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Patron's Medal Main Page
WINNERS OF RGS Gold
Medals
1832 TO 2002
The Gold
Medals (Founder’s and Patron’s Medals 1830/38)
'For the encouragement and promotion of geographical science and discovery.'
These originated in an annual gift of fifty guineas from King William IV,
first made in 1831, 'to constitute a premium for the encouragement and promotion
of geographical science and discovery'. In 1839 the Society decided that 'this
sum should be converted into two gold medals of equal value, to be designated
the Founder’s Medal and the Patron’s'. Both are approved by Her Majesty The
Queen.
The Gold Medal winners are
listed in full below
1832
Founder's Medal - Richard Lander: "for important services in
determining the course and termination of the Niger".
1833
Founder's Medal - John Biscoe: "for his discovery of Graham’s Land
and Enderby’s Land in the Antarctic".
1834
Founder's Medal - Captain Sir John Ross: "for his discovery of Boothia
Felix and King William Land and for his famous sojourn of four winters in the
Arctic".
1835
Founder's Medal - Sir Alexander Burnes: "for his remarkable and
important journeys through Persia".
1836
Founder's Medal - Captain Sir George Back: "for his recent discoveries
in the Arctic, and his memorable journey down the Great Fish River".
1837
Founder's Medal - Captain Robert Fitzroy: "for his survey of the coasts
of South America, from the Rio de la Plata to Guayaquil in Peru".
1838
Founder's Medal - Colonel Francis Rawdon Chesney: "for valuable
materials in comparative and physical geography …. in Syria, Mesopotamia and
the delta of Susiana".
1839
Founder's Medal - Thomas Simpson: "for tracing the hitherto unexplored
coast of North America".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Edward Rüppell: "for his travels and researches
in Nubia, Arabia and Abyssinia".
1840
Founder's Medal - Major Henry Rawlinson: "for researches in Persian
Guayana".
Patron's Medal - Robert H. Schomburgk: "for his perseverance and
success in exploring the territory and investigating the resources of British
Guyana".
1841
Founder's Medal - Lieutenant H. Raper: "for excellent work on Practical
Navigation and Nautical Astronomy".
Patron's Medal - Lieutenant John Wood: "for his journey to the source
of the Oxus and for valuable labours on the Indus".
1842
Founder's Medal - Captain Sir James Clark Ross: "for his brilliant
achievement at the South Pole, to within less than 12° of which he safely
navigated his vessels, discovering a great Antarctic continent".
Patron's Medal - Rev. Dr. E. Robinson: "for his valuable work 'Biblical
Researches in Palestine, Mount Sinai and Arabia".
1843
Founder's Medal - Edward John Eyre: "for his enterprising and extensive
explorations in Australia, under circumstances of peculiar difficulty".
Patron's Medal - Lieut. J. F. A. Symonds: "for his triangulation over
Palestine and for his determination of the difference between the level of the
Mediterranean and the Dead Sea".
1844
Founder's Medal - W. J. Hamilton: "for valuable researches in Asia
Minor".
Patron's Medal - Professor Adolph Erman: "for important geographical
labours in Siberia and Kamstchatka".
1845
Founder's Medal - Dr. Charles Beke: "for his exploration in
Abyssinia".
Patron's Medal - Professor Carl Ritter: "for his important geographical
labours".
1846
Founder's Medal - Count P. E. de Strzelecki: "for exploration in the
south eastern portion of Australia".
Patron's Medal - Professor A. Middendorff: "for explorations in
Northern and Eastern Siberia".
1847
Founder's Medal - Captain Charles Sturt: "for explorations in
Australia, and especially for his journey fixing the limit of Lake Torrens and
penetrating into the heart of the continent to lat. 24° 30'S, long. 138°
0'E".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Ludwig Leichhardt: "for explorations in Australia,
especially for his journey from Moreton Bay to Port Essington".
1848
Founder's Medal - Sir James Brooke: "for his expedition to Borneo, and
the zeal he has shown in promoting geographical discovery".
Patron's Medal - Captain Charles Wilkes, USN: "for the talent and
perseverance he displayed in a voyage in the Antarctic regions ... and for
splendid scientific work".
1849
Founder's Medal - Austen Henry Layard: "for important contributions to
Asiatic Geography, interesting researches in Mesopotamia, and for his discovery
of the remains of Nineveh".
Patron's Medal - Baron Charles von Hugel: "for his enterprising
exploration of Cashmere".
1850
Patron's Medal - John Charles Frémont of the U.S. Topographical Engineers: "for
his important geographical labours in the far West of the American
Continent".
Chronometer Watch - Rev. David Livingston, the enterprising missionary: "for
his journey to the great lake of Ngami".
1851
Founder's Medal - Dr. George Wallin: "for his interesting and important
travels in Arabia".
Patron's Medal - Thomas Brunner: "for meritorious labours in exploring
the Middle Island of New Zealand".
