About the Award

The Clarke Medal is awarded each year for distinguished research in any area of the sciences affecting the planet, excluding Medicine and Veterinary Science, and Agricultural and Environmental Science, conducted mainly in New South Wales. Recipients may be resident in Australia or elsewhere.

Until 2023, the Clarke Medal was awarded in rotation in the fields of geology, botany and zoology. From 2023 onwards, the Clarke Medal is awarded in the earth sciences.

The Clarke Medal and Clarke Memorial Lecture were founded in memory of the Reverend William Branwhite Clarke, one of the fathers of the Royal Society of New South Wales. When the Philosophical Society of New South Wales was reorganized and converted into the Royal Society of New South Wales in 1866, the Rev. W.B. Clarke, because of his acknowledged eminence as a geologist and his scientific services to the Colony, was elected a joint Vice-President, a position which he held until his death on 16th June 1878. This meant that he was effectively the organizer of the Society, as at that time the Governor was ex-officio President. Some Governors did take a specific interest, attending meetings and taking part in discussions.

Shortly after Clarke’s death a memorial fund was opened at a meeting of the Society on 3 July 1878. It was intended that the memorial take the form of annual lectures on geology, free to the public (to be known as Clarke Memorial Lectures), and a gold medal to be presented periodically for distinguished contributions to Australian geology (the Clarke Medal). However, contributions to the Clarke Memorial Fund did not immediately rise to the expectations of the Council, and it was not until October 1879 that it was possible to proceed with one of the schemes, namely, the Clarke Medal.

The Medal was to be awarded “for meritorious contributions to Geology, Mineralogy and Natural History of Australasia, to be open to men of science, whether resident in Australasia or elsewhere”. The Council decided that the Medal be made of bronze instead of gold, as originally intended, and a pair of dies was ordered from J.S. & A.B. Wyon of London at a cost of 100 guineas. The obverse side of the Medal bears a portrait of the Rev. W.B. Clarke looking to the left, beautifully engraved, as was all the work done by J.S. & A.B. Wyon at that time.

The Wyon family were practising medallists for a great many years and five in succession held the appointment of Medallist to the reigning Sovereign. At the Society’s Annual General Meeting on 12 May 1880 the names of the first recipients of the Clarke Medal were announced. The Medal for 1878 was to be awarded to Professor Richard Owen of the British Museum, famous for his studies of Australian vertebrate fossils; for 1879 to Mr. George Bentham of the Royal Gardens Kew, who made a major contribution to the study of the Australian flora; and for 1880 to Professor T.H. Huxley of the Royal School of Mines, London, for his valuable contributions to the knowledge of the natural history of Australia.

Over 50 Clarke Medals have been awarded.

(The above notes were compiled by William Griffin, using notes on the history and purpose of the awards supplied by Dr David F. Branagan.)