July 16, 2025
On Wednesday, 16 July 2025, the Royal Australian History Society and the Royal Society of New South Wales held a joint meeting at which Dr Anne Coote, author of the book on the Society’s early history (Knowledge for a Nation: Origins of the Royal Society of NSW’) addressed a gathering of approximately 30 people in a presentation titled ‘Not just a gentleman’s club: The origins and significance of the Royal Society of NSW.’
In her talk, Dr Coote clarified the RSNSW’s late-19th-century culture as Sydney’s most science-focused gentlemen’s club—compared to other men-only clubs then operating in central Sydney, including the Southern, Athenaeum, German, Australian, Union, and Victoria clubs.
A report on this event, organised by Christine Yeats, Senior Vice-President of the RAHS, has been prepared by RSNSW Council member, Dr Davina Jackson FRSN, and can be found in the August edition of the RSNSW Bulletin. A gallery of images from the occasion is also available for viewing and downloading.
