The Field Naturalists Society of South Australia Incorporated was founded in 1883 as a section of the

Royal Society The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...

, and whose aims were to further the cause of the natural sciences in the colony. It was incorporated in 1959 and is still active. Membership is open to the public on application.

History

In 1880

Samuel Way Sir Samuel James Way, 1st Baronet, (11 April 1836 – 8 January 1916) was an English-Australian jurist who served as Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of South Australia from 18 March 1876 until 8 January 1916. Background Way was born in P ...

, president of the Adelaide Philosophical Society, which had just recently been granted permission to use the title "Royal Society of South Australia", lamented the lack of a local equivalent of the recently formed

Field Naturalists Club of Victoria The Field Naturalists Club of Victoria (FNCV) is an Australian natural history and conservation organisation. It was founded in May 1880 by a group of nature enthusiasts that included Thomas Pennington Lucas. Sophie C. Ducker,Lucas, Arthur Henr ...

for keen amateurs to further the cause of natural sciences. The Association was formed as the "Field Naturalists' Section of the Royal Society of South Australia" (note apostrophe) on 14 November 1883, rules adopted and officers elected, many or most being members of the Royal Society: Chairman: Professor

Ralph Tate Ralph Tate (11 March 1840 – 20 September 1901) was a British-born botanist and geologist, who was later active in Australia. Early life Tate was born at Alnwick in Northumberland, the son of Thomas Turner Tate (1807–1888), a teacher of math ...

; Vice-chairmen: Dr.

H. T. Whittell Horatio Thomas Whittell MD., MRCS. (1826 – 21 August 1899), generally referred to as H. T. Whittell or H. Thomas Whittell, was a medical doctor in South Australia and Adelaide's City Coroner. Biography Whittell was born in Warwick, England, a ...

, and Rev. (later Professor)

Walter Howchin __NOTOC__ Walter Howchin (12 January 1845 – 27 November 1937) was a geologist who lectured in mineralogy and palaeontology at the former Adelaide School of Mines and the University of Adelaide; he won the Clarke Medal in 1907.N. H. Ludbrook, ...

FGS.; Hon. Secretary: W. E. Pickells. The foundation committee consisted of Dr. W. L. Cleland, Dr. W. Haacke, J. G. O. Tepper, A. Molineux, W. H. Selway, jun., G. Collis, jun., H. Dean, and G. F. Hussey. Another founding member of long standing was W. H. Baker. The first outing was to the Government Farm, Belair, on 24 November 1883.

Chairmen (or presidents) of the Society

*Samuel Dixon 1890,1891 *Stirling Smeaton (when?) *

Edwin Ashby Edwin Ashby (2 November 1861 – 8 January 1941) was an Adelaide based Australian property developer and a noted malacologist interested in chitonsWinckworth R. (1942). "Obituary. Edwin Ashby, 1861-1941". ''Proceedings of the Malacological Society ...

1899 * E. Angas Johnson 1902–1904 *E. H. Lock 1904–1906. Lock was a foundation member of the Society. *

John McConnell Black John McConnell Black (28 April 1855 – 2 December 1951) was a Scottish botanist who emigrated to Australia in 1877 and eventually documented and illustrated thousands of flora in South Australia in the early 20th century. His publications assi ...

1906 (author of ''The Naturalized Flora of South Australia'') *W. H. Selway 1908–1910 *Dr. Robert Pulleine 1911 *E. H. Lock 1912–1914 *Capt S. A. White 1914 ornithologist *W. Ham 1922 *

J. B. Cleland Sir John Burton Cleland Order of the British Empire, CBE (22 June 1878 – 11 August 1971) was a renowned Australian natural history, naturalist, microbiologist, mycologist and ornithologist. He was Professor of Pathology at the University of ...

