Royal Society of South Australia explained

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.[1] 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, Hammond, W. B. Hays, Jones, Kay, Mann, W. W. Whitridge, Williams, Wooldridge and John Lorenzo Young.[2] J. Howard Clark was elected secretary. On 15 September rules were adopted and His Excellency the Governor Sir Henry Young was elected president.[3] T. D. Smeaton has also been credited with helping found the Society.[4] 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.[1]

At the time of its first Annual General Meeting membership had risen to 35,[5] 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.[1]

It received royal patronage, becoming the Royal Society of South Australia late in 1880,[6] [1] following the nomenclature used in other Australian colonies, and perhaps hoping to emulate their success.[7]

The Field Naturalists Society of South Australia was formed as a section of the Society in 1883.[8] In 1943 Constance Eardley became the first woman to be elected to the Council of the Society.[9]

Membership

There are five classes of members:[10]

Awards and medals

The society awards:[11]

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.[12] 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.[12]

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.[13] [14] [15]

List of presidents

Royal Society of South Australia Presidents:[16]

Term Name
1853–1854
1855
1856–1861
1862–1868
1869–1872
1877
1878–1879
1880–1881
1882
1883
1884
1885 [17]
1886–1889
1889
1890–1891 [18]
1892–1894 (2nd term)
1895–1896
1897–1899
1900–1903 (2nd term)
1903–1921
1921 [19]
1922–1924 [20]
1925
1926
1927
1927–1928
1929–1930
1931 [21]
1932 [22]
1933
1934
1935 [23]
1936
1937 [24]
1938 [25] [26]
1939
1940
1941 (2nd term)
1942
1943 [27]
1944 [28]
1945 (2nd term)
1946 [29]
1947 [30]
1948
1949 [31]
1950
1951
1952 [32]
1953
1954
1955
1956
1957
1958
1959–1960
1961 (2nd term)
1962
1963
1964
1965
1966
1967
1968
1969
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
1982–1983
1984
1985–1986
1987
1988–1989
1990–1992
1992–1994
1994–1996
1996–1998
1998–2000
2000–2002
2002–2004
2004–2006 [33]
2006–2008 [34]
2008–2010 [35]
2010–2012
2012–2014
2014–2016
2016–2019
2019–Present

Verco Medal recipients

"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."[11]

The medal is named in honour of Joseph Verco. The first award of the medal was to Prof Walter Howchin in 1929.[36]

Previous winners include:

YearNameSource
1966
2004[37]
1962
1996
2011
2001
1989
1991
1930
2003[38]
2017[39]
1994
2009
1933
2013[40]
2015
1992
1982
1960
1999
1970 [41]
1979
1946
1978
1929
1976
1986
1987
1935 [42]
1990
1985
2018[43]
2014[44]
1963
1945
1931
2012
1971
1983
1972
1995
1957[45]
1998
1938
2002
2005
1967
1981
2008
2010[46]
1965
1961
1968
1959
1974
1975
1956
1977
1980
1955
1993
2000
2007[47]
1988[48]
1997
1943
1969[49]
1944
1973[50]
1932not awarded
1934not awarded
1936–1937not awarded
1939–1942not awarded
1947–1954not awarded
1958not awarded
1964not awarded
1984not awarded
2006not awarded
2016not awarded

Notable members

Notable members of the Royal Society of South Australia have included:

