AWARDS
The Clarke Medal and Clarke Memorial Lectureship
[The history and purpose of these awards are based on notes kindly supplied by Dr David F. Branagan]
The Clarke Medal and Clarke Memorial Lecture were founded in memory of the Reverend William Branwhite Clarke, one of the fathers of the Royal Society of New South Wales. When the Philosophical Society of New South Wales was re-organized and converted into the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1866, the Rev. W.B. Clarke, because of his acknowledged eminence as a geologist and his scientific services to the Colony, was elected a joint Vice-President, a position which he held until his death on 16th June 1878. This meant that he was effectively the organiser of the Society, as at that time the Governor was ex-officio President. Some Governors did take a specific interest, attending meetings and taking part in discussions.
Clarke Medal
An application form can be downloaded from here: Clarke Medal 2008 Botany (PDF file)
Shortly after Clarke's death a memorial fund was opened at a meeting of the Society on 3rd July 1878. It was intended that the memorial take the form of annual lectures on geology, free to the public (to be known as Clarke Memorial Lectures); and a gold medal to be presented periodically for distinguished contributions to Australian geology (the Clarke Medal). However, contributions to the Clarke Memorial Fund did not immediately rise to the expectations of the Council, and it was not until October 1879 that it was possible to go ahead with one of the schemes - namely, the Clarke Medal.
The Medal was to be "awarded for meritorious contributions to Geology, Mineralogy and Natural History of Australasia, to be open to men of science, whether resident in Australasia or elsewhere". The Council decided that the Medal be made of bronze instead of gold as originally intended, and a pair of dies was ordered from J.S. and A.B. Wyon of London at a cost of 100 guineas. The obverse side of the Medal bears a portrait of the Rev. W.B. Clarke looking to the left, beautifully engraved, as was all the work done by J.S. and A.B. Wyon at that time.
The Wyon family were practising medallists for a great many years and five in succession held the appointment of Medallist to the reigning Sovereign. At the Society's Annual General Meeting on 12th May 1880 the names of the first recipients of the Clarke Medal were announced. The Medal for 1878 was to be awarded to Professor Richard Owen of the British Museum, famous for his studies of Australian vertebrate fossils; for 1879 to Mr. George Bentham of the Royal Gardens Kew, who made a major contribution to the study of the Australian flora; and for 1880 to Professor T.H. Huxley of the Royal School of Mines, London, for his valuable contributions to the knowledge of the natural history of Australia.
Over fifty Clarke Medals have been awarded. The Award is now considered annually for distinguished work in the Natural Sciences (geology, botany and zoology) done in, or on, the Australian Commonwealth and its territories. The disiplines are considered in rotation so that zoologists, for example, are considered for the award every three years. It remains a highly prized award among Australian scientists.
| RECIPIENT | RECIPIENT |
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1878 Professor Sir Richard Owen 1879 George Bentham 1880 Professor Thomas Huxley 1881 Professor F. M'Coy 1882 Professor James Wright Dana 1883 Baron Ferdinand von Mueller 1884 Alfred R,C. Selwyn 1885 Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker 1886 Professor L.G. De Koninck 1887 Sir James Hector 1888 Rev. Julian E. Tenison-Woods 1889 Robert Lewis John Ellery 1890 George Bennett 1891 Captain Frederick Wollaston Hutton 1892 Sir William Turner Thiselton Dyer 1893 Professor Ralph Tate 1895 Robert Logan Jack 1895 Robert Etheridge, Jnr. 1896 The Hon. Augustus Charles Gregory 1900 Sir John Murray 1901 Edward John Eyre 1902 F. Manson Bailey 1903 Alfred William Howitt 1907 Professor Walter Howchin 1909 Dr. Walter E. Roth 1912 W.H. Twelvetrees 1914 Sir A. Smith Woodward 1915 Professor W.A. Haswell 1917 Professor Sir Edgeworth David 1918 Leonard Rodway 1920 Joseph Edmund Carne 1921 Joseph James Fletcher 1922 Richard Thomas Baker 1923 Sir W. Baldwin Spencer 1924 Joseph Henry Maiden 1925 Charles Hedley 1927 Andrew Gibb Maitland 1928 Ernest C. Andrews 1929 Professor Ernest Willington Skeats 1930 L. Keith Ward (Geology) 1931 R. J. Tillyard (Entomology) 1932 F. Chapman (Palaeontology) 1933 W. G. Woolnough (Geology) 1934 E. S. Simpson (Mineralogy) 1935 G. W. Card (Geology) 1936 Sir Douglas Mawson (Geology) 1937 J. T. Jutson (Geology) 1938 H. C. Richards (Geology) 1939 C. A. Süssmilch (Geology) 1941 P. Wood Jones (Zoology) 1942 W. R. Browne (Geology) 1943 W. L. Waterhouse (Botany) 1944 W. E. Agar (Zoology) 1945 W. N. Benson (Geology) 1946 J. M. Black (Botany) 1947 H. L. Clark (Zoology) 1948 A. B. Walkom (Palaeobotany) 1949 Rev. H. M. R. Rupp (Botany) |
1950 I. M. Mackerras (Zoology) 1951 F. L. Stillwell (Geology) 1952 J. G. Wood (Botany) 1953 A. J. Nicholson (Entomology) 1954 E. de C. Clarke (Geology) 1955 R. N. Robertson (Botany) 1956 O. W. Tiegs (Zoology) 1957 Irene Crespin (Geology) 1958 T. G. B. Osborn (Botany) 1959 T. Iredale (Zoology) 1960 A. B. Edwards (Geology) 1961 C. A. Gardner (Botany) 1962 H. Waring (Zoology) 1963 G.A. Joplin (Geology) 1964 J. W. Vickery (Botany) 1965 M.J. Mackerras (Zoology) 1966 D. Hill (Geology) 1967 S. Smith White (Botany) 1968 H.G. Andrewartha (Zoology) 1969 S. W. Carey (Geology) 1970 G. Whitley (Zoology) 1971 N.T. Burbridge (Botany) 1972 H. King (Geology) 1973 M. D. Hatch (Botany) 1974 C.H, Tyndale-Biscoe 1975 J.N. Jennings (Geography) 1976 Lilian R. Fraser 1977 A. Trendall (Geology) 1978 D.T. Anderson 1979 L.A.S. Johnson 1981 W. Stephenson 1982 N.C.W. Beadle 1983 K.A.W. Crook (Geology) 1984 Michael Archer (Palaeontology) 1985 H.B.S. Womersley 1986 David J. Groves (Geology) 1987 Anthony James Underwood 1988 Barry Garth Rolfe 1989 John Roberts (Geology) 1990 Barrie Gillen Molyneux Jamieson (Zoology) 1991 Shirley Winifred Jeffrey (Biology/Botany) 1992 Alfred Edward Ringwood (Geology) 1993 Gordon C. Grigg (Zoology) 1994 Joint award: Craig Anthony Atkins & Barbara Gillian Briggs (Botany) 1995 Christopher McAuley Powell (Geology) 1996 Klaus Rohde (Zoology) 1997 Charles Barry Osmond (Botany) 1998 Richard Limon Stanton AO (Geology) 1999 Richard Shine (Zoology) 2000 Sarah Elizabeth Smith (Agriculture) 2001 Dr Gordon H Packham (Geology) 2002 Professor Robert Hill (Botany) 2003 Professor Lesley Joy Rogers (Zoology) 2004 Professor Ian Plimer (Geology) 2005 Professor Mark Westoby (Botany) 2006 Professor Anthony Hulbert (Zoology) 2007 Professor Suzanne O'Reilly (Geology) |