# 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".

## History

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:
* Lord Macleod
* Sir Harry Monro
* Hon Archibald Fraser of Lovat
* Archibald Macdonald
* Hon. General Fraser (President)
* Lord Adam Gordon
* The Earl of Eglinton
* John Macpherson
* The Duke of Gordon
* The Duke of Atholl
* John Campbell of Calder
* The Earl of Seaforth
* Lord Frederick Campbell
* The Earl of Caithness
* Major-General Munro
* William Wemyss
The Presidents over the first 25 years of the Society's existence were:
* 1778 Simon Fraser of Lovat
* 1779 Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton
* 1780 James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose
* 1781 Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon
* 1782 Lord Adam Gordon
* 1783 John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl
* 1784 Lord Adam Gordon
* 1785 John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore
* 1786 John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane
* 1787 Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton
* 1788 Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth
* 1789 Francis Stuart, 9th Earl of Moray
* 1790 James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife
* 1791 Alexander Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald
* 1792 George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll
* 1793 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
* 1794 Robert Hay-Drummond, 10th Earl of Kinnoull
* 1795 John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl
* 1796 Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet
* 1797 George Gordon, 9th Marquess of Huntly
* 1798 Eric Mackay, 7th Lord Reay
* 1799 Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville
* 1800 Hector Munro, 8th laird of Novar
* 1801 James Forbes, 17th Lord Forbes
* 1802 Alexander Macdonald, 2nd Baron Macdonald
* 1803 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
* 1804 Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton
* 1805 Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton
* 1806 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
* 1807 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
* 1808 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex
* 1809 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
* 1810 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
* 1811 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
* 1812 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon
* 1813 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex

## 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.