(Redirected from Royal Geographic Society)
The 'Royal Geographical Society' is a
British learned society founded in 1830 with the name ''Geographical Society of London'' for the advancement of geographical science, under the patronage of
King William IV. It absorbed the 'Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parts of Africa' (founded by
Sir Joseph Banks in 1788), the
Raleigh Club and the
Palestine Association. It was given a Royal charter by
Queen Victoria in 1859.
History
Founder members of the Society include Sir
John Barrow, Sir
John Franklin and
Francis Beaufort. It has been a key associate and supporter of many famous
explorers and
expeditions, including those of:
★
Charles Darwin
★
James Kingston Tuckey
★
David Livingstone
★
Scott of the Antarctic
★
Richard Francis Burton
★
John Hanning Speke
★
George W. Hayward
★
Henry Morton Stanley
★
Ernest Shackleton
★
Sir Edmund Hillary
From the middle of the 19th Century until the end of World War I, expeditions sponsored by the Royal Geographical Society were frequently front page news, and the opinions of its president and board members would be avidly sought by journalists and editors.
Today the Society is a leading world centre for geographical learning - supporting education, teaching, research and scientific expeditions, as well as promoting public understanding and enjoyment of geography. It is a member of the
Science Council. The society has merged with the Institute of British Geographers and is properly known as the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers). The main offices of the Society are at
Lowther Lodge in
Kensington, in
London.
Governance and Past Presidents
Council
The Society is governed by its
Board of trustees called the Council, which is chaired by its President. The members of Council and the President are elected from its
Fellowship. The council consists of 25 members, 22 of which are elected by
Fellows and serve for a three year term. In addition to the elected trustees there are
Honorary Members (who include the
Duke of Kent as Honorary President) who sit on the council.
Committees
The society has five specialist committees that it derives advice from
★ Education Committee
★ Research Committee
★ Expedition and Fieldwork Committee
★ Information Resources Committee
★ Finance Committee
Selected List of Past Presidents
★
Viscount Goderich The Earl of Ripon (1830-1833)
★ Sir
Roderick Murchison (1851-1853)
★
Sir Henry Creswicke Rawlinson (1871-1873 and 1874-1876)
★
Sir Clements Robert Markham (1893-1905)
★ Sir
George Taubman Goldie (1905-1908)
★ Major
Leonard Darwin (1905-1911)
★
Colonel Sir Thomas Hungerford Holdich (1919-1922)
★ Sir
James Wordie
★
Lord Shackleton (1971-1974)
★ Sir
Crispin Tickell (1989-1993)
★
Earl Jellicoe (1993-1997)
★
Earl of Selborne (1997-2000)
Membership
There are four categories of individual membership:
Ordinary Membership
Anyone with an interest in Geography is eligible to apply to become a member of the RGS.
Young Geographer
People aged between 14 and 24 currently studying, a recent graduate of geography or a related subject.
Fellowship
Fellowship of the Society is conferred to anyone over the age of 21 who has been an Ordinary member of the society for five previous years and/or has an involvement with geography (through research, publication, profession etc) and must be proposed and seconded by existing Fellows. Fellows are granted the use of the
post-nominal FRGS.
Postgraduate Fellow of the Society
Is open to anyone who is a postgraduate student in Geography or an allied subject at a United Kingdom university.
Chartered Geographer
In recent years the Society has been granted the power to award the status of Chartered Geographer. The status of chartered geographer can only be obtained by present Fellows of the society who apply for the award and meet the criteria. Being awarded the status of Chartered Geographer allows the use of the post-nominal letters C.Geog.
Chartered Geographer (Teacher) is a professional accreditation available to teachers who can demonstrate competence, experience and professionalism in the use of geographical knowledge or skills in and out of the classroom, and who are committed to maintaining their professional standards through ongoing continuing professional development (CPD). For more information visit
[1]
Research Group
The society is not only a learned body but also carries out research in the following research groups.
Awards and Grants
The society also presents many awards to
geographers that have contributed to the advancement of geography.
The most
prestigious of these awards are the 'Gold Medals' (Founder's Medal
1830 and the Patron's Medal
1838). The award is given for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery", and are approved by
Queen Elizabeth II. The awards originated as an annual gift of fifty
guineas from
King William IV, first made in
1831, "to constitute a premium for the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery". The Society decided in
1839 to change this monetary award into two gold medals: Founder’s Medal and the Patron’s. The award has been given to notable geographers including
David Livingstone (1855), Baron
Ferdinand von Richthofen (1878),
Alfred Russel Wallace (1892), and
Frederick Courtney Selous (1893) to more recent winners including Professor
William Morris Davis (1919),
Sir Halford John Mackinder (1945), Professor
Richard Chorley (1987) and Professor
David Harvey (1995). In 2004
Harish Kapadia was awarded the Patron's Medal for contributions to geographical discovery and mountaineering in the Himalayas, making him the second Indian to receive the award in its history. In
2005 the Founder's Medal was awarded to Professor Sir Nicholas Shakleton for his research in the field of
Quaternary Paleoclimatology and the Patron's Medal was awarded to Professor Jean Malaurie for a lifelong study of the
Arctic and its people.
In total the society awards 17
medals and
awards including Honorary Membership and Fellowships. Some of the other awards given by the Society include:
★ The Victoria Medal (1902) for "''conspicuous merit in research in Geography''"
★ The Murchsion Award (1882) for the "''publication judged to contribute most to geographical science in preceding recent years''"
★ The Cuthbert Peak Award (1883) for "''those advancing geographical knowledge of human impact on the environment through the application of contemporary methods, including those of earth observation and mapping''"
★ The
Edward Heath Award (1984) for "''for geographical research in either Europe or the developing world''"
The society also offers 16
grants for various purposes ranging from established researcher grants to expedition and
fieldwork teams to
photography and media grants. The Ralph Brown and the Gilchrist Fieldwork grants are the largest grants awarded by the society each worth £15,000.
See also
★
Richard Henry Brunton
★
Geographical Magazine
★
Royal Scottish Geographical Society
★
Royal Institution
★
List of Royal Societies
★
Learned societies
★
List of British professional bodies
★
History of science
★
Harish Kapadia
Further reading
★ ''Royal Geographical Society Expedition Handbook''. Profile Books Ltd, 2004. ISBN 1-86197-044-7
★ ''To the Ends of the Earth: Visions of a Changing World''. 175 Years of the Royal Geographical Society. Bloomsbury, 2005. ISBN 0-7475-8138-X
External Links
★
Royal Geographical Society
★
Royal Geographical Society Picture Library
★
The official Royal Geographical Society print website containing a huge selection of RGS images
★
Harish Kapadia
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