 The Mueller Botanic Society was presided over by E. J. Bickford and F. Tratman from its foundation in 1899 until joined by the West Australian Natural History Society and later renamed the Natural History and Science Society of Western Australia.The first president of the Royal society was W. J. Dakin, serving from 1913 until his replacement in 1915 by A. Gibb Maitland.Past presidents have included the palaeontologist Duncan Merrilees (1966 - 1967).