The Johnson Society of Australia
The Johnson Society of Australia, the first and still the only society of its kind in the Southern Hemisphere, is this year celebrating its tenth anniversary. Based in Melbourne, capital of the State of Victoria, the JSA now has more than 100 members, not only in all five States of Australia, but also in other countries, including the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Japan.
The JSA’s main events include an annual seminar, an all-day affair with a panel of four or five speakers, musical and other entertainment, as well as lunch and dinner. The annual meeting in September is also the occasion for the Fleeman Memorial Lecture, in honour of the late Dr David Fleeman, the Society’s first patron. The year ends with a Christmas party. Other occasional events might include visits to exhibitions of 18th Century art or similar performances of drama, film or music.
The Society publishes a quarterly newsletter, The Southern Johnsonian and an annual two-volume set of selected seminar papers. Since December 1994, the JSA has published an annual Fleeman Memorial Lecture, each presented by a leading scholar in the fields of 18th Century literature and history. Unhappily, Dr Fleeman was Patron for only five months before his death in July, 1994 and the lecture was inaugurated in his memory. After Dr Fleeman’s death, Lady Eccles, the former Mary Hyde, founder with her husband Donald of the great Four Oaks Library, agreed to become Patron of the JSA. Both Dr Fleeman and Lady Eccles have been regular correspondents with founding Treasurer John Byrne.
The first Fleeman Lecture was delivered in September 1994 by Professor Ian Donaldson, then Regius Chair of English at Edinburgh University, whose subject was The Death of the Author and the Lives of the Poets. The most recent, in September 2002, was given by the distinguished Australian Johnsonian scholar, Professor Emeritus John Hardy, whose subject was "Johnson and the Truth" Revisited. Professor Hardy had been a close friend of David Fleeman when the two were postgraduate students at Oxford with the great L.F. Powell as their supervisor.
Papers presented at the annual seminar, held in mid-year, are mainly by Society members. Some of them are distinguished academics, others practise in other professional fields - lawyers, journalists, teachers, publishers, public servants and business people - all with special interests in aspects of Johnson, Boswell and their circle or with life and literature in the 18th Century. These wide interests bring a refreshing liveliness to the papers.
The gestation period for the Johnson Society of Australia was long, but far from painful.
Conception occurred in November, 1984, at a seminar held by the Council of Adult Education in Melbourne, marking the bicentenary of Johnson’s birth. After the event, three of the participants, Dr John Wiltshire, Dr Rusi Khan and Bryan Reid, began to discuss a long-held idea of Reid’s to form a Johnson Society of Australia.
Nothing more happened for seven years, apart from sporadic resolutions to "do something about it." Then, at another CAE seminar, marking the bicentenary of the publication of The Life, Professor Clive Probyn, Head of the English Department at Monash University, joined the speakers’ panel and the group of Johnson society enthusiasts. There followed a series of meetings, generally over lunch and always convivial, until in 1993 it was decided to hold a third Johnsonian CAE seminar at which the group would move to form a Society.
This took place on October 9, 1993, when 26 people --nearly all the audience-- signed up as members after John Byrne, Australia’s leading collector of Johnson and Johnsoniana, moved, with Clive Probyn as seconder, that:
"A society be formed, to be called The Johnson Society of Australia, to have as its objectives the study and enjoyment of the life and works of Dr Samuel Johnson, James Boswell and their circle, to provide for an annual seminar and publication of matters arising out of the Society’s activities."
Clive Probyn was elected President, Bryan Reid Secretary, John Byrne Treasurer and Kevin Hart, then Associate Professor in the Monash University English Department, Editor. Committee members were Pauline Brasch and Carla Hawley. Today, the committee has expanded to eight members. Clive Probyn is again President after the JSA’s second President, Paul Brown retired in 2001 under the constitutional requirement that the President cannot serve consecutive terms. Barrie Sheppard is Vice-President and Treasurer, Bryan Reid remains Secretary and Paul Tankard is Editor, while committee members are John Wiltshire, Bronwen Hickman and Denis Le Neuf.
The Johnson Society of Australia is in correspondence with many other Johnson societies throughout the world, including The Johnson Society (Lichfield), The Johnson Society of London, The Johnson Society of the Central Region (Chicago) and the Samuel Johnson Club of Japan.
Several overseas members have from time to time visited Melbourne specially to present seminar papers. Notable among these has been Genny Gebhardt, who has twice made the very long flight from Seattle to Melbourne for JSA seminars, the first time in June 1998 and again in May of this year. Genny is an expert on 18th Century boxing and street theatre, and has also addressed the Johnson Society of London on these subjects.
The JSA’s Christmas party is the opportunity for members to indulge some of their wilder fancies, as well as observing the proper traditions with carol-singing and other seasonal music. Dramatic sketches and monologues, readings from the Johnsonian and Boswellian texts, and much general jollity have made the Christmas party a highly popular occasion.
The resolution for the founding of the JSA stipulated "study and enjoyment". The Society has always been careful to ensure that "enjoyment" gets its fair share.
The Johnson Society of Australia was formed in October 1993 and currently has a membership of 106, including some from the United States, Britain, New Zealand and Japan as well as in most Australian states. Our headquarters are in Melbourne in the state of Victoria.
Although we have several eminent academics among us, we are not an academic association. The emphasis is on the enjoyment,in convivial circumstances, of Johnson and his circle and their lives and works. We are eager to get in contact with similar societies or individuals who share our interest to exchange information and opinions on the subject.
Our other landmark event is the Annual General Meeting followed by the David Fleeman Memorial Lecture, named in honour of our late patron, Dr David Fleeman, who was one of the world's leading authorities on Johnson.
The David Fleeman Memorial Lecture, a scholarly work, is published annually and made available for sale to members and non-members, scholars and bibliophiles.
Our present Patron is Viscountess Eccles, formerly Mary Hyde who, with her late husband Donald Hyde, established the great Four Oaks Library in New Jersey and is herself an eminent Johnsonian scholar and author.
The JSA also holds occasional informal get-togethers for fellowship and discussion, to visit art galleries and see movies or other entertainments which may have an 18th Century theme.
The Johnson Society of Australia, Papers,v. 1, nos. 1 and 2.
Paul Tankard, Editor, JSA/ c/- Dep't of English/ Monash University/ Clayton, Victoria 3168 / AUSTRALIA
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