PRESJDENTIAL. ADDRESS. 7 



scientists on whom the Order of Merit has been conferred. 

 By tlie Royal Society lie was awarded the Royal, the Davy 

 and the Copley Medals, and by the French Academy of 

 Sciences, a gold medal and prize of 6,000 francs. 



Sir James Reading Fairfax was born at Leamington, 

 Warwickshire on October 17th, 1834, and was the second 

 son of the late Hon. John Fairfax, m.l.c. He was a mem- 

 ber of this Society for fifty-one years, having joined in 1868, 

 and at the time of his death, 28th March, 1919, was the 

 oldest member on the roll. He was senior proprietor of the 

 Sydney Morning Herald and the Sydney Mail. Sir James 

 was knighted in 1898 at which time he was president of 

 the Young Men's Christian Association in Sydney. He 

 was one of the founders of the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital 

 and was actively associated with its management almost 

 continuously up to the time of his death. He always took 

 a lively interest in the welfare of the poor and neglected 

 children of the city and suburbs, and at the time of his 

 death was chairman of the Sydney Ragged Schools Com- 

 mittee. He also took a deep interest in the welfare of 

 sailors of the Royal Navy who were stationed in these 

 waters, and was a trustee of the Royal Naval House. 

 Throughout his life Sir James was a lover of art, and in 

 addition to being one of the founders of the National Art 

 Gallery he was Vice-President, and later President of that 

 Institution. For many years he took a keen interest in 

 aquatic sport, and for a number of years was commodore 

 of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. Sir James was for 

 a long period of his life prominently associated with move- 

 ments for the benefit of mankind, and as a journalist he 

 was conspicuous in doing so much to preserve the best 

 traditions of the press. 



Sir Philip Sydney Jones, at the time of his death on 

 18th September, 1918, was the oldest member of the Society, 