1924 * Edwin Sawle Hughes 1925 *W. Champion Hackett 1926–1928 *H. M. Hale 1928, 1929 *Ernest H. Ising 1931–1933 *Rev. H. A. Gunter 1935 *Prof. J. B. Cleland 1936,1937 *K. W. Dunstone 1944 *George Pattison 1946 *Frederic J. W. Swann 1947,1948 * T. R. N. Lothian 1949–1951

The Society claims to have been instrumental in establishing

The Society claims to have been instrumental in establishing the following protected areas. *

Belair National Park Belair National Park (formerly known as the National Park and as Belair Recreation Park) is a protected area in Belair, South Australia, southeast of Adelaide city centre; it covers an area of . It was proclaimed in 1891 and was the first nation ...

in 1891, * Flinders Chase (now part of the Flinders Chase National Park) on Kangaroo Island in 1919 * Ferries McDonald Conservation Park *

Spring Gully Conservation Park Spring Gully Conservation Park, formerly the Spring Gully National Park), is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia in the localities of Sevenhills and Spring Gully about south of the town centre in Clare. Th ...

Clements Gap Conservation Park Clements Gap Conservation Park is a protected area located in the Mid North of South Australia about west of Redhill, South Australia, Redhill, north east of Port Broughton, South Australia, Port Broughton and 42 metres above sea level. The pa ...

* Piccaninnie Ponds Conservation Park * Monarto Conservation Park *

Deep Creek Conservation Park __NOTOC__ Deep Creek National Park, formerly the Deep Creek Conservation Park, is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on the southern coast of Fleurieu Peninsula in the gazetted localities of Deep Creek and Del ...

Black Hill Conservation Park Black Hill Conservation Park, formerly the Black Hill National Park, is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located approximately northeast of the state capital of Adelaide. The conservation park is in a rugged bush ...

Cox Scrub Conservation Park Cox Scrub Conservation Park (formerly Cox's Scrub National Park) is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located in the gazetted localities of Ashbourne and Nangkita about south of the state capital of Adelaide. The co ...

Mount Taylor Conservation Park Mount Taylor Conservation Park is a protected area in the Australian state of South Australia located on Kangaroo Island in the gazetted locality of Newland, South Australia, Newland. It was dedicated in 1970 primarily for the conservation of th ...

Nixon-Skinner Conservation Park __NOTOC__ Nixon-Skinner Conservation Park (formerly the Nixon-Skinner National Park Reserve) is a protected area located in the Australian state of South Australia in the locality of Myponga about south of the state capital of Adelaide and ...

at Myponga * Kaiser Stuhl Conservation Park * Charleston Conservation Park *

Para Wirra Recreation Park Para, or PARA, may refer to: Businesses and organizations * Paramount Global, traded as PARA on the Nasdaq stock exchange * Para Group, the former name of CT Corp * Para Rubber, now Skellerup, a New Zealand manufacturer * Para USA, formerly ...

Properties owned by the Society

The Society owns a number of Nature Reserves, covered by Heritage Agreements: *Manning Reserve, 45 ha of dense natural vegetation near

McLaren Vale McLaren Vale is a wine region in the Australian state of South Australia located in the Adelaide metropolitan area and centred on the town of McLaren Vale about south of the Adelaide city centre. It is internationally renowned for the wine ...

: *Forest Range Reserve, 15 ha of sclerophyll woodland of the higher

Mount Lofty Ranges The Mount Lofty Ranges are a range of mountains in the Australian state of South Australia which for a small part of its length borders the east of Adelaide. The part of the range in the vicinity of Adelaide is called the Adelaide Hills and ...

; *Nicholls reserve, 58 ha of coastal scrub at

Carpenter Rocks Carpenter Rocks is a town and locality located south-west of Mount Gambier in the south-east of South Australia. The area faces the Southern Ocean and is renowned for its rugged coastline which provides exceptional fishing and diving locations. ...

in the South East; *Tookayerta Marsh, a section of natural swamp near Nangkita.

Publications

*''The South Australian Naturalist : the journal of the field naturalists' section of the Royal society of South Australia.''

References

External links

Field Naturalists Society
{{Authority control Organisations based in Adelaide Clubs and societies in South Australia 1883 establishments in Australia Nature conservation organisations based in Australia