1852
Founder's Medal -
Dr. John Rae: "for his survey of Boothia undermost severe privations
... and for his very important contributions to the Geography of the
Arctic".
Patron's Medal - Captain Henry Strachey:
"for extensive explorations and surveys in Western Tibet".
1853
Founder's Medal - Francis Gallton: "for fitting out and conducting in
Expedition to explore the centre of Southern Africa".
Patron's Medal - Commander E. A. Inglefield: "for his enterprising
Survey of the coasts of Baffin Bay, Smith Sound and Lancaster Sound".
1854
Founder's Medal - Admiral William Smyth "for his valuable Maritime
Surveys in the Mediterranean".
Patron's Medal - Captain Robert McClure: "for his remarkable exertions
... in navigating his ship through the ice of the Polar Seas, and for his
discovery of the North West Passage".
1855
Founder's Medal -
Rev. David Livingstone: "for his
recent explorations in Africa".
Patron's Medal - Charles Andersson: "for travels in South Western
Africa".
1856
Founder's Medal - Elislia Kent Kane: "for services and discoveries in
the Polar Regions during the American Expeditions in search of Sir John
Franklin".
Patron's Medal - Heinrich Barth: "for his extensive explorations in
Central Africa, his excursions about Lake Chad and his perilous journey to
Timbuctu".
1857
Founder's Medal - Augustus C. Gregory "for extensive and important
explorations in Western and Northern Australia".
Patron's Medal - Colonel Andrew Scott Waugh: "for geodetical
operations, as remarkable for their extent as for their accuracy, whereby
[India] has been covered by triangulation".
1858
Founder's Medal - Captain Richard Collison: "for discoveries in the
Arctic Regions".
Patron's Medal - Professor Alexander Bache: "for extensive and accurate
surveys of America".
1859
Founder's Medal - Captain Richard F. Burton: "for his various
exploratory enterprises, and especially for his perilous expedition with
Captain. J. H. Speke to the great lakes in Eastern Africa".
Patron's Medal - Captain John Palliser: "for the valuable results of
his explorations in the Rocky mountains of North America".
1860
Founder's Medal - Lady Franklin: "for self-sacrificing perseverance in
sending out expeditions to ascertain the fate of her husband".
Patron's Medal - Captain Sir F. L. McClintock: "for the skill and
fortitude displayed by him and his companion in their search for records of the
lost [Franklin] expedition and for valuable coast surveys".
1861
Founder's Medal - Captain John Hanning Speke: "for his eminent
geographical discoveries in Africa, and especially his discovery of the great
lake Victoria Nyanza".
Patron's Medal - John McDouall Stuart: "for very remarkable
explorations in the interior of Australia".
1862
Founder's Medal - Richard O’Hara Burke: "in remembrance of that
gallant explorer who with his companion Wills, perished after having traversed
the continent of Australia".
Patron's Medal - Captain Thomas Blakiston: "for his survey of the Yang-tsze-Kiang".
1863
Founder's Medal - Frank T. Gregory: "for successful explorations in
Western Australia".
Patron's Medal - John Arrowsmith: "for the very important services (in
cartography) he has rendered to geographical science".
1864
Founder's Medal - Captain J. A. Grant: "for his journey across Eastern
Equatorial Africa with Captain Speke".
Patron's Medal - Baron C. von der Decken: "for his Geographical Surveys
of the lofty mountains of Kilimandjaro".
1865
Founder's Medal - Captain
T. G. Montgomerie: "for his great trigonometrical journey
from the plains of the Punjab to the Karakoram Range".
Patron's Medal - Samuel Baker: "for his vigorous explorations in the
interior of Africa"
1866
Founder's Medal - Dr.
Thomas Thomson: "for his researches in the Western Himalayas
and Thibet"
Patron's Medal - W. Chandless: "for his Survey of the River Purus
[South America]".
1867
Founder's Medal - Admiral Alexis Boutakoff: "for being first to launch
and navigate ships in the Sea of Aral ... and for his survey of the mouths of
the Oxus".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Isaac Hayes: "for his expedition towards the open
Polar Sea".
1868
Founder's Medal - Dr. Augustus Petermann: "for his important services
as a Writer and Cartographer".
Patron's Medal - Gerhard Rohlfs: "for his extensive travels in the
interior of Northern Africa … and especially for his traverse of the continent
from Tripoli to Lagos"
1869
Founder's Medal - Professor A. E. Nordenskiöld: "for designing and
carrying out the Swedish expeditions to Spitzbergen … whereby great additions
have been made to our acquitance with zoology, botany, geology and
meteorology".
Patron's Medal - Mrs. Mary Somerville: "who throughout her very long
life has been eminently distinguished by her proficiency in those branches of
science which form the basis of Physical Geography".
1870
Founder's Medal - George W. Hayward: "for his journey into Eastern
Turkistan, and for reaching the Pamir Steppe"
Patron's Medal - Lieutenant Francis Garnier: "for his extensive surveys
... from Cambodia to the Yatig-tsze-Kiang … and for bringing his expedition to
safety after the death of his chief".
