Royal Society of South Australia

The Royal Society of South Australia (RSSA) is a learned society whose interest is in science, particularly, but not only, of South Australia. The major aim of the society is the promotion and diffusion of scientific knowledge, particularly in relation to natural sciences. The society was originally the Adelaide Philosophical Society, founded on 10 January 1853. The title "Royal" was granted by Queen Victoria in October 1880 and the society changed its name to its present name at this time. It was incorporated in 1883. It also operates under the banner Science South Australia.

History

The origins of the Royal Society are related to the South Australian Literary and Scientific Association, founded in August 1834, before the colonisation of South Australia, and whose book collection eventually formed the kernel of the State Library of South Australia.

The Society had its origins in a meeting at the Stephens Place home of J. L. Young (founder of the Adelaide Educational Institution) on the evening of 10 January 1853. Members inducted to the new "Adelaide Philosophical Society" were Messrs. John Brown, John Howard Clark, Davy, Doswell, Charles Gregory Feinaigle, Gilbert, Gosse, Hamilton, D. Hammond, W. B. Hays, Jones, Kay, Mann, W. W. R. Whitridge, Williams, Wooldridge and John Lorenzo Young. J. Howard Clark was elected secretary. On 15 September rules were adopted and His Excellency the Governor Sir Henry Young was elected president, with Benjamin Herschel Babbage and Matthew Moorhouse as vice-presidents. T. D. Smeaton has also been credited with helping found the Society. Its aim was "the diffusion and advancement of the Arts and Sciences", and one of its earliest subjects of discussion was the formation of a museum showing the natural history of the Colony.

At the time of its first Annual General Meeting membership had risen to 35,Wikipedia citation and in 1859 the Society was incorporated under the South Australian Institute Act. The establishment of the University of Adelaide in 1875 revitalised the Society, which had flagged for some years before.

It received royal patronage, becoming the Royal Society of South Australia late in 1880, following the nomenclature used in other Australian colonies, and perhaps hoping to emulate their success.

The Field Naturalists Society of South Australia was formed as a section of the Society in 1883. In 1943 Constance Eardley became the first woman to be elected to the Council of the Society.

Membership There are five classes of members:Membership , Royal Society of South Australia Inc. Honorary Fellows Sustaining Fellows Fellows Associate Fellows Student Fellows

Awards and medals The society awards:Awards & Medals , Royal Society of South Australia Inc. The Verco Medal The Publication Medal The Royal Society of South Australia Postgraduate Student Prize The H. G. Andrewartha Medal

Publications The RSSA has published the journal Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia since 1879, previously (from 1877–1878) Transactions and proceedings and report of the Philosophical Society of Adelaide. From 2004, the journal partnered with the South Australian Museum in the Southern Scientific Press, amalgamating their two journals. From 2005, the journal has been available in electronic form only, via Taylor & Francis Online.

In June 2020 an annotated list of 95 Australian bird fossils was published in the Transactions, the first such list since 1975, contributing to the documented knowledge of bird extinctions. The list includes three species of huge flamingos from the Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre and Lake Frome areas of South Australia, which were estimated to inhabit the area for 25 million years before becoming extinct about 140,000 years ago, most likely from drought. There were also penguins measuring about tall, which lived between about 60 million and 30 million years ago, dying out in the Oligocene.

