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| Founder's Medal | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Founder's Medal awarded to Kenneth Mason | |
| Awarded for | the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery |
| Sponsored by | Sovereign of the United Kingdom |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Presented by | Royal Geographical Society |
| Formerly called | Royal Premium |
| First awarded | 1832 |
The Founder's Medal is a medal awarded annually by the Royal Geographical Society, upon approval of the Sovereign of the United Kingdom, to individuals for "the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery".
Foundation
From its foundation, the society received an annual grant from the Sovereign of the United Kingdom for awards with royal approval. The medal originated from an annual donation starting in 1831 of 50 guineas from King William IV.[1] The award was instituted as the Royal Premium or Royal Award, an annual cash prize.[2] In 1836, the society with agreement from King William IV, decided to allocate half of the premium to a 'Gold Medal'.[3] This would be awarded by the Sovereign, on the advice of the Council of the Royal Geographical Society.[2] Queen Victoria succeeded to the throne before the first gold medal, which was designed in coordination with King William IV, was awarded.[2] Queen Victoria announced her intention of continuing the grant commenced by her uncle.[4] The council ultimately decided to divide the grant into two gold medals of equal standing; the Founder's Medal in memory of the founding patron King William IV and the Patron's Medal with the image of Queen Victoria as the active royal patron of the society.[5]
Design
The medal, like the Patron's Medal, is a gold medallion designed by William Wyon, Chief Engraver of the Royal Mint. The obverse side has a portrait of William IV. The reverse side shows a figure of Britannia, wearing a helmet and standing by a sextant and globe. She is holding a wreath in her outstretched right hand and a map in the left. The name of the recipient is engraved on the edge of the medal. The medal was struck in gold until 1974. From 1975 onwards it has been struck in silver-gilt. Exceptionally, on account of wars, the medals of 1918−21 and 1940 were struck in bronze.[6]
Award history
While generally awarded annually, the Founder's Medal was not awarded in the years 1850, 1851, 1855, 1913, 1943 and 1944. In 1850, the Patron's Medal was awarded but instead of awarding a Founder's Medal the council presented David Livingstone with a chronometer watch for 'his journey to the great lake of Ngami'.[7] In 1851, the council awarded no gold medals and instead awarded 25 guinea prizes to each of Georg August Wallin and Thomas Brunner.[7] In 1855, the Patron's Medal was awarded but instead of awarding a Founder's Medal the council presented Charles John Andersson with a set of surveying instruments (containing a sextant and stand, artificial horizon, watch, thermometers and measuring tapes).[8][7] Awarding a prize funded by the annual royal grant that was not a medal recognized the valuable work of the recipient while concurrently indicating "the service had not been of sufficient importance to justify the award of a gold medal, the highest award at the disposal of the society."[9] In 1913, the Patron's Medal was awarded but instead of awarding a Founder's Medal the council presented an engraved casket to Kathleen Scott containing the Patron's Medal and the Special Antarctic Medal awarded to her late husband Robert Falcon Scott.[10][11] No awards were made in 1943 or 1944 on account of the Second World War.
List of recipients
| Year | Name | Image | Description | Award Rationale |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1832 | Richard Lemon Lander |  |
Cornish explorer | For the discovery of the course of the River Niger or Quorra, and its outlets in the Gulf of Benin |
| 1833 | John Biscoe | English mariner and explorer | For the discovery of the land now named "Enderby's Land" and "Graham's Land" in the Antarctic Ocean | |
| 1834 | John Ross | ,_by_British_school_of_the_19th_century.jpg) |
Scottish Royal Navy officer and polar explorer | For his discovery of Boothia Felix and King William Land and for his famous sojourn of four winters in the Arctic |
| 1835 | Alexander Burnes |  |
Explorer, political officer in British India (1805-1841) | For his remarkable and important journeys through Persia |
| 1836 | George Back |  |
British Royal Navy admiral (1796–1878) | For his recent discoveries in the Arctic, and his memorable journey down the Great Fish River |
| 1837 | Robert Fitzroy |  |
English Vice-Admiral of the Royal Navy and scientist (1805–1865) | For his survey of the coasts of South America, from the Rio de la Plata to Guayaquil in Peru |
| 1838 | Francis Rawdon Chesney |  |
British Army general | For valuable materials in comparative and physical geography in Syria, Mesopotamia and the delta ofSusiana |
| 1839 | Thomas Simpson | .jpg) |
Scottish arctic explorer | For tracing the hitherto unexplored coast to the west between Return Reef and point Barrow, in 1837; and during the past year has discovered 90 miles of coast eastward from Point Turnagain of Franklin, on the northern shore of America. |