1871
Founder's Medal - Sir Roderick Murchison: "who for 40 years watched
over the Society with more than paternal solicitude , and has at length placed
it among the foremost of our scientific Societies".
Patron's Medal - A. Keith Johnson: "for distinguished services in the
promotion of Physical Geography".
1872
Founder's Medal -
Colonel Henry Yule: "for eminent services to Geography".
Patron's Medal - Robert B. Shaw: "for
journeys in Eastern Turkistan, and for his extensive astronomical and
hypsometrical observations".
1873
Founder's Medal - Ney
Elias: "for his enterprise and ability in surveying the
course of the Yellow River, and for his journey through Western Mongolia".
Patron's Medal - Henry Morton Stanley: "for
his Relief of Livingstone, and for bringing his valuable journal and papers to
England".
1874
Founder's Medal - Dr. Georg Schweinfurth: "for his explorations in
Africa".
Patron's Medal - Colonel P. Egerton Warburton: "for his successful
journey across the previously unknown western interior of Australia".
1875
Founder's Medal - Lieutenant Karl Weyprecht: "for his enterprise and
ability in command of expeditions to Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla".
Patron's Medal - Lieutenant Julius Payer: "for explorations and
discoveries in the Arctic regions".
1876
Founder's Medal - Lieutenant Verney Lovett Cameron: "for his journey
across Africa from Zanzibar to Benguela, and his survey of Lake Tanganyika"
Patron's Medal - John Forrest: "for his numerous successful
explorations in Western Australia".
1877
Founder's Medal -
Captain Sir George Nares: "for having commanded the Arctic Expedition
of 1875/6, during which ships and sledge parties reached a higher Northern
latitude than had previously been attained".
Patron's Medal - The Pundit Nain Singh: "for
his great journeys and surveys in Tibet and along the Upper Brahmaputra, during
which he determined the position of Lhasa and added largely to our knowledge of
the map of Asia".
1878
Founder's Medal - Baron F. von Richthofen: "for his extensive travels
and scientific explorations in China".
Patron's Medal - Captain Henry Trotter: "for services to Geography ...
which resulted in the connection of the Trigonometrical Survey of India with
Russian Surveys from Siberia".
1879
Founder's Medal - Colonel N. Prejevalsky: "for successive expeditions
and route-surveys in Mongolia and the high plateau of Northern Tibet".
Patron's Medal - Captain N. V. J. Gill: "for important work along the
Northern frontier of Persia".
1880
Founder's Medal - Lieutenant A. Louis Palander: "for his services in
connection with the Swedish Arctic Expeditions in the Vega".
Patron's Medal - Ernest Giles: "for his explorations and surveys in
Australia".
1881
Founder's Medal - Major Serpa Pinto: "for his journey across Africa ...
during which he explored 500 miles of new country".
Patron's Medal - Benjamin Leigh Smith: "for important discoveries along
the coast of Franz-Josef Land".
1882
Founder's Medal - Dr. Gustav Nachtigal: "for his journeys through the
Eastern Sahara".
Patron's Medal - Sir John Kirk: "for unremitting services to Geography,
as a naturalist, as second-in-command to Dr. Livingstone, and as H.M.
Consul-General at Zanzibar".
1883
Founder's Medal - Sir
Joseph Hooker: "for eminent services to scientific
Geography".
Patron's Medal - E. Colborne Baber: "for scientific works during his
many exploratory journeys in the interior of China".
1884
Founder's Medal - A. R. Colquhoun: "for his journey from Canton to the
Irrawadi".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Julius von Haast: "for his extensive explorations
in the Southern Island of New Zealand".
1885
Founder's Medal - Joseph Thomson: "for his zeal, promptitude and
success during two expeditions into East Central Africa".
Patron's Medal - H. E. O’Neill: "for his 13 journeys of exploration
along the coast and into the interior of Mozambique".
1886
Founder's Medal - Major A. W. Greely: "for having so considerably added
to our knowledge of the shores of the Polar Sea and the interior of Grinnell
Land".
Patron's Medal - Guido Cora: "for important services as a writer and
cartographer".
1887
Founder's Medal - Lieutenant-Colonel
T. H. Holdich: "for zeal and devotion in carrying out
surveys of Afghanistan".
Patron's Medal - Rev. G. Grenfell: "for extensive explorations in the
Cameroons and Congo".
1888
Founder's Medal - Clements R. Markham: "in acknowledgment or the value
or his numerous contributions to geographical literature ... on his retirement
from the Secretaryship of the Society after 25 years’ service".
Patron's Medal - Lieutenant H. Wissmann: "in recognition of his great
achievements as an explorer in Central Africa".
1889
Founder's Medal - A. D. Carey: "for his remarkable journey in Central
Asia during which he travelled 4750 miles through regions never visited by an
Englishman".
Patron's Medal - Dr. G. Radde: "for a life devoted to the promotion of
Scientific Geography".