List of presidents Royal Society of South Australia presidents:List of Presidents , RSSARoyal Society of South Australia Presidents Retrieved 11 July 2024. Term Name 1853–1854 1855 1856–1861 1862–1868 1869–1872 1877 1878–1879 1880–1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 Sally O'Neill, 'Mais, Henry Coathupe (1827–1916)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 200-201 1886–1889 1889 1890–1891 Blackburn, Thomas (1844–1912), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1892–1894 (2nd term) 1895–1896 1897–1899 1900–1903 (2nd term) 1903–1921 1921 Joyce Gibberd, 'Rogers, Richard Sanders (1861–1942)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, p. 443. 1922–1924 Neville Hicks, Helen McIntosh, 'Pulleine, Robert Henry (1869–1935)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, pp 306-307. 1925 1926 1927 1927–1928 1929–1930 1931 Lynne Trethewey, 'Fenner, Charles Albert Edward (1884–1955)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, Melbourne University Press, 1981, pp 481-482. 1932 Dorothea F. Sandars, 'Johnston, Thomas Harvey (1881–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, p. 501. 1933 1934 1935 Tasman Brown, Ruth Rogers, 'Campbell, Thomas Draper (1893–1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 361-362. 1936 1937 Hale, Herbert Mathew (1895–1963), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1938 Davidson, James (1885–1945), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.infoT. O. Browning, 'Davidson, James (1885–1945)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, Melbourne University Press, 1981, pp 226-227. 1939 1940 1941 (2nd term) 1942 1943 Cooke, William Ternent (1877–1957), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.infoMargaret Macilwain, 'Cooke, Constance Mary Ternent (1882–1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Supplementary Volume, Melbourne University Press, 2005, pp 76-77. 1944 Womersley, Herbert (1889–1962), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1945 (2nd term) 1946 Piper, Clarence Sherwood (1903–1988), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1947 Trumble, Hugh Christian (1903–), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1948 1949 Tindale, Norman Barnett (1900–1993), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1950 1951 1952 Andrewartha, Herbert George (1907–1992), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.infoL. C. Birch and T. O. Browning, Herbert George Andrewartha 1907-1992 , Historical Records of Australian Science, vol.9, no.3, 1993. 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 Parkin, Leslie Wedgwood (Lee) (1916 - 2013), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1959–1960 1961 (2nd term) 1962 1963 1964 Professor The University of Adelaide. Retrieved 10 February 2025. 1965 1966 Daily, Brian, Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 Webb, Bruce Phillip (1926 - 2000), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1978 1979 Ling, John Kynaston (1931 - ), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1980 1981 1982–1983 1984 Womersley, John (1920 - 1985), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1985–1986 1987 1988–1989 1990–1992 1992–1994 Williams, William David (1936 - ), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1994–1996 Davies, Margaret (1944 - ), Encyclopedia of Australian Science, www.eoas.info 1996–1998 1998–2000 2000–2002 2002–2004 2004–2006 Dr. Rob W. Fitzpatrick , CSIRO 2006–2008 Dr. Allan Pring, SA Museum. Retrieved 28 March 2018. 2008–2010 Dr. John Jennings, University of Adelaide. Retrieved 28 March 2018. 2010–2012 2012–2014 2014–2016 2016–2019 2019–2024 2024–Present

Verco Medal The Sir Joseph Verco Medal, also known as the Verco Medal, was established in 1928, with the first medal awarded in 1929. The medal is named in honour of Joseph Verco, who was president from 1903 to 1920.

"The medal shall be awarded for distinguished scientific work published by a Fellow of the Royal Society of South Australia. It is the highest honour that the Society can bestow on one of its Fellows. Only those who have made a significant, outstanding contribution to their field(s) of study receive the award."

Previous winners include: YearNameSource1966 2004 1962 1996 2011 2001 1989 1991 1930 2003 Frog research – more than skin deep , 16 December 2003, also at http://www.adelaide.edu.au/news/news635.html2017 1994 2009 1933 2013 Alan Cooper 2015 1992 1982 1960 1999 1970 Glaessner, Martin Fritz (1906–1989), www.eoas.info1979 1946 1978 1929 1976 1986 1987 1935 Johnston, Thomas Harvey (1881–1951), www.eoas.info1990 1985 2018 2014 1963 1945 1931 2012 1971 1983 1972 1995 1957 Piper, Clarence Sherwood (1903–1988), www.eoas.info1998 1938 2002 2005 1967 1981 Professor The University of Adelaide. Retrieved 10 February 2025.2008 2010 1965 1961 1968 1959 1974 1975 1956 1977 1980 1955 1993 2025 Royal Society of South Australia Retrieved 11 July 2025.Royal Society of South Australia, Bluesky. Retrieved 11 July 2025.2000 2007 Royal Society honours for two, Adelaidean, October 2007, www.adelaide.edu.auProfessor The University of Adelaide. Retrieved 10 February 2025.1988 Williams, William David (1936–), www.eoas.info1997 Professor The University of Adelaide. Retrieved 10 February 2025.1943 1969 Womersley, Hugh Bryan Spencer (1922–), www.eoas.info1944 1973 Dr Helmut Wopfner—Biography , PESA News, June/July 2010, p.561932 not awarded1934 not awarded1936–1937 not awarded1939–1942 not awarded1947–1954 not awarded1958 not awarded1964 not awarded1984 not awarded2006 not awarded2016 not awarded2019–2024 not awarded2025Jim Gehling

Notable members Notable members of the Royal Society of South Australia have included: William Henry BraggCumming, D.A. and Moxham, G. They Built South Australia published by the authors February 1986 Sir Robert William Chapman Thomas Charles Cloud (died 1918) Alexander William Dobbie (born 1843) John William Hall Hullett (born 1847) Cecil Thomas Madigan (1889–1947) James McGeorge Thomas Parker Thorburn Brailsford Robertson (1884–1930)Death of Professor T.B. Robertson: World-Renowned Bio-Chemist, The (Adelaide) Chronicle, (Thursday, 23 January 1930), p. 19. Walter Rutt (1842–1925) Ralph Tate Sir Charles Todd Carl Albert Unbehaun (1851–1924) Robert Archibald White

See also Australian Academy of Science Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science Federation of Australian Scientific and Technological Societies Royal Society of New South Wales Royal Society of Queensland Royal Society of Tasmania Royal Society of Victoria Royal Society of Western Australia The Royal Society (The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge) Royal Society (disambiguation)

References

Royal Society of South Australia

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