Natural History Society of Montreal
The Natural History Society of Montreal, which ran from 1827 to 1928, was the oldest scientific organisation in Canada, and one of the oldest in North America.{{Cite web |title=Montreal Natural History Society (1827-1928) |url=https://www.mcgill.ca/herbarium/collectors/mnhs |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207175423/https://www.mcgill.ca/herbarium/collectors/mnhs |archive-date=7 December 2022 |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=Herbarium |language=en}}{{Cite journal |last=Frost |first=Stanley B. |date=1982-01-01 |title=SCIENCE EDUCATION IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY: THE NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY OF MONTREAL, 1827-1925 |url=https://mje.mcgill.ca/article/view/7440 |journal=McGill Journal of Education / Revue des sciences de l'éducation de McGill |language=en |volume=17 |issue=001 |pages=31 |issn=1916-0666}} Its first meeting took place on May 12, 1827. The first chair of the society was Andrew Fernando Holmes. Other notable members were George Barnston and his son James Barnston and the first recorded Canadian clerk of works, John Mactaggart (1791-1830).{{Cite web |title=Biography – MACTAGGART, JOHN – Volume VI (1821-1835) – Dictionary of Canadian Biography |url=http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/mactaggart_john_6E.html |access-date=2023-07-03 |website=www.biographi.ca}}
The society published a journal, originally titled the Canadian naturalist and quarterly journal of science (1856-1883) and subsequently the Canadian record of science (1884-1916).{{Cite web |last=Bélanger |first=Claude |title=Quebec History |url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/NaturalHistorySocietyofMontreal.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150425043652/http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/quebechistory/encyclopedia/NaturalHistorySocietyofMontreal.htm |archive-date=25 April 2015 |access-date=2023-07-04 |website=faculty.marianopolis.edu}} The society founded a natural history museum, some of whose collections are now stored in the McGill University Herbarium.