OF THE SOCIETY. 163 



1913. 



THE INAUaURAL MEETINa OF THE SOCIETY, 

 14tli OCTOBER, 181.8. 



(From the Launceston Exa}?ii?ier, 21st October, 1843.) 



Sir Eaxdley Wilmot, having accepted the office of Presi- 

 dent of the Tasmanian Society, convened a meeting of its 

 members at Hobart Town on Saturday last: a number of 

 other gentlemen were also invited to attend, with a view 

 to the enlargement of the Society, and the extension of its 

 sphere of usefulness. His Excellency addressed those pre- 

 sent, and explained the alterations in the constitution of 

 the Society which he proposed to adopt, and read such of 

 the new rules as were of chief importance. 



We are informed that the preamble read set forth tlie 

 origin of the Society by Sir John Franklin, and stated 

 that the great object contemplated by its founder was the 

 development of the resources of the Colony by the illus- 

 tration of its natural phenomena. Fully appreciating the 

 value of the ends in view, Sir Eardley Wilmot had deter- 

 mined to appropriate the Government Garden, about 14 

 acres in extent, as an endowment for the Society, in addi- 

 tion to a money grant of £400 per annum from the 

 public funds. His Excellency candidly avowed that the 

 Secretar}^ of State had forbidden the Garden to be culti- 

 vated any longer at the public expense ; that in conse- 

 quence som© addition had been made to the "Governor's 

 salary, and that therefore there was no credit due to him 

 for making a sacrifice- 



It was proposed to change the name from the ^'Tas- 

 "manian" to the ''Royal Tasmanian Society," Sir Eardley 

 Wilmot promising tO' solicit Her Majesty to become its 

 Patron. The rules provided for the government of the 

 Society by the election of a President (Sir Eardley Wil- 

 mot) ; four Vice-Presidents (the Bishop, Mr. Bicheno, Rev. 

 Mr. Lillie, and Captain Swanston) ; a Council of twelve to 

 be nominated by His Excellency ; and at first fifty Fellows 

 — in which number the members of the Tasmanian Society 

 were to be included, as of right. The annual subscription 

 was fixed at £1, with an entrance fee of £2 by all the 

 members, whether old or new. 



Rev. Mr. Lillie cordially approved of the new organisa- 

 tion of the Society as unfolded by His Excellency; but an 

 objection was taken to the entrance money by the Rev. 

 Mr. Ewing, who thought the existing members should not 

 be subject to that preliminary expense. Mr. E. Bedford 



