Gold Medal (RGS)

The awards originated as 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."

The Royal Geographical Society decided in 1839 to change this monetary award into the two gold medals.

Recipients include David Livingstone in 1855, Mary Somerville in 1869, Nain Singh Rawat in 1877, Ferdinand von Richthofen in 1878, Alfred Russel Wallace in 1892 and William Woodville Rockhill in 1893, to more recent winners including William Morris Davis in 1919, Sir Halford John Mackinder in 1945, Richard Chorley in 1987 and David Harvey in 1995.

Source: List of Past Gold Medal Winners by RGS Archived 2018-10-30 at the Wayback Machine of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG) Commissions Expedition in 1928 both North and South Poles.

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