This Prize was founded in 1855 by Sir Thomas Makdougall Brisbane, who was the fourth President of the Society and who held office for twenty-eight years. It was awarded biennially, with preference given to a person working in Scotland (at that time Holmes was Regius Professor at the University of Edinburgh). It was awarded to Holmes ‘in recognition of your pre-eminent contributions to the fundamental philosphy [sic] of the Earth Sciences’.