president's address. It 



Sir William Macleay and the Endowment of Research. 



With a reticence which was characteristic, Sir William Macleay 

 himself never publicly referred to his benefactions, nor did he 

 commit himself to any declaration upon the subject, beyond what 

 he deemed to be necessary to give legal effect to his arrangements. 



Sir William's intention to make due provision for the endow- 

 ment of Research Fellowships, first became publicly known through 

 an announcement by the Chancellor of the Sydney University, in 

 the course of his Commemoration Address delivered on May 2nd, 

 1885. The announcement had its inspiration mainly in Sir 

 William's appreciation of the memorable character of the occasion; 

 though doubtless it was also a diplomatic move to enable the Chan- 

 cellor, under the most favourable conditions, to participate in the 

 duty of keeping "prominently before the public the advantages to 

 be derived from scientific education and training." At the Com- 

 memoration of May 2nd, 1885, for the first time, the University 

 exercised extended powers conferred by the 'University Extension 

 Act of 1884,' and granted degrees other than those provided for 

 in the original Charter of 1858. The first two science students 

 Avho had completed the prescribed course were on this occasion 

 admitted to the degree of B.Sc. 



As the management of matters in connection with the Fellow- 

 ships is about to become an integral part of the administrative 

 work of this Society, it will be of interest to ascertain, if possible, 

 when and under what circumstances Sir William decided to 

 establish them. 



Up to the year 1880, the amount of the endowment received 

 by the University from the State was £5,000 per annum. But 

 this sum was scarcely more than sufficient to provide for four 

 Chairs (Classics, Mathematics, Chemistr}- and Physics, and 

 Geology and Mineralogy), in addition to what was requisite for 

 administrative and incidental expenses. In the year 1881 this 

 grant was increased by an additional amount of XI, 000 per 

 annum; and in the following year the total was again augmented 

 by the sum of .£5,000 per annum. " It is from this time," says 



