Preface to 'Some Royal but unmemoired Fellows' by A.C. Brown

Scientific and cultural societies are notoriously inconsistent in their policies and activities and the Royal Society of South Africa has been no exception. Admittedly, many changes have been dictated by changing circumstances or because the new policy was of clear benefit to the Society. But for some inconsistencies there is no real excuse. The Philosophical Society of South Africa, forerunner of the Royal Society, did not publish memoirs or obituaries of deceased Fellows but when the Royal Society was established in 1908, it was apparently decided that such tributes would henceforth appear in the Transactions. Although many biographical memoirs have indeed appeared since then, about an equal number of deceased Fellows have been ignored by the Transactions, either through oversight or because no-one suitable could be found to prepare the articles, because a new editor did not agree with the policy of publishing memoirs or for reasons which remain unknown.