A002058 revised AU-VU:EOAS Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation

All key entry types: Awards; Concepts; Corporate Bodies (Organisations); Cultural Artefacts; People; etc

These key entries are listed separately below with other indexes and lists.

 English AACR2 Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules Corporate Body created 2002-07-15 human Ailie Smith and Helen Cohn updated 2026-04-28 human https://www.eoas.info/biogs/A002058b.htm corporateBody McCoy Society for Research and Investigation AACR2 Society for the Study of Field Investigation and Research 1935 1999? Start Place Melbourne, Victoria, Australia Location Melbourne, Victoria Association Society or Membership Organisation Natural history The McCoy Society for Research and Investigation (briefly known as the McCoy Society for Field Investigation and Research) was founded in 1935 at the instigation of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Melbourne, Raymond Priestly, with the enthusiastic support of many University people. Its purpose was to undertake multi-disciplinary studies on the biota and ecology of selected locations. Expeditions usually lasted several months over the summer period. Islands, being easily definable, somewhat inaccessible and inherently intriguing, were the first targets selected. Every expedition included University faculty members, and graduate and undergraduate students. The focus varied from island-based expeditions during the 1930s and from the 1960s, to land-based expeditions during WWII and the 1950s. Pelican Island, Western Port, Victoria, was the site of the Society's last excursion, with the research results being published in 1999. The Society was disbanded some time after that. Frederick McCoy was the University's first Professor of Natural Sciences from 1854 to 1899, and the first Director of the National Museum of Victoria from 1858 until his death.

Excursions undertaken by the Society were:

Lady Julia Percy Island, Victoria, 1935 - 1936

Sir Joseph Banks Islands, South Australia, 1936 - 1937: leader Frederick Wood Jones

King Island, Bass Strait, 1937 - 1938: leader Gwyneth Buchanan

Sunday Island, Corner Inlet, Victoria, 1938 - 1939: leader John Turner

Walpeup Research Station, Victoria, 1943

Cathedral Range, Victoria, 1947

Black Range, Grampians, Victoria 1948 - 1949

Rhyll salt marshes, Phillip Island, Victoria 1950

Lake Purrumbeete, Victoria 1951 - 1954

Chinaman's Island, Warneet 1957

Waterloo Bay, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria 1958

Mt Hunter Peninsula, Wilsons Promontory, Victoria 1959 - 1963

Hogan Island , Tasmania, 1968

Curtis, Island, Tasmania, 1971

Pelican Island, Western Port, Victoria, 1992 - 1998

[taken from Ashton (2001).]

 Turner, John Stewart (1908 - 1991)

Leader, excursion to Sunday Island, Corner Inlet, Victoria, 1938 - 1939

 Priestley, Raymond Edward (1886 - 1974)

The Society was founded at Priestley's instigation

 Buchanan, Gwynneth Vaughan (1886 - 1945)

Foundation member 1935; Leader, excursion to King Island 1937 - 1938

 Jones, Frederic Wood (1879 - 1954)

Inaugural President 1935; Leader, excursion to Lady Julia Percy Island 1935 - 1936

 McCoy, Frederick (1817 - 1899)