1890
Founder's Medal -
Emin Pasha: "for the great services he rendered to Geography during his
twelve years’ administration of the Equatorial Province of Egypt".
Patron's Medal - Lieutenant F. E. Younghusband:
"for his journey from Machuria and Pekin to Kashmir, and especially for
his route-surveys and topographical notes".
1891
Founder's Medal - Sir James Hector: "for investigations pursued as
Naturalist to the Palliser expedition".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Fridtjof Nansen: "for having been first to cross
the inland ice of Greenland ... as well as for his qualities as a scientific
geographer".
1892
Founder's Medal -
Alfred Russel Wallace: "the well-known naturallist and traveller and
co-discoverer with Charles Darwin of the theory of natural selection, in
recognition of the high geographical value of his great works".
Patron's Medal - Edward Whymper: "For
his route-map and detailed survey among the Great Andes of the Equator".
1893
Founder's Medal - Frederick Selous: "in recognition of twenty years’
exploration and surveys in South Africa".
Patron's Medal - W. Woodville Rockill: "for his travels and
explorations in Western China and Tibet".
1894
Founder's Medal - Captain H. Bower: "for his remarkable journey across
Tibet, from west to east".
Patron's Medal - Elisée Reclus: "for eminent services rendered to
Geography as the author of Nouvelle Géographie Univerelle".
1895
Founder's Medal - Dr. John Murray: "for services to physical Geography,
especially oceanography, and for his work on board the Challenger".
Patron's Medal - The Hon. George Curzon: "for travels and researches in
Persia, French Indo-China, the Hindu Kush, and Pamirs".
1896
Founder's Medal - Sir William MacGregor: "for services to Geography in
British New Guinea, in exploring, mapping and giving information on the
natives".
Patron's Medal - St. George Littledale: "for important journeys in the
Pamirs and Central Asia".
1897
Founder's Medal - P. Semenoff: "for his long-continued efforts in
promoting Russian exploration in Central Asia".
Patron's Medal - Dr George M. Dawson: "for exploration in the North
West Territories and Alaska".
1898
Founder's Medal - Dr
Sven Hedin: "for important exploring work in Central
Asia".
Patron's Medal - Lieutenant R. E. Peary, USN: "for explorations in
Northern Greenland, and especially for discovering the northern termination of
the Greenland ice".
1899
Founder's Medal - Captain G. L. Binger: "for valuable work within the
great bend of the Niger".
Patron's Medal - Fernand Foureau: "for continuous exploration in the
Sahara".
1900
Founder's Medal - Captain H. H. P. Deasy: "for exploring and survey
work in Central Asia".
Patron's Medal - James McCarthy: "for great services to geographical
science in exploring and mapping all parts of the kingdom of Siam".
1901
Founder's Medal - H.
R. H. The Duke of the Abruzzi: "for his journey to the
summit of Mount St. Elias, and for his Arctic voyage in the Stella Polare".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Donaldson Smith: "for memorable journey across the
unknown parts of Lake Rudolf and the Omo".
1902
Founder's Medal - Geberal Sir Frederick Lugard: "for persistent
attention to African Geography".
Patron's Medal - Major Molesworth Sykes: "for journeys in Persia and
for the support given by him to native explorers".
1903
Founder's Medal - Douglas
Freshfield: "in
recognition of his valuable contributions to our knowledge of the
Caucasus".
Patron's Medal - Captain Otto Sverdrup: "for important discoveries in
Jones Sound and for the important part he played as captain of the Fram during
Dr. Nansen’s famous expedition".
1904
Founder's Medal -
Sir Harry Johnston: "for his many valuable services towards the
exploration of Africa".
Patron's Medal - Commander Robert Scott:
"For services as leader or the National Antarctic Expedition, and for
his great sledge journey to 82º 17'S".
1905
Founder's Medal - Sir
Martin Conway: "for explorations in the mountain regions of
Spitsbergen".
Patron's Medal - Captain C. H. D. Ryder: "for his survey of Yunnan and
his work in connection with the Tibet Mission".
1906
Founder's Medal - Alfred Grandidier: "the veteran French savant who for
forty years has devoted himself to the exploration of Madagascar, and for his
monumental work on the island in 52 large quarto volumes".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Robert Bell: "who during forty-five years of field
work has mapped an immense area of Canada previously unknown".
1907
Founder's Medal -
Dr. Francisco Moreno: "for extensive explorations in the Patagonian
Andes".
Patron's Medal - Captain Roald Amundsen: "for
his daring voyage for the purposes of research in the region of the North
Magnetic Pole, and for his first accomplishment by any vessel of the famous
North-West Passage".
1908
Founder's Medal - Lieutenant Boyd Alexander: "for his three years’
journey across Africa from the Niger to the Nile".
Patron's Medal - HSH. The Prince of Monaco: "for oceanographical
studies off the coast of Spitsbergen".
1909
Founder's Medal - Dr.
M. A. Stein: "for his extensive explorations in Central
Asia, and in particular his archaeological work".
