142 FOUNDATION AND EARLY WORK 



K.S. TAS, 



the lighthouse. After visiting Goos© Island and Flinders 

 Island, the vessel called at George Town, and a deputation 

 from. Launceston presented an address of farewell. Frank- 

 lin then visited Circular Head, the last spot on which he 

 set foot in Tasmania; and on 29th November he quitted 

 our shores. (39) 



'J'he st(n'y ot his last voyage is well known. Numerous ex- 

 peditions were sent out by the British Government to dis- 

 cover his fate; and when official efforts had been abandon- 

 ed, and Lady Franklin fitted out a last expedition, under 

 McClintO'ck, the people of Tasmania contributed £1,600 

 towards the cost. McClintock, in 1859, found the record 

 of Franklin's death, on 11th June, 1847. A copy of Mc- 

 Clintock s narrative, presented to the Society by Lady 

 Franklin, is still in our library. 



The Society from 1843 to 1848. 



On 20th November, 1843, Sir Eardley Wilmot announc- 

 ed to the Legislative Council the formation of the Society, 

 and his plans for the management and maintenance of the 

 gardens (40) ; and on 1st January, 1844, the Society enter- 

 ed into possession of the portion of the gardens entrusted 

 to it. (41) 



On the 12th September, 1844, Sir Eardley Wilmot an- 

 nounced to the Society that Her Majesty the Queen had 

 signified her consent to become Patron of the Society ; 

 i.hat the constitution of the Society had been approved ; 

 that the grant of £400 per annum had been confirmed ; 

 and that its designation should thenceforward be "The 

 "Royal Society of Van Diemen's Land, for Horticulture, 

 "Bf)t;>ny, and the Advancement of Science." (42) 



Mr. W. T. N. Champ was the first Secretary of the 

 Society. At that time he was Chairman of the Commis- 

 sioners for Titles; he afterwards became Colonial Secre- 

 tary; and he was the first Premier of Tasmania under 



(39) Abridged from Franklin's Nnrratire, pp. 96-99 the preface to 

 wliich wa.s written a few days before he sailed from Greenhithe on 

 19th May, 1845. on his last voyage to the Arctic Seas. 



(40) Finance Minute, 1844. 



(41) At about the same time Wilmot handed over the Government 

 Garden at La-unceeton to the Launceston Horticultural Society, this 

 being in addition to the grounds it already had fronting on Brisbane 

 and Cameron streets (Lninicenton Kxamiiier, 18th Oclolter, 1843). This 

 .Society had been established in 1858 (Taxvianian Journal, ii., .S12). As 

 early as 1834 R. C. Gunn had proposed to devote part of his land 

 near Launceston to a Botanical Garden (C.S.O., 15,700 (Arthur)). The 

 Horticultural Society's Gardens were transferred to the Municipal Council in 

 1863, ;ui(l are now the City Park. 



(42) The Society seems to have been the first "Royal Society" outside 

 of the United Kingdom. 



