Highland Society of London

The Highland Society of London is a charity registered in England and Wales, with "the view of establishing and supporting schools in the Highlands and in the Northern parts of Great Britain, for relieving distressed Highlanders at a distance from their native homes, for preserving the antiquities and rescuing from oblivion the valuable remains of Celtic literature, and for promoting the improvement and general welfare of the Northern parts of Great Britain".[1]

History

United Kingdom legislation
Highland Society of London Act 1816
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act for the Incorporation of The Highland Society of London; for the better Management of the Funds of the Society; and for rendering its Exertions more extensite and beneficial to the Public.
Citation56 Geo. 3. c. xx
Dates
Royal assent21 May 1816
Text of statute as originally enacted
United Kingdom legislation
Highland Society of London Act 1831
Act of Parliament
Long titleAn Act for repealing, altering, enlarging, and amending certain Provisions of an Act passed in the Fifty-sixth Year of the Reign of His late Majesty King George the Third, intituled "An Act for the Incorporation of the Highland Society of London, for the better Management of the Funds of the Society, and for rendering its Exertions more extensive and beneficial to the Public."
Citation1 & 2 Will. 4. c. xlvii
Dates
Royal assent23 August 1831
Text of statute as originally enacted

The society was founded in 1778 by Highland gentlemen resident in London and was incorporated by an act of Parliament, the Highland Society of London Act 1816 (56 Geo. 3. c. xx) on 21 May 1816.

Within a year of its foundation, its members had come to include a number of notable Scots:[2]

The Presidents over the first 25 years of the Society's existence were:[2]

Activities

In 1782, the Society was instrumental in securing the repeal of the Dress Act 1746, the statutory proscription of Highland Dress, introduced after the Jacobite rising of 1745. It has a well known and definitive collection of clan tartans established in the early 19th century. In its early days it was active in the investigations into the authenticity of the poems supposedly by Ossian, which it had also helped to publish.

The Society supports and awards annual prizes for piping, including gold medals at the Northern Meeting and Argyllshire Gathering. Its early records are deposited in the National Library of Scotland.[3]

References

  1. ^ Open Charities web site, accessed on 16 November 2013
  2. ^ a b Sir John Sinclair of Ulbster Bt., An Account of the Highland Society of London (London, 1813), Appendix II
  3. ^ "J. F. Campbell Collection: Highland Society of London and branch societies". National Library of Scotland. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  • Official website Edit this at Wikidata