Patron's Medal - Colonel M. G. Talbot: "for the large amount of
excellent survey work done by him on the Afghan frontier and in the Sudan".
1910
Founder's Medal - Colonel
H. H. Godwin-Austen: "for geographical discoveries and
surveys along the North-eastern frontier of India, especially his pioneer
exploring in the Karakoram".
Patron's Medal - Dr. William Spiers Bruce: "for explorations in the
Arctic and Antarctic".
1911
Founder's Medal - Colonel P. K. Kozioff: "for explorations in the Gobi
desert, Northern Tibet and Mongolia".
Patron's Medal - Dr. J. B. Charcot: "for his important expeditions to
the Antarctic, during which he conducted investigations of high scientific value
in geology, meteorology, magnetic conditions and biology".
1912
Founder's Medal - Charles M. Doughty: "for his remarkable exploration
in Northern Arabia, and for his classic work in which the results were
described".
Patron's Medal - Douglas Carruthers: "for important expeditions to
Ruwenzori, Turkestan, Arabia and Mongolia".
1913
The Founder’s Medal was not awarded, but an inscribed casket was presented to
Lady Scott containing the Patron’s Medal and the Special Antarctic Medal
awarded to her late husband.
Patron's Medal - The late Dr. E. A. Wilson: "for his excellent work in
the study of the zoology of the Antarctic ... and for his skill as an
artist".
1914
Founder's Medal - Professor Albrecht Penck: "for his advancement of
almost every branch of scientific geography, and in particular his idea of an
International map of the world on the millionth scale".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Hamilton Rice: "for his meritorious work on the
head waters of the Orinoco and the Northern tributaries of the Amazon".
1915
Founder's Medal -
Sir Douglas Mawson: "for his conduct of the Australian Antarctic
Expedition which achieved highly important scientific results".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Filippo de Filippi: "for
his great expedition to the Karakoram and Eastern Turkestan".
1916
Founder's Medal -
Colonel P. H. Fawcett: "for his contributions to the mapping of South
America".
Patron's Medal - Captain F. M. Bailey: "for
explorations on the border of India and Tibet … and especially for tracing the
course of the Tsang-po-Brahmaputra".
1917
Founder's Medal - Commander D. G. Howarth: "for explorations in Asiatic
Turkey".
Patron's Medal - Brigadier-General C. G Rawling: "for explorations in
Western Tibet and New Guinea".
1918
Founder's Medal - Gertrude Bell: "for her important explorations and
travels in Asia Minor, Syria, Arabia and on the Euphrates".
Patron's Medal - Commandant J. Tilho: "for his long-continued surveys
and explorations in Northern Africa".
1919
Founder's Medal - Colonel E. M. Jack: "for his geographical work on the
Western Front".
Patron's Medal - Professor William Davis: "for his eminence in the
development of Physical Geography".
1920
Founder's Medal - H. St. John B. Philby: "for his two journeys in South
Central Arabia".
Patron's Medal - Professor Jovan Cvijic: "for his distinguished studies
of the geography of the Baltic Peninsula".
1921
Founder's Medal - Vilhjalmur Stefansson: "for his distinguished
services in the exploration of the Arctic Ocean".
Patron's Medal - General R. Bourgeois: "for his long and eminent
services to Geography and Geodesy".
1922
Founder's Medal - Colonel
C. K. Howard-Bury: "for his distinguished services in
command of the Mount Everest Expedition".
Patron's Medal - E. de Kovan Leffingwell: "for surveys and
investigations on the coast of Northern Alaska".
1923
Founder's Medal - Dr. Knud Rasmussen: "for exploration and research in
the Arctic regions".
Patron's Medal - The Hon. Miles Cater Smith: "for explorations in the
unknown interior of Papua".
1924
Founder's Medal - Ahmed Hassanein Bey: "for his journey to Kutara and
Darfur".
Patron's Medal - Commander Frank Wild: "for his long services to
Antarctic exploration".
1925
Founder's Medal - Brigadier-General
C. G. Bruce: "for lifelong geographical work in the
exploration of the Himalaya … and his leadership of the Mount Everest
Expedition of 1922".
Patron's Medal - A. F. R. Wollaston: "for his journeys in Central
Africa and Dutch New Guinea".
1926
Founder's Medal - Colonel
E. F. Norton: "for his distinguished leadership of the Mount
Everest Expedition, 1924, and his ascent to 28,100 feet".
Patron's Medal - Sir Edgeworth David: "for his work on the Funafuti
atoll and for his leadership of the first ascent of Mount Erebus".
1927
Founder's Medal - Major
Kenneth Mason: "for his connection between the of surveys of
India and Russian Turkestan, and his leadership of the Shakshagam
Expedition".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Lauge Kock: "for his very remarkable six years’
exploration of Northern Greenland".
1928
Founder's Medal - Dr.
Tom Longstaff: "for long-continued geographical work in the
Himalaya".
