Early Days – Forming the Geographical Society of Australasia

By Peter Hogan – Geography Victoria member


The first volume of the Proceedings of the Geographical Society of Australasia explains the reasons for starting a geographical society.

A Preliminary Meeting to establish Geographical Society of Australia was held on 2nd  of April 1883 in Sydney.1 It was chaired by Mr Edward Du Faur FRGS. He had previously been chair of the defunct Geographical Section of the Royal Society of NSW.

At the Preliminary meeting, it was noted that the Geographical Societies of London and Paris were keen to get information about Australia and the region and wished to foster exploration and study.
An influential member of the preliminary meeting was Mr Edmond Marin La Meslée a member of the Geographical Society of Paris. He was keen to establish a Society, saying interest in the Australasian region was both scientific and commercial. He cited the case of the exploration of Central Africa “. . . The commercial interest of England and France are already reaping benefits which cannot be overestimated.”

The meeting concluded with it being proposed that “A Committee [be formed] to carry into effect the idea of an Australian Geographical Society.” 

The proposition was carried by acclamation. 

The meeting then appointed Mr Marin La Meslée as the Secretary.

A fund for the Society was started by each gentleman present contributing one guinea. 

A sub-committee appointed at this meeting, met to draft a constitution, for the Society.

A meeting of the Provisional Committee of the Geographical Society of Australasia was held soon after in a room of the Free Public Library.2 Mr E Du Faur also chaired this meeting.

During discussion it was mentioned that a German geographer had requested the NSW Surveyor-General for a set of the current maps of NSW. These were sent to Germany.
This came to the notice of the Curator of maps of the Royal Geographical Society of London. He also wanted a set of maps and they were sent to him.  

Mr La Meslée commented “. . . This shows more is known about Timbuctoo, the Congo and the negro lands of Central Africa than Australasia”. 

The meeting accepted the constitution drafted by the sub-committee and the objects of the Society. A general meeting was planned to submit these for approval.

The first General Meeting of the founders of the Geographical Society of Australasia was held in Sydney on 31st of May 1883.3  About 70 gentlemen were present and Mr Du Faur again chaired the meeting.
The Chairman noted there was great interest in the society from similar bodies in other countries, especially in the northern hemisphere, that were interested in territories yet to be explored. He said there was a need for a Geographical Society of Australasia to foster the science of geography and to correspond with the many Geographical Societies of the world who wanted more information about Australia.
A motion that the draft constitution prepared by the Provisional Committee be adopted was passed. A ballot to elect office bearers made Mr E Du Faur president.
The Inaugural meeting of the society was held on 22nd of June in a hall in Sydney. It was attended by over 700 people.4

A paper on past and future scientific exploration of New Guinea was read by the Hon. Secretary Monsieur Marin La Meslée. He noted that there had been very little exploration of New Guinea beyond the coastal areas. 

The Society proposed setting up a “New Guinea Exploration Fund”.

References: 

  1. Proceedings of the Geographical Society of Australasia Vol 1 1883, p. v
  2. ibid, p.  xiii
  3. ibid, p. xviii
  4. ibid, p. 5

Notes: 

  1. Edmond Marin La Meslée, FRGS and MCGS Paris, was a civil servant in the NSW Land Department until transferred to the Statistics Department where he served until his death. He had served in the French Navy to 1871 and came to Australia a few years later. He was a member of the Geographical Society of Paris. In 1883 he published a social study of his adopted country in France,  L’Australie Nouvelle (translated by Russel Ward London Heineman Educational, 1979). He and his wife were drowned in a yachting accident on Sydney Harbour in December 1893. He was 42 years old. 
    • Reference: Obituary, Transactions of RGSA, Vol 34
  2. Mr Eccleston Frederic Du Faur, FRSNSW, was born in London in 1832. Du Faur first came to Australia in 1863. He returned to England in 1866. After travelling in Europe he returned to Sydney where he first worked as a draftsman in the Surveyor-General’s Office. In 1868 he transferred to the Crown Lands Dept where he became the chief draftsman. His work involved mapping remote areas of NSW. He resigned in 1881 to run a stock and station agency until he retired in 1901.

Du Faur became interested in conservation and promoting the exploration of Australia. He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW in 1873 and was Chair of the Geographical section. He helped finance and equip expeditions to explore Australia. As an observer of the 1874 transit of Venus at Woodford he became aware of the impressive scenery and vegetation the Blue Mountains area. He explored the mountains and eventually moved to live there. He advocated the preservation of Ku-ring-gai Chase and became the managing trustee when it became a National Park in 1894.

In 1883 he supported the formation of the Geographical Society of Australasia and was made the inaugural chairman. He died in Sydney in 1915

  • Reference: The Australian Dictionary of Biography.