The Mycological Committee was first founded in 1892 so that the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union might better organise its recording of
fungi across Yorkshire via annual 'fungal forays'. The Rev. William Fowler was appointed as its first Chairman with
Charles Crossland being appointed its first secretary.
George Edward Massee would succeed Fowler and together with Crossland would run the Committee until 1916. The period of Massee's tenure would see the Mycological Committee function completely independently of the
British Mycological Society (a national mycological society founded primarily by members of Mycological Committee. This was primarily due to a disagreement of an unknown nature between Massee and
Carleton Rea, a prominent figure in the British Mycological Society. ==Notable members==