Edwin Lankester was President of the British Association for 25 years, and the founder of the Biological Section of the BA. He was present at the infamous Wilberforce-Huxley encounter in 1860. He was the first Secretary of the Ray Society, with his wife as Assistant Secretary. In 1845 he was President of the Royal Microscopical Society, and that same year he was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society. Twenty years later he became the first President of the Quekett Microscopical Club.