The Royal Historical Society, founded in 1868, is a

learned society A learned society (; also learned academy, scholarly society, or academic association) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and science. Membership ...

of the United Kingdom which advances scholarly studies of history.

Origins

The society was founded and received its

royal charter A royal charter is a formal grant issued by a monarch under royal prerogative as letters patent. Historically, they have been used to promulgate public laws, the most famous example being the English Magna Carta (great charter) of 1215, b ...

in 1868. Until 1872 it was known as the Historical Society. In 1897, it merged with (or absorbed) the

Camden Society The Camden Society was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books. It was named after the 16th-century antiquary an ...

, founded in 1838. In its origins, and for many years afterwards, the society was effectively a gentlemen's club. However, in the middle and later twentieth century the RHS took on a more active role in representing the discipline and profession of

history History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

Current activities

The society exists to promote historical research in the United Kingdom and worldwide, representing historians of all kinds. Its activities primarily concern advocacy and policy research, training, publishing, grants and research support, especially for early career historians, and awards and professional recognition. It provides a varied programme of lectures and one-day and two-day

conferences A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main ...

and symposia covering diverse historical topics. It convenes in London and from time to time elsewhere throughout the United Kingdom. Since 1967 it has been based at

University College London , mottoeng = Let all come who by merit deserve the most reward , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £143 million (2020) , budget = ...

Governance

The society is governed by a board of trustees called the council, which is chaired by the RHS President. The president and members of council are elected from the society's fellows. There are 22 councillors, each of whom serves a four-year term. Every year the fellowship elects three new members of council using a preferential voting system. Council members come from a wide variety of backgrounds and research interests.

List of presidents

The presidents of the society have been:

Fellows and members

The society's membership comprises honorary vice-presidents (management), fellows (entitled to use ''FRHistS'' as post-nominal letters), who are elected, corresponding fellows, members and associates. A list of current fellows and members is maintained online by the RHS.

Publications

The society's publications include its monographic series ''Studies in History'' (1975–2020) and ''New Historical Perspectives'' (2016–), its annual ''Transactions'' (first published as ''Transactions of the Historical Society'', 1872), and the Camden Series of editions and translations of texts; as well as digital publications, such as the ''Bibliography of British and Irish History''. The society runs an active open-access online blog, entitled ''Historical Transactions''. It was established in 2018 as part of the commemoration of the Royal Historical Society’s 150th Anniversary.

Prizes

The regular prizes, awards and recognitions granted by the society include: * The Gladstone Prize *

The Whitfield Prize The Whitfield Prize (or Whitfield Book Prize) is a prize of £1,000 awarded annually by the Royal Historical Society to the best work on a subject of British or Irish history published within the United Kingdom or Republic of Ireland during the cal ...

References

Bibliography

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External links

* {{Authority control 1868 establishments in the United Kingdom 1868 establishments in England Organizations established in 1868 History organisations based in London History organisations based in the United Kingdom Historical societies of the United Kingdom Historical Social history of the United Kingdom Learned societies of the United Kingdom Organisations based in London with royal patronage Organisations based in the London Borough of Camden Historical societies