most likely...
- 1865: Rev. Dr John Ignatius BleasdaleJohn BleasdaleRev. Dr. John Ignatius Bleasdale was an English-born Priest, Chemist and Mineralogist active in Australia and President of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1865....
- 1866-1884: Robert L.J. Ellery
- 1885-1900: William Charles KernotWilliam Charles KernotWilliam Charles Kernot , was an Australian engineer, first professor of engineering at the University of Melbourne and president of the Royal Society of Victoria....
- 1901: Dr James JamiesonJames Jamieson (doctor)James Jamieson was a Scottish-born Australian doctor, president of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1901.Jamieson was born Beith, Ayrshire, Scotland and educated in Glasgow, awarded M.D in 1862...
- 1902: Edward John WhiteEdward John WhiteEdward John White was an English-born meteorologist and astronomer, president of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1902....
- 1903: John DennantJohn DennantJohn Dennant was an English-born educational administrator and geologist, president of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1903....
- 1904: Sir Walter Baldwin SpencerWalter Baldwin SpencerSir Walter Baldwin Spencer KCMG was a British-Australian biologist and anthropologist.Baldwin was born in Stretford, Lancashire. His father, Reuben Spencer, who had come from Derbyshire in his youth, obtained a position with Rylands and Sons, cotton manufacturers, and rose to be chairman of its...
- 1905: George SweetGeorge SweetGeorge Sweet was an English-born Australian geologist, president of the Royal Society of Victoria in 1905.Sweet investigated fossils in the Mansfield district for Frederick McCoy 1888-95, and was second-in-command to Sir Edgeworth David on the Funafuti expedition in 1897...
- 1906: Edward John DunnEdward John DunnEdward John Dunn was an Australian geologist, winner of the 1905 Murchison Medal.-Early life:Dunn was born at Bedminster near Bristol, England, the son of Edward Herbert Dunn and his wife Betsy, née Robinson. The family emigrated to New South Wales in 1849, initially living near Goulburn, New...
- 1907: Calder E. Oliver
- 1908-1909: Pietro P.G.E. BaracchiPietro BaracchiPietro Paolo Giovanni Ernesto Baracchi was an Italian-born astronomer, active in Australia and Government Astronomer of Victoria 1900-15....
- 1910-1911: Ernest Willington SkeatsErnest Willington SkeatsErnest Willington Skeats was an English-Australian geologist.Skeats was born in Southampton, England, and was educated at Handel and Hartley colleges, Southampton, and entered the Royal College of Science, London, where he received a D.Sc...
- 1912-1913: John Shephard
- 1914-1915: Thomas Sergeant HallThomas Sergeant HallThomas Sergeant Hall was an Australian geologist and biologist, recipient of The Murchison Fund in 1901.-Early life:...
- 1916-1917: William A. Osborne
- 1918-1919: James A. Kershaw
- 1920-1921: Alfred James EwartAlfred James EwartAlfred James Ewart, FRS, was an English-Australian botanist.Ewart was born in Toxteth Park, Liverpool, England, second son of Edmund Brown Ewart, B.A. and his wife, Martha née Williams. Alfred was educated at the Liverpool Institute and University College, Liverpool, Ewart graduated Ph.D. at...
- 1922-1923: Frank Wisewould
- 1924: Thomas H. Laby
- 1925-1926: Joseph M. BaldwinJoseph M. BaldwinJoseph Mason Baldwin was Victorian government astronomer 1920–1943.Baldwin was born in Carlton, Melbourne, Australia, the third son of Joseph Baldwin and his wife Emma Maria, née Graham. J.M...
- 1927-1928: Wilfred Eade AgarWilfred Eade AgarWilfred Eade Agar was an Anglo-Australian zoologist.Agar was born in Wimbledon, England. He was educated at Sedbergh School, Yorkshire, and at King's College, Cambridge, where he read zoology...
