Identity area
Type of entity
Corporate body
Authorized form of name
The Royal Society of Tasmania
Parallel form(s) of name
Standardized form(s) of name according to other rules
Other form(s) of name
Identifiers for corporate bodies
Description area
Dates of existence
1843 to present
History
The Royal Society of Tasmania is the oldest scientific society in Australia and New Zealand and the third oldest Royal Society in the Commonwealth.
The Society was founded in 1843 by Sir John Eardley-Wilmot, Lieutenant Governor, as the Botanical and Horticultural Society of Van Diemen’s Land. Its aim was to ‘develop the physical character of the Island and illustrate its natural history and productions’. Queen Victoria became Patron in 1844 and the name was changed to The Royal Society of Tasmania of Van Diemen’s Land for Horticulture, Botany and the Advancement of Science. Under the current relevant Act of Parliament, passed in 1911, the name was shortened to The Royal Society of Tasmania. A branch of the Society was formed in Launceston in 1853. It lapsed but was reconstituted in 1921 and has continued since then.
For more information see: https://rst.org.au/about/