Founded in 1817 by Sir John Henry Newbolt, then Chief Justice of Madras, the Madras Literary Society comprised primarily Europeans and published research on the natural sciences, culture and history. Its journal became associated with the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland in 1830. Among the major contributors to its journal, which ceased publication in 1894, were Thomas C Jerdon and Walter Elliot. The present Government Museum of Chennai was begun as an extension of the society’s library until it was moved to its present site in Pantheon Road, Egmore, in 1854.