Patron's Medal - Captain G. H. Wilkins: "for his many years’
systematic work in Polar Regions, culminating in his remarkable flight from
Point Barrow to Spitsbergen".
1929
Founder's Medal - Francis Rennell Rodd: "for his journeys in the Sahara
and his studies of the Tuareg people".
Patron's Medal - C. H. Karius: "for his crossing in Papua from the Fly
River to the Sepik".
1930
Founder's Medal - F.
Kingdon-Ward: "for geographical exploration, and work on
botanical distribution in China and Tibet".
Patron's Medal - Carsten E. Borchgrevink: "for his pioneer Antarctic
Expedition, which was first to winter in the Antarctic, to travel on the Ross
Barrier and to obtain proof of its recession".
1931
Founder's Medal - Bertram Thomas: "for geographical work in Arabia and
his successful crossing of the Rub al Khali".
Patron's Medal - Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, USN: "for his expedition
to the Antarctic ... and for his flights over both North and South Poles".
1932
Founder's Medal -
Henry George Watkins: "For his work in the Arctic Regions, especially
as leader of the British Arctic Air Route Expedition".
Patron's Medal - HRH. the Duke of Spoleto:
"for work in the Himalaya".
1933
Founder's Medal - J. M. Wordie: "for work in Polar explorations".
Patron's Medal - Professor Erich von Drygalski: "for researches in
glaciology in the Arctic and Antarctic".
1934
Founder's Medal - Hugh
Ruttledge: "for his journeys in the Himalayas and his
leadership of the Mount Everest Expedition, 1933".
Patron's Medal - Captain Ejnar Mikkelsen: "for exploration in the
Arctic and his work in Eskimo resettlement in Greenland".
1935
Founder's Medal - Major R. A. Bagnold: "for journeys in the Libyan
Desert".
Patron's Medal - W. Rickmer Rickmers: "for long-continued travels in
the Caucasus, culminating in his leadership of the Alai-Pamir Russo-German
Expedition in 1928".
1936
Founder's Medal - G. W. Murray: "for explorations and surveys in the
deserts of Sinai and Eastern Egypt, and his studies of the Badawin tribes".
Patron's Medal - Major R. E. Cheesman: "for explorations and surveys of
the Blue Nile and Lake Tana".
1937
Founder's Medal - Colonel C. G. Lewis: "for surveys in Iraq, Syria and
the Irrawaddy Delta, and for his work on the Afghan and Turco-Iraq Boundary
Commissions".
Patron's Medal - Lincoln Ellsworth: "for his work in developing the
technique of aerial navigation in the Polar regions, culminating in his
successful flight across the Antarctic".
1938
Founder's Medal -
John Rymill: "for the valuable scientific work of his British
Grahamland Expedition".
Patron's Medal - Eric Shipton: "for
his most distinguished record of mountain climbing".
1939
Founder's Medal - Arthur M. Champion: "for his surveys of the Turkana
Province (Kenya) and the volcanoes south of lake Rudolf".
Patron's Medal - Professor Hans Ahlmann: "for exploration and
glaciological studies in the Arctic".
1940
Founder's Medal - Mr. and Mrs. Harold Ingrams: "for exploration and
studies in the Hadhramaut".
Patron's Medal - Lieutenant Alexander Glen: "for his expeditions in
Spitsbergen and North east Land".
1941
Founder's Medal - Captain P. A. Clayton: "for his surveys in the Libyan
desert, and his application of his experience to desert warfare".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Isaiah Bowman: "for his travels in South America
and for his great services to the science of Geography".
1942
Founder's Medal - Freya Stark: "for her travels in the East and her
account of them".
Patron's Medal - Owen Lattimore: "for his travels and studies in
Central Asia".
1943
No medals awarded.
1944
No medals awarded.
1945
Founder's Medal - Dr. Charles Camsell: "for his contributions to the
geology of the North".
Patron's Medal - Sir Halford Mackinder: "for his long and distinguished
service in the advancement of the science of Geography".
1946
Founder's Medal - Brigadier Edward A. Glennie: "for his work on geodesy
in India and his contributions to mapping in the Far East".
Patron's Medal - Inspector Henry A. Larsen, RCMP: "for his achievement
of the North West Passage from both west to east and east to west".
1947
Founder's Medal - Brigadier M. Hotine: "for research work in Air Survey
… and for his cartographic work".
Patron's Medal - Colonel Daniel van der Meulen: "for exploratory
journeys in the Hadhramaut, and his contributions to the geography of Southern
Arabia".
1948
Founder's Medal - Wilfred Thesiger: "for contributions to the Geography
of Southern Arabia and for his crossing of the Rub al Khali desert".
Patron's Medal - Thomas H. Manning: "for exploration and survey work in
the Arctic".
1949
Founder's Medal - Professor L. Dudley Stamp: "for his work in
organising the Land Utilisation Survey of Great Britain and his application of
Geography to National planning".
Patron's Medal - Professor Hans Pettersson: "for his leadership of the
recent oceanographical cruise in the Albatross".
