 Established under its own Act of the Tasmanian Parliament, the Society is permitted it to create its own By-Laws.In its early years, the Society was responsible for much of the work in founding the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens, and also began building up substantial collections of both art and natural history specimens, all housed in The Royal Society of Tasmania Museum.These collections became the basis of the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery in 1885, when the Society gave them to the Government.