who helped to found the royal australian historical society
Royal Australian Historical Society The Royal Australian Historical Society is a voluntary organisation founded in Sydney, Australia in 1901[1][2] with Andrew Houison as founding president.[3] Its goals are to encourage the study of and interest in Australian history. It has a membership throughout Australia and many of its activities and facilities are funded by contributions from its members and benefactors.[4]
History of Australia Although a theory of Portuguese discovery in the 1520s exists, it lacks definitive evidence.[77][78][79][80] The Dutch East India Company ship, Duyfken, led by Willem Janszoon, made the first documented European landing in Australia in 1606.[81] That same year, a Spanish expedition sailing in nearby waters and led by Portuguese navigator Pedro Fernandes de Queirós had landed in the New Hebrides and, believing them to be the fabled southern continent, named the land "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo" (Southern Land of the Holy Spirit), in honour of his queen Margaret of Austria, the wife of Philip III of Spain.[82][83][84] Later that year, Queirós' deputy Luís Vaz de Torres sailed to the north of Australia through Torres Strait, along New Guinea's southern coast.[85]