The RSWA Medal is an award from the Royal Society of Western Australia, established to honour outstanding work and achievement in science relative to
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
.
In 1924, the
Royal Society of Western Australia
The Royal Society of Western Australia (RSWA) promotes science in Western Australia.
The RSWA was founded in 1914. It publishes the ''Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia'', and has awarded the Medal of the Royal Society of Western ...
decided to commemorate the centenary of the birth (26 June 1824) of
William Thomson,
Lord Kelvin
William Thomson, 1st Baron Kelvin, (26 June 182417 December 1907) was a British mathematician, Mathematical physics, mathematical physicist and engineer born in Belfast. Professor of Natural Philosophy (Glasgow), Professor of Natural Philoso ...
. The event was marked by the creation of the Gold Medal of the Royal Society. The award was established to honour outstanding work and achievement in science relative to
Western Australia
Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...
. Miss Enid Isabel Allum, of 7 Richardson Street West Perth was commissioned to design the medal for £5-5-0
honorarium An honorarium is an ''ex gratia'' payment, i.e., a payment made, without the giver recognizing themselves as having any liability or legal obligation, to a person for his or her services in a volunteer capacity or for services for which fees are no ...
. Miss Allum was a member of the Royal Society of Western Australia, and had previously been Treasurer and Social Committee member. The
Royal Mint at Perth commissioned the firm of Messrs. Stokes & Co, of Melbourne to produce the dye for the medal. In 1924, the inaugural medal was presented to Dr.
William John Hancock
William John Hancock D.Sc. (Hon), MIEE, MICE, LRCP (2 May 1864 – 26 August 1931) was an Australian of Irish descent, an electrical engineer, telephone pioneer and pioneer in X-rays in the colony of Western Australia. He was honorary radiologist ...
. The first three medals were struck in
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...
in 1924, 1929, and 1933, and ever since the medals have been struck in
silver
Silver is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European wikt:Reconstruction:Proto-Indo-European/h₂erǵ-, ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, whi ...
. It is also known as the Kelvin Gold Medal.
In 2013, the RSWA Medal was renamed the RSWA Forrest Medal in honour of Sir
John Forrest
Sir John Forrest (22 August 1847 – 2 SeptemberSome sources give the date as 3 September 1918 1918) was an Australian explorer and politician. He was the first premier of Western Australia (1890–1901) and a long-serving cabinet minister i ...
.
[Recher, H. (1998). A brief history of the Journals, Crests, Medal and Seal of the Royal Society of Western Australia and previous Societies, 1897-1997. Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia. (81): 1-4.]
Recipients of Kelvin Gold Medal
References
{{Reflist
External links
RSWA Medal
Australian science and technology awards
Royal Society of Western Australia