| 1840 | Sir Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baronet |  |
British politician (1810-1895) | l for his travels and researches in Susiana and Persian Kurdistan, and for the light thrown by hom on the comparative geography of Western Asia. |
| 1841 | Henry Raper | British Royal Navy officer (1799-1859) | For excellent work on Practical Navigation and Nautical Astronomy | |
| 1842 | James Clark Ross |  |
British explorer and naval officer (1800–1862) | For his brilliant achievement at the South Pole, to within less than 12° of which he safely navigated hisvessels, discovering a great Antarctic continent |
| 1843 | Edward John Eyre |  |
British explorer and colonial administrator (1815–1901) | For his enterprising and extensive explorations in Australia, under circumstances of peculiar difficulty |
| 1844 | William John Hamilton | British geologist (1805-1867) | For valuable researches in Asia Minor | |
| 1845 | Charles Tilstone Beke |  |
British geographer | For his exploration in Abyssinia |
| 1846 | Paweł Strzelecki |  |
Polish explorer and geologist | For exploration in the south eastern portion of Australia |
| 1847 | Charles Sturt |  |
Australian explorer (1795-1869) | For explorations in Australia, and especially for his journey fixing the limit of Lake Torrens and penetrating into the heart of the continent to lat. 24° 30'S, long. 138° 0'E |
| 1848 | James Brooke | _by_Francis_Grant.jpg) |
White Rajah of Sarawak (1803-1868) | For his expedition to Borneo, and the zeal he has shown in promoting geographical discovery |
| 1849 | Austen Henry Layard |  |
British politician (1817–1894) | For important contributions to Asiatic Geography, interesting researches in Mesopotamia, and for his discovery of the remains of Nineveh |
| 1852 | John Rae |  |
Scottish explorer (1813-1893) | For his survey of Boothia undermost severe privations and for his very important contributions to the Geography of the Arctic |
| 1853 | Francis Galton |  |
English polymath: geographer, statistician, eugenicist | For fitting out and conducting in Expedition to explore the centre of Southern Africa |
| 1854 | William Henry Smyth |  |
English naval officer and hydrographer (1788-1865) | For his valuable Maritime Surveys in the Mediterranean |
| 1856 | Elisha Kent Kane |  |
American explorer and military medical officer | For services and discoveries in the Polar Regions during the American Expeditions in search of Sir JohnFranklin |
| 1857 | Augustus Charles Gregory |  |
Australian explorer (1819-1905) | For extensive and important explorations in Western and Northern Australia |
| 1858 | Richard Collinson |  |
British Royal Navy admiral (1811-1883) | For discoveries in the Arctic Regions |
| 1859 | Richard Francis Burton |  |
British explorer, geographer, translator, writer, soldier, orientalist, cartographer, ethnologist, spy, linguist, poet, fencer, and diplomat | For his various exploratory enterprises, and especially for his perilous expedition with Captain. J. H. Speke to the great lakes in Eastern Africa |
| 1860 | Jane Franklin |  |
British explorer | For self-sacrificing perseverance in sending out expeditions to ascertain the fate of her husband |
| 1861 | John Hanning Speke |  |
British military officer and explorer | For his eminent geographical discoveries in Africa, and especially his discovery of the great lake Victoria Nyanza |
| 1862 | Robert O'Hara Burke |  |
Australian explorer | In remembrance of that gallant explorer who with his companion Wills, perished after having traversed the continent of Australia |
| 1863 | Francis Thomas Gregory | .jpg) |
English-born Australian explorer and politician (1821–1888) | For successful explorations in Western Australia |
| 1864 | James Augustus Grant |  |
Scottish explorer and collector (1827 – 1892) | For his journey across Eastern Equatorial Africa with Captain Speke |
| 1865 | Thomas George Montgomerie |  |
English surveyor who worked in India (1830-1878) | For his great trigonometrical journey from the plains of the Punjab to the Karakoram Range |
| 1866 | Thomas Thomson | Scottish doctor and botanist (1817-1878) | For his researches in the Western Himalayas and Thibet | |
| 1867 | Aleksei Butakov | .jpg) |
Russian admiral and explorer | For being first to launch and navigate ships in the Sea of Aral and for his survey of the mouths of the Oxus |
| 1868 | August Heinrich Petermann |  |
German cartographer (1822-1878) | For his important services as a Writer and Cartographer and Science, and for his well-known publication the Geographische Mitteilungen which for twelve years has greatly aided the process of Geography. |
| 1869 | Adolf Erik Nordenskiöld |  |
Finland Swedish baron, geologist, mineralogist and Arctic explorer (1832–1901) | For designing and carrying out the Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen ... whereby great additions havebeen made to our acquitance with zoology, botany, geology and meteorology |
| 1870 | George W. Hayward | British explorer | For his journey into Eastern Turkistan, and for reaching the Pamir Steppe | |
| 1871 | Roderick Murchison, 1st Baronet |  |
geologist (1792-1871) | Who for 40 years watched over the Society with more than paternal solicitude, and has at length placed it among the foremost of our scientific Societies |
| 1872 | Henry Yule |  |
Scottish orientalist | For eminent services to Geography |
