PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 



3 



Mr. Edward Ross Fairfax, son of the late Hon. John 

 Fairfax, m.l.c, and brother of Sir James Fairfax, was a 

 member of our Society for thirty-eight years, and during 

 the earlier part of his membership was a prominent figure 

 at the meetings. Latterly he lived in England. For many 

 years he was a partner in the firm of John Fairfax and 

 Sons, proprietors of the "Sydney Morning Herald" and 

 the "Sydney Mail." His many friends in Sydney held him 

 in high esteem. He died on August 2nd, at the age of 72 

 years. 



Mr. William Rufus George was elected to the Society 

 in 1876. At one time he was a contractor, but subsequently 

 was the principal in a firm of Sydney photographers. Out- 

 side of his professional work he took a deep interest in the 

 methods of vehicular propulsion. He was one of those 

 friends of science who believed in it, and did his best to 

 further its advancement. He died on December 11th at 

 the age of 82 years. 



Mr. Lawrence Hargrave was a well-known figure at 

 our meetings which he attended regularly even to the June 

 meeting preceding his death on July 6th, 1915, at the age 

 of 65 years. The son of the late Mr. Justice Hargrave, he 

 was born in England but came to Australia in 1866 at the 

 age of sixteen. Being of a mechanical turn of mind, he 

 entered an engineering firm in Sydney, where he received 

 the training that subsequently enabled him to construct 

 the models and build the engines, etc., which his inventive 

 genius designed. It was as an engineer and explorer that 

 he first developed, and he took no small share in the 

 early exploration of British New Guinea. He formed one 

 of a party of adventurers who equipped the "Maria" for 

 an exploring expedition. On her way north this unsea- 

 worthy old craft was wrecked in February 1872 on the 

 coast of North Queensland. A considerable number of her 