The Society was named in his honour

Trove

 'McCoy Society for Research and Investigation', in Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation, Centre for Transformative Innovation, Swinburne University of Technology McCoy Society for Research and Investigation Swinburne University of Technology, Centre for Transformative Innovation Encyclopedia of Australian Science and Innovation Journal Article: The Sir Joseph Banks Islands: reports of the expedition of the McCoy Society for Field Investigastion and Research, part 2 The Sir Joseph Banks Islands: reports of the expedition of the McCoy Society for Field Investigastion and Research, part 2 1939 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, ns 51 141-86 Journal Article: The Sir Joseph Banks Islands: reports of the expedition of the McCoy Society for Field Investigastion and Research, part 1 The Sir Joseph Banks Islands: reports of the expedition of the McCoy Society for Field Investigastion and Research, part 1 1938 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, ns 50 310-413 Journal Article: Lady Julia Percy Island: reports of the expedition of the McCoy Society for Field Investigation and Research Jones, F. Wood Lady Julia Percy Island: reports of the expedition of the McCoy Society for Field Investigation and Research 1937 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria, ns 49 327-437 Journal Article: The McCoy Society's 1936 expedition to Lady Julia Percy Island: specimens in the Tiegs Zoology Museum Long, Rohan The McCoy Society's 1936 expedition to Lady Julia Percy Island: specimens in the Tiegs Zoology Museum 2017 University of Melbourne Collections 21 3-11 Journal Article: The history of the McCoy Society Ashton, David H. The history of the McCoy Society 2001 The Victorian naturalist 118 321-7 Edited Book: Cambridge - Castlemaine : a tribute to John Stewart Turner on the occasion of his 80th birthday Clifford, H. T. Cambridge - Castlemaine : a tribute to John Stewart Turner on the occasion of his 80th birthday St Lucia, Qld Dept. of Botany, University of Queensland 1988 Journal Article: The McCoy Society's expedition to Lady Julia Percy Island Jones, Frederick Wood The McCoy Society's expedition to Lady Julia Percy Island 1936 Nature 138 28 November 906-8 Journal Article: Lady Julia Percy Island revisited Pescott, T. Lady Julia Percy Island revisited 1968 The Victorian naturalist 85 125-8 Journal Article: A visit to Lady Julia Percy Island Pescott, T. A visit to Lady Julia Percy Island 1965 The Victorian naturalist 81 290-302 Journal Article: Natural history of Curtis Island, 1: introduction Massey, J. S. Natural history of Curtis Island, 1: introduction 1974 Papers and proceedings of the Royal Society of Tasmania 107 129-30 Journal Article: Ecological studies on Pelican Island, Western Port, Victoria Ashton, D. H. Ecological studies on Pelican Island, Western Port, Victoria 1999 Proceedings of the Royal Society of Victoria 111 229-52 Journal Article: Nineteenth Century Views on the Australian Marine Permian Archbold, N. W. Nineteenth Century Views on the Australian Marine Permian 1986 Earth Sciences History 5 1 12-23 McCoy Society for Research and Investigation - Records The University of Melbourne Archives McCoy Society for Research and Investigation - Records 91/14 1935 - 1950 Minute Book (Provisional Committee and General, with report of Allocation of Type Material Sub-Committee 30 Oct. 1935 clipped in) 9 July - 30 Oct. 1935. Constitutions: Suggested, 16 August 1935; "Amended to September 15th" and "Amended to July 8th, 1942"; Annual Report 1938/1939, membership list 1936-1937, 1938-1939, correspondence 1937-1939. Expedition reports, published and unpublished, and correspondence: Lady Julia Percy Island 1935-1936; Sunday Island 1938-1939; war-time and post-war excursions 1940-1950; photographs; membership 1936; other reports from excursions including Windermere Youth Hostel 1940-1944, Ricketts Point 1942, Phillip Island 1946, 1950, Mt. Evelyn 1943; Garden Survey 1940; photographs of Julia Island (mounted on cardboard), dolphins, expeditions, wildlife, birdlife, geologists; publicity material, photos general. 7 archive boxes McCoy Society for Research and Investigation - Records The University of Melbourne Archives McCoy Society for Research and Investigation - Records 90/29 Videocassettes copies from nitrate-based films sent to the National Film and Sound Archives for copying: Lady Julia Percy Island Expedition Sir Joseph Banks Islands: Botany Expedition (2 videocassettes) The Sir Joseph Banks Islands, SA Bass Strait is still misbehaving. 0.12 m McCoy Society for Research and Investigation - Records The University of Melbourne Archives McCoy Society for Research and Investigation - Records 102/66 1947 - 2001 Copy of The Victorian Naturalist, volume 118 (6 December 2001: McCoy Special Issue Part Two; annotated copies of seven small black-and-white and four colour photographs of Society excursions 1947-1992, some of which were used to illustrate Ashton's article in the Special Issue Part Two. 0.02 m