| 1873 | Ney Elias |  |
British explorer (1844-1897) | For his enterprise and ability in surveying the course of the Yellow River, and for his journey through Western Mongolia |
| 1874 | Georg August Schweinfurth |  |
German explorer and scientist (1836-1925) | For his explorations in Africa |
| 1875 | Carl Georg Ludwig Wilhelm Weyprecht |  |
Austrian explorer (1838-1881) | For his enterprise and ability in command of expeditions to Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla |
| 1876 | Verney Lovett Cameron |  |
traveller from England | For his journey across Africa from Zanzibar to Benguela, and his survey of Lake Tanganyika |
| 1877 | George Nares |  |
British naval officer and Arctic explorer (1831-1915) | For having commanded the Arctic Expedition of 1875/6, during which ships and sledge parties reached a higher Northern latitude than had previously been attained |
| 1878 | Ferdinand von Richthofen | _-_Ernst_(...)Milster_Ernst_btv1b84510245_(cropped).jpg) |
German traveller, geographer and scientist (1833-1905) | For his extensive travels and scientific explorations in China |
| 1879 | Nikolay Przhevalsky |  |
Russian soldier, explorer, & geographer (1839-1888) | For successive expeditions and route-surveys in Mongolia and the high plateau of Northern Tibet |
| 1880 | Louis Palander |  |
Swedish admiral | For his services in connection with the Swedish Arctic Expeditions in the Vega |
| 1881 | Alexandre de Serpa Pinto |  |
Explorer and soldier | For his journey across Africa during which he explored 500 miles of new country |
| 1882 | Gustav Nachtigal | .jpg) |
German explorer of Central and West Africa | For his journeys through the Eastern Sahara |
| 1883 | Joseph Dalton Hooker |  |
British botanist, lichenologist, and surgeon (1817–1911) | For eminent services to scientific Geography |
| 1884 | Archibald Ross Colquhoun |  |
Rhodesian politician (1848-1914) | For his journey from Canton to the Irrawadi |
| 1885 | Joseph Thomson |  |
Scottish geologist and explorer | For his zeal, promptitude and success during two expeditions into East Central Africa |
| 1886 | Adolphus Greely |  |
American army officer and polar explorer | For having so considerably added to our knowledge of the shores of the Polar Sea and the interior of Grinnell Land |
| 1887 | Thomas Holdich |  |
English geographer, writer and soldier; surveyed the Indian frontier, and Chilean-Argentine border | For zeal and devotion in carrying out surveys of Afghanistan |
| 1888 | Clements Markham |  |
British geographer (1830-1916) | In acknowledgment or the value or his numerous contributions to geographical literature ... on his retirement from the Secretaryship of the Society after 25 years’ service |
| 1889 | Arthur Douglas Carey | British traveller in Central Asia (?-1936) | For his remarkable journey in Central Asia during which he travelled 4750 miles through regions never visited by an Englishman | |
| 1890 | Emin Pasha |  |
German colonial governor (1840-1892) | For the great services he rendered to Geography during his twelve years’ administration of the Equatorial Province of Egypt |
| 1891 | James Hector |  |
Scottish born New Zealand geologist, naturalist, and surgeon (1834-1907) | For investigations pursued as Naturalist to the Palliser expedition |
| 1892 | Alfred Russel Wallace |  |
British naturalist, explorer, geographer, anthropologist and biologist (1823-1913) | The well-known naturalist and traveller and co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the theory of natural selection, in recognition of the high geographical value of his great works |
| 1893 | Frederick Selous |  |
British explorer, officer, hunter, and conservationist | In recognition of twenty years’ exploration and surveys in South Africa |
| 1894 | Hamilton Bower |  |
British general | For his remarkable journey across Tibet, from west to east |
| 1895 | John Murray | .jpg) |
Scottish oceanographer, marine biologist and limnologist | For services to physical Geography, especially oceanography, and for his work on board the Challenger |
| 1896 | William MacGregor |  |
British colonial governor and administrator (1846-1919) | For services to Geography in British New Guinea, in exploring, mapping and giving information on the natives |
| 1897 | Pyotr Semyonov-Tyan-Shansky |  |
Russian geographer, art collector and statistician (1827-1914) | For his long-continued efforts in promoting Russian exploration in Central Asia |
| 1898 | Sven Hedin |  |
Swedish geographer, topographer, explorer, photographer, travel writer and illustrator (1865-1952) | For important exploring work in Central Asia |
| 1899 | Louis Gustave Binger |  |
French explorer (1856-1936) | For valuable work within the great bend of the Niger |
| 1900 | Henry Hugh Peter Deasy |  |
British Army officer and businessman (1866-1947) | For exploring and survey work in Central Asia |
| 1901 | Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi |  |
Italian explorer | For his journey to the summit of Mount St. Elias, and for his Arctic voyage in the Stella Polare |
| 1902 | Frederick Lugard, 1st Baron Lugard |  |
British colonial administrator (1858-1945) | For persistent attention to African Geography |
| 1903 | Douglas William Freshfield | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Founder's_Medal