Physico‐Historical Society

The Oxford Companion to Irish History | 2007 | 700+ words | Copyright

Physico‐Historical Society, founded in 1744 and active until the mid‐1750s. Like the Dublin Philosophical Society and (Royal) Dublin Society, it advocated ‘improvement’; its aim was to survey every Irish county, thereby encouraging economic growth. Its 20 founder members included nobles, fellows of Trinity College, members of the Dublin Society, clerics, and ‘gentlemen’; membership soon rose to 226. The society never completed its countrywide survey, but did publish accounts of individual counties. The chief author was Charles Smith (c.1715–1762), who prepared volumes on Down (1744), Waterford (1746), Cork (1750), and Kerry (1756); John Rutty published two volumes on Dublin (1772), by which time the society no longer met.

David Sturdy

Cite this article
Pick a style below, and copy the text for your bibliography.

MLA
Chicago
APA

"Physico‐Historical Society." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 29 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

"Physico‐Historical Society." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 29, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-PhysicoHistoricalSociety.html

"Physico‐Historical Society." The Oxford Companion to Irish History. 2007. Retrieved May 29, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O245-PhysicoHistoricalSociety.html

Learn more about citation styles

Find thousands of answers for hundreds of subjects at Answers Encyclopedia .

All answers verified by trusted sources at Encyclopedia.com

For students and teachers!

Encyclopedia.com provides students and teachers facts, information, and biographies from verified, citable sources, including:

Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:

Research categories

View all topics in the news

View all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com

Free reference entries

Create a link to this page

Physico‐Historical Society

For students and teachers!