- 1929-1930: Frederick ChapmanFrederick ChapmanFrederick Chapman was the inaugural Australian Commonwealth Palaeontologist.-Early life:Chapman was born in Camden Town, London, England and studied at Royal College of Science, London where he was initially an assistant to John Wesley Judd...
- 1931-1932: Herbert S. Summers
- 1933-1934: William J. YoungWilliam John YoungWilliam John Young was an English biochemist.-Beginnings and Education:William John Young was born on 26 January 1878 in Withington, Manchester, England. He received a B.Sc. in 1898 and a M.Sc. in 1902 at Owen College, Manchester...
- 1935-1936: Norman A. Esserman
- 1937-1938: Samuel M. Wadham
- 1939-1940: Daniel J. Mahony
- 1941-1942: Reuben T. Patton
- 1943-1944: William Baragwanath
- 1945-1946: John King DavisJohn King DavisJohn King Davis, CBE was an English-born Australian explorer and navigator notable for his work captaining exploration ships in Antarctic waters as well as for establishing meteorological stations on Macquarie Island in the subantarctic and on Willis Island in the Coral Sea.-Early life:Davis's...
- 1947-1948: Dermot A. Casey
- 1949-1950: Phillip Crosbie Morrison
- 1951-1952: John S. Turner
- 1953-1954: Frank Leslie StillwellFrank Leslie StillwellFrank Leslie Stillwell OBE, was an Australian geologist, winner of the Clarke Medal awarded by the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1951....
- 1955-1956: Edwin S. Hills
- 1957-1958: Valentine G. Anderson
- 1959-1960: Geoffrey W. Leeper
- 1961-1962: Richard R. Garran
- 1963-1964: Richard T.M. PescottRichard PescottRichard Thomas Martin Pescott was an Australian botanist.Pescott was Director of the National Museum of Victoria from 1944 to 1957, and then Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Melbourne until his retirement in 1970. He was President of the Royal Society of Victoria from 1963 to 64...
- 1965-1966: John H. Chinner
- 1967-1968: Phillip G. LawPhillip LawPhillip Garth Law AC, CBE, FAA was an Australian scientist and explorer who served as director of Australian National Antarctic Research Expeditions from 1949 to 1966.-Early life:...
- 1969-1970: Edmund D. Gill
- 1971-1972: Alfred Dunbavin Butcher
- 1973-1974: Sir Robert R. Blackwood
- 1975-1976: James D. Morrison
- 1977-1978: John F. Lovering
- 1979-1980: Lionel L. Stubbs
- 1980-1982: Gordon D. Aitchison
- 1983-1984: David M. Churchill
- 1985-1986: Dr Grisha A. Sklovsky
- 1986-1987: Dr Terence P. O'Brien
- 1987 (Jul-Dec): Dr Grisha A. Sklovsky
- 1988-1990: Dr William R.S. Briggs
- 1991-1992: Dr Graeme F. Watson
- 1993-1994: Dr John W. ZillmanJohn ZillmanJohn W. Zillman AO is an Australian meteorologist, and former President of the World Meteorological Organization and the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering . He was born and was educated in Brisbane, Queensland...
- 1995-1996: Dr Maxwell G. Lay
- 1997-1998: Professor Em. Herbert H. Bolotin
- 1999-2001: Associate Professor Gordon D. Sanson
- 2001-2003: Associate Professor Neil W. Archbold
- 2006-2007: Associate Professor Bruce Livett http://www.sciencevictoria.org.au/2007specialsymposia.html
- 2007-2010: Professor Graham D. Burrows http://www.sciencevictoria.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61&Itemid=68
- 2010- : Professor Lynne Selwood
Publication
- Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria. Melbourne : The Society, 1889- Semiannual. ISSN 0035-9211. Formerly the Transactions and proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria
External links
- The Royal Society of Victoria.
- Burke & Wills Web A comprehensive website containing many of the historical documents relating to the Burke & Wills Expedition.
- The Burke & Wills Historical Society The Burke & Wills Historical Society.