The Royal Historical Society (RHS), founded in 1868, is a

learned society A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellectual, or academic society) is an organization that exists to promote an academic discipline, profession, or a group of related disciplines such as the arts and sciences. Membership may be open to al ...

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, but ...

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was a text publication society founded in London in 1838 to publish early historical and literary materials, both unpublished manuscripts and new editions of rare printed books.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 ...

, founded in 1838. In its origins, and for many years afterwards, the society was effectively a

gentlemen's club A gentlemen's club is a private social club of a type originally established by males from Britain's upper classes starting in the 17th century. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the ...

. 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 is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the Human history, human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some t ...

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, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

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 University College London (Trade name, branded as UCL) is a Public university, public research university in London, England. It is a Member institutions of the University of London, member institution of the Federal university, federal Uni ...

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.

Fellows and members

The society's membership comprises honorary vice-presidents (management), elected fellows (entitled to use FRHistS as

post-nominal letters Post-nominal letters, also called post-nominal initials, post-nominal titles, designatory letters, or simply post-nominals, are letters placed after a person's name to indicate that the individual holds a position, an academic degree, accreditation ...

), associate fellows, and members. Fellowships are awarded to those who have made an original contribution to historical scholarship, typically through the authorship of a book, a body of scholarly work similar in scale and impact to a book, the organisation of exhibitions and conferences, the editing of journals, and other works of diffusion and dissemination grounded in historical research. Election is conducted by review and applications must be supported by someone who is already a fellow. A list of current fellows and members is maintained online by the RHS.

Publications

The society's publications include its

monographic series Monographic series (alternatively, monographs in series) are scholarly and scientific books released in successive volumes, each of which is structured like a separate book or scholarly monograph. Semantics In general books that are released ser ...

''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 Camden may refer to: People * Camden (surname), a surname of English origin * Camden Joy (born 1964), American writer * Camden Toy (born 1957), American actor Peerages * Baron Camden * Earl Camden * Marquess Camden Places Australia * ...

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: * Gladstone Book Prize * Whitfield Book Prize * The Alexander Prize Only two historians have been awarded both the Whitfield Prize and the Alexander Prize: * A. G. Rosser – Alexander Prize (1983), Whitfield Prize (1989) * Ryan Hanley – Alexander Prize (2015), Whitfield Prize (2019)

List of presidents

The presidents of the society have been:

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 Historical societies of the United Kingdom

Historical History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

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