1950
Founder's Medal - George F. Walpole: "for contributions to the mapping
of the Western Desert of Egypt".
Patron's Medal - Professor Harald Sverdrup: "for contributions to polar
exploration and for oceanographic investigations".
1951
Founder's Medal - Dr. Vivian E. Fuchs: "for his contributions to
Antarctic exploration and his research as leader of the survey 1948-50".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Donald Thomson: "for geographical exploration and
studies in Arnhem land".
1952
Founder's Medal - H.
W. Tilman: "for exploratory work among the mountains of East
Africa and Central Asia".
Patron's Medal - Paul-Emile Victor: "for contributions to Polar
exploration and for his geophysical investigations of the Greenland
Icecap".
1953
Founder's Medal - P. D. Baird: "for explorations in the Canadian
Arctic".
Patron's Medal - Count Eigil Knuth: "for exploration in Northern
Greenland … and for his contributions to Eskimo archaeology".
1954
Founder's Medal - Brigadier Sir John Hunt:
"Leader of the British Mount Everest Expedition".
Patron's Medal - Dr. N. A. Mackintosh: "for research and exploration in
the Southern Ocean".
1955
Founder's Medal - Dr. John K. Wright: "for services in the development
of geographical research and exploration".
Patron's Medal - Commander C. J. W. Simpson: "leader of the British
Expedition to North Greenland".
1956
Founder's Medal -
John Giaever: "leader of the Norwegian-British-Swedish Antarctic
Expedition, for contributions to Polar exploration".
Patron's Medal - Charles Evans:
"for contributions to Himalayan exploration".
1957
Founder's Medal - Professor
Ardito Desio: "for geographical exploration and surveys in
the Himalayas".
Patron's Medal - Sir George Binney: "for contributions to Arctic
exploration ... the pioneer use of the air survey technique … and to the
development of the university exploring expedition".
1958
Founder's Medal -
Dr. Paul A. Siple: "for contributions to Antarctic exploration and
research"
Patron's Medal - Sir Edmund Hillary: "for
Antarctic and Himalayan exploration".
1959
Founder's Medal - Commander W. R. Anderson, USN: "for the first
trans-Polar submarine voyage in command of USS Nautilus".
Patron's Medal - Sir Raymond Priestly: "for services to Antarctic
exploration".
1960
Founder's Medal - Professor Theodore Monod: "for geographical
exploration and research in the Sahara".
Patron's Medal - Phillip G. Law: "for Antarctic exploration and
research".
1961
Founder's Medal - Dr. Mikhail M. Somov: "for Antarctic exploration and
research"
Patron's Medal - Dr. John Bartholomew: "Editor 'The Times Atlas of the
World', for contributions to cartography".
1962
Founder's Medal - Captain Erwin McDonald, USN: "for coastal
explorations in the Bellingshausen Sea (Antarctica)".
Patron's Medal - Tom Harrison: "Government Ethnologist and Curator
Sarawak Museum, for explorations in Central Borneo".
1963
Founder's Medal - Captaine Jacques-Yves Cousteau: "for underwater
exploration and research".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Albert P. Crary: "for Antarctic research and
exploration".
1964
Founder's Medal - Dr. L. S. H. Leakey: "for palaeographical exploration
and discoveries in East Africa".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Thor Heyerdahl: "for geographical explorations in
the South Pacific Ocean"
1965
Founder's Medal - Dr. E. F. Rootes: "for Polar exploration and
research, with special reference to the Canadian Arctic".
Patron's Medal - Professor Lester C. King:"for geomorphological
exploration in the Southern Hemisphere".
1966
Founder's Medal - Professor E. J. H. Corner: "for botanical exploration
in North Borneo and the Solomon Islands".
Patron's Medal - Dr. G. Hattersley-Smith: "for glaciological
investigations in the Canadian Arctic".
1967
Founder's Medal - Claudio and Orlando Vilas Boas: "for contributions to
exploration and development in the Mato Grosso".
Patron's Medal - Professor Eduard Imhof: "for contributions to
cartography".
1968
Founder's Medal -
Dr. W. Brian Harland: "for Arctic exploration and research".
Patron's Medal - Professor Augusto Gansser:
"for geological exploration and mapping in the Himalaya".
1969
Founder's Medal - Rear Admiral Rodolfo N. M. Panzarini: "for services
to Antarctic exploration and research and to international co-operation in
Antarctic science".
Patron's Medal - Drs. R. Thorsteinsson and E. T. Tozer: "for
contributions to exploration and economic development in the Canadian
Arctic".
1970
Founder's Medal - Walter William Herbert: "for Arctic and Antarctic
exploration and surveys".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Haroun Tazieff: "for volcanological research and
exploration".
1971
Founder's Medal - Sir George Deacon: "for oceanographical research and
exploration".
Patron's Medal - Dr. Charles Swithinbank: "for glaciological research
and exploration".
1972
Founder's Medal - Rear Admiral G. S. Ritchie: "for hydrographical
charting and oceanographical exploration".
