Royal Society of New South Wales

The Royal Society
of
New South Wales

Motto	Omnia quaerite (Question everything)
Founder(s)	Sir Thomas Brisbane (President) Dr James Bowman Dr Henry Douglass Judge Barron Field Major Frederick Goulburn Captain Francis Irvine Edward Wollstonecraft Esq
Established	1821 – as the Philosophical Society of Australasia 1866 – Royal assent received from Queen Victoria and renamed as the Royal Society of New South Wales
Focus	"... for the encouragement of studies and investigations in Science, Art, Literature and Philosophy ..."
President	Dr Susan Pond[1]
Members	Up to 25 Distinguished Fellows 400 Fellows and 200 Members[2]
Formerly called	The Philosophical Society of Australasia (1821-50) The Australian Philosophical Society (1850-56) The Philosophical Society of New South Wales (1856-66)
Address	Sydney, Australia
Website	www.royalsoc.org.au

The Royal Society of New South Wales is a learned society based in Sydney, Australia. The Governor of New South Wales is the vice-regal patron of the Society. It is the oldest learned society in the Southern Hemisphere.

The Society traces its origin to the Philosophical Society of Australasia established on 27 June 1821. In 1850, after a period of informal activity, the Society was revived as the Australian Philosophical Society and, in 1856, the Philosophical Society of New South Wales. The Society was granted Royal Assent on 12 December 1866 and at that time was renamed the Royal Society of New South Wales.

Membership is open to any person interested in the promotion of studies in Science, Art, Literature and Philosophy. Fellowship and Distinguished Fellowship are by election, and may be conferred on leaders in their fields. Fellowship and Distinguished Fellowship are honours gazetted under vice-regal authority by the Governor of New South Wales, and marked by the post-nominals FRSN and DistFRSN. The Society is based in Sydney and has active branches in Mittagong in the Southern Highlands, Bathurst in the Mid-West, and Newcastle in the Hunter Valley. Regular monthly meetings and public lectures are well attended by both members and visitors.

The Society publishes a peer-reviewed journal, the Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New South Wales, the second-oldest peer-reviewed publication in the Southern Hemisphere.