See also

Further reading

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: About the Society . Royal Society of South Australia . 4 July 2020.
  2. News: Coroner's Inquest. . . XVII . 1973 . South Australia . 11 January 1853 . 4 July 2020 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  3. News: Adelaide Philosophical Society. . XVII . 2187 . South Australia . 19 September 1853 . 4 July 2020 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  4. News: The Late Mr. T. D. Smeaton . . Adelaide, SA . 19 February 1908 . 30 November 2015 . 5 . National Library of Australia.
  5. Wikipedia citationNews: Adelaide Philosophical Society . . XVIII . 2301 . South Australia . 30 January 1854 . 4 July 2020 . 3 . National Library of Australia.
  6. News: Adelaide Philosophical Society . . XLV . 10,577 . South Australia . 7 October 1880 . 3 October 2017 . 2 (Supplement to the South Australian Register.) . National Library of Australia.
  7. News: Tuesday, October 12, 1880. . . Adelaide . 12 October 1880 . 9 March 2015 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
  8. Web site: Field Naturalist Society of South Australia carries its care for the environment from 1883. AdelaideAZ . 4 July 2020.
  9. News: 17 November 1943 . Women in the World . 26 . 3 . The Dawn . 5 . Western Australia . 5 October 2022 . National Library of Australia.
  10. http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rssa/membership/ Membership
  11. http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rssa/awards/ Awards & Medals
  12. Web site: Publications . Royal Society of South Australia . 3 July 2020.
  13. Web site: Outback flamingos, giant penguins on new list of extinct Australian birds. Shannon. Corvo . ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 1 July 2020 . 3 July 2020.
  14. Web site: Flinders University . No leg to stand on for Australia's flamingos . Phys.org . 26 June 2020 . 3 July 2020.
  15. Worthy . Trevor H. . Nguyen . Jacqueline M. T. . An annotated checklist of the fossil birds of Australia . Transactions of the Royal Society of South Australia . Informa UK Limited . 144 . 1 . 2 January 2020 . 0372-1426 . 10.1080/03721426.2020.1756560 . 66–108. free .
  16. http://www.adelaide.edu.au/rssa/history/ List of Presidents
  17. Sally O'Neill, 'Mais, Henry Coathupe (1827–1916)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 5, Melbourne University Press, 1974, pp 200-201
  18. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001867b.htm Blackburn, Thomas (1844–1912)
  19. Joyce Gibberd, 'Rogers, Richard Sanders (1861–1942)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, p. 443.
  20. Neville Hicks, Helen McIntosh, 'Pulleine, Robert Henry (1869–1935)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 11, Melbourne University Press, 1988, pp 306-307.
  21. Lynne Trethewey, 'Fenner, Charles Albert Edward (1884–1955)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 8, Melbourne University Press, 1981, pp 481-482.
  22. Dorothea F. Sandars, 'Johnston, Thomas Harvey (1881–1951)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 9, Melbourne University Press, 1983, p. 501.
  23. Tasman Brown, Ruth Rogers, 'Campbell, Thomas Draper (1893–1967)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 13, Melbourne University Press, 1993, pp 361-362.
  24. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001896b.htm Hale, Herbert Mathew (1895–1963)
  25. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001011b.htm Davidson, James (1885–1945)
  26. [T. O. Browning]
  27. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001629b.htm Cooke, William Ternent (1877–1957)
  28. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001231b.htm Womersley, Herbert (1889–1962)
  29. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P003862b.htm Piper, Clarence Sherwood (1903–1988)
  30. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000841b.htm Trumble, Hugh Christian (1903–)
  31. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001944b.htm Tindale, Norman Barnett (1900–1993)
  32. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000018b.htm Andrewartha, Herbert George (1907–1992)
  33. http://www.clw.csiro.au/staff/FitzpatrickR/ Dr. Rob W. Fitzpatrick
  34. http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/about/staff/prof-allan-pring Dr. Allan Pring
  35. http://www.adelaide.edu.au/directory/john.jennings Dr. John Jennings
  36. http://www.samuseum.sa.gov.au/Journals/TRSSA/TRSSA_V100/TRSSA_V100_p208p208.pdf Award of the Sir Joseph Verco Medal 1929-1976
  37. Web site: The Board of South East Energy . 12 March 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110706111740/http://www.sez.com.au/people/ . 6 July 2011 . dead .
  38. http://www.arf.net.au/frogs/science.html Frog research – more than skin deep
  39. Web site: Ecologist heads for top biology award. newsdesk. 2017-10-11. Flinders University. en-AU. 2019-07-11.
  40. Web site: Alan Cooper. The Conversation. en. 2019-07-11.
  41. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P000442b.htm Glaessner, Martin Fritz (1906–1989)
  42. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P001089b.htm Johnston, Thomas Harvey (1881–1951)
  43. Web site: Palaeontology expert wins top science medal. Sly. David. 2018-10-16. Flinders in Touch. en-AU. 2019-07-11.
  44. Web site: Flinders scientist wins coveted science prize. flindersblogs. 2014-10-09. Flinders University. en-AU. 2019-07-11.
  45. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P003862b.htm Piper, Clarence Sherwood (1903–1988)
  46. Web site: Dr Mike Smith, National Museum of Australia . 12 March 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20120524013956/http://www.nma.gov.au/history/research/centre_for_historical_research/our_people/mike_smith . 24 May 2012 . dead .
  47. http://www.adelaide.edu.au/adelaidean/issues/22001/news22011.html Royal Society honours for two
  48. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P004071b.htm Williams, William David (1936–)
  49. http://www.eoas.info/biogs/P003504b.htm Womersley, Hugh Bryan Spencer (1922–)
  50. http://www.pesa.com.au/publications/pesa_news/latest_edition/images/pn106_56.pdf Dr Helmut Wopfner—Biography
  51. Cumming, D.A. and Moxham, G. They Built South Australia published by the authors February 1986

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