Patron's Medal - Dr. M. D. Gwynne: "leader, the RGS’s South Turkana
(Kenya] Expedition".
1973
Founder's Medal - N. L. Falcon: "leader, the RGS’s Musandam [North
Oman] Expedition. For contributions to the geographical history of the Persian
Gulf region".
Patron's Medal - Professor E. H. Thompson: "professor of photogrammetry
and surveying, University College London".
1974
Founder's Medal - Christian
J. S. Bonington: "for mountain explorations".
Patron's Medal - Gordon de Q. Robin: "for polar research and
exploration".
1975
Founder's Medal - Sir Laurence Kirwan: "for contributions to the
geographical history of the Nubian Nile valley and Eastern Africa, and for
services to exploration".
Patron's Medal - Dr. J. P. Kuettner: "for explorations of the Earth’s
atmosphere and oceans".
1976
Founder's Medal - Dr. Brian B. Roberts: "for Polar exploration, and for
contributions to Antarctic research and political negotiation".
Patron's Medal - Rear Admiral Sir Edmund Irving: "for services as
Hydrographer of the Navy and for his encouragement of exploration".
1977
Founder's Medal - Professor Michael Wise: "for economic Geography, and
for his contributions to international understanding in geographical
teaching".
Patron's Medal - Professor Kenneth Hare: "for discoveries in Arctic
Geography".
1978
Founder's Medal - Major-General R. Brown: "for services to the science
of map-making".
Patron's Medal - Professor Miezyslaw Klirnaszewski: "for his
contributions to geomorphology and international understanding in
Geography".
1979
Founder's Medal - Dr. David Stoddart: "for contributions to
geomorphology, the study of coral reefs and the history of academic
Geography".
Patron's Medal - Robin Hanbury-Tenison: "for leadership of scientific
expeditions, including the Mulu Expedition, and for his work on behalf of
primitive peoples".
1980
Founder's Medal - Professor William R Mead
Patron's Medal - Professor Preston James
1981
Founder's Medal - Professor Keith J Miller
Patron's Medal - Professor Valter Schytt
1982
Founder's Medal - Mr
Michael Ward FRCS
Patron's Medal - Mr Douglas Warren CMG
1983
Founder's Medal - Sir Peter Scott CBE DSC
Patron's Medal - Commander John Young NASA
1984
Founder's Medal - Sir Ranulph Twistleton-Wykeham-Fiennes Bt
Patron's Medal - Professor Pierre Gourou
1985
Founder's Medal - Mr David Attenborough CBE FRS
Patron's Medal - Walter Smith CB OBE
1986
Founder's Medal - Mr Timothy Severin
Patron's Medal - Professor Peter Haggett
1987
Founder's Medal - Dr Anthony Laughton FRS
Patron's Medal - Professor Richard J Chorley
1988
Founder's Medal - Professor Peter Hall FBA
Patron's Medal - Mr Nigel de N Winser
1989
Founder's Medal - Dr Monica Kristensen
Patron's Medal - Professor Keith Clayton CBE
1990
Founder's Medal - Dr John Hemming
Patron's Medal - Dr Richard Leakey
1991
Founder's Medal - Professor Andrew Goudie
Patron's Medal - Dr Helge and Dr Anne Stine Ingstad
1992
Founder's Medal - Professor Alan Wilson
Patron's Medal - Dr Martin Holdgate CB
1993
Founder's Medal - Professor Kenneth Gregory
Patron's Medal - Colonel John Blashford-Snell MBE
1994
Founder's Medal - Professor Ronald Cooke
Patron's Medal - Professor Ghillean Prance FRS
1995
Founder's Medal - The Earl of Cranbrook
Patron's Medal - Professor David Harvey
1996
Founder's Medal - Professor John Woods CBE
Patron's Medal - Professor John Thornes
1997
Founder's Medal - Professor Sir Tony Wrigley
Patron's Medal - Professor David Rhind
1998
Founder's Medal - Professor Robert Bennett
Patron's Medal - Dr David Drewry
1999
Founder's Medal -
Professor Mike Kirkby: "for contributions to the development of
processed-based and modelling approaches in geomorphology’.
Patron's Medal - Doug Scott, CBE: "for
contributions to mountaineering and the knowledge of mountain regions".
2000
Founder's Medal - Professor Brian Robson: "for contributions to urban
geography and geographical perspectives to urban policy"
Patron's Medal - Sir Crispin Tickell GCMG KCVO "for contributions to
promoting the understanding of global environmental issues in governmental and
wider public arena".
2001
Founder's Medal -
Professor William Graf:"for contributions to research on dryland river
processes, and the interactions of science and public policy’".
Patron's Medal - Reinhold Messner:"for
contributions to mountaineering and mountain regions".
2002
Founder’s Medal
Bruno Messerli
‘For contributions to mountain research and the public awareness of mountain
issues.’
Patron’s Medal
Dr David Keeble
‘For advancing knowledge in economic and industrial geography’
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