318 ANNUAL REPORT. 



R.S. TAS. 



details. In connection with the reopening of the College 

 he rendered useful service in compiling for the use of 

 those concerned with the future of the Coiiege an account 

 of its foundation and early history. § 



Mr. Stephens was one of those who worked for the 

 establishment of the University of Tasmania. He was an 

 original member of the Council of the University, and 

 lemained a member until his death. In 1900 and 1901 

 he was Vice-Chancellor. He attended regularl}^ at the 

 meetings! of the Council and other bodies connected with 

 the University, and gave much of his time to tlie nianage- 

 ment of its affairs. 



Mr. Stephens was elected to the Society in 1858, when 

 a resident of Launceston, and he became a member of the 

 Northern Branch. On his removal to Hobart in 1863, he 

 was elected a member of the Council. In 1880 he was 

 appointed a vice-president. He continued to be a vice- 

 jjresident and a member of the Council until 1911. His 

 membership of the Society extended over 55 years, a period 

 which has been exceeded only by Sir James Agnew, who 

 was a member from 1843 to 1901. 



The Society has never had a more active or devoted 

 member. For many years he rarely missed a meeting 

 when he was in Hobart, and he would frequently send a 

 note or an exhibit if he was forced to be absent. His 

 time was always available for the Council, and for the 

 numerous committees to which whenever possible he would 

 ask for business to be referred. Mr. Stephens gave much 

 attention to the regular conduct of meetings, and he would 

 frequently intervene to secure a correct procedure. He 

 was usually a vigorous critic of innovations, and he would 

 take much trouble, both in debate and by interesting mem- 

 bers, to defeat any proposal which he disapproved ; but 

 occasionally he would propose alterations of rules, usually 

 with a view to reverting to the practice of "the first forty 

 "years of the Society," to which he would often allude. 

 His knowledge of these matters was of great use when the 

 Society's rule* were redrafted in 1874, and again in 1907 

 and 1911. Mr. Stephens's precision in the use of language 

 made him especially useful on these occasions. 



Mr. Stephens contributed some 27 papers to the Society ; 

 and, in addition, many exhibits and notes due to him are 

 recorded in the Society's Proceedings. His papers were 

 almost entirelv on the geology of Tasmania. The first, read 

 in 1863, described a discovery of coal in the gold diggings 



§ Christ'u College, Tasmania. Published by the Council of the College. 2/- 



