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".
The Society was founded in 1778 by Highland gentlemen resident in London and was incorporated by Act of Parliament on 21 May 1816.
Within a year of its foundation, its members had come to include a number of notable Scots:
Lord MacleodSir Harry MonroHon Archibald Fraser of LovatArchibald MacdonaldHon. General Fraser (President)Lord Adam GordonThe Earl of EglintonJohn MacphersonThe Duke of GordonThe Duke of AthollJohn Campbell of CalderThe Earl of SeaforthLord Frederick CampbellThe Earl of CaithnessMajor-General MunroWilliam WemyssThe Presidents over the first 25 years of the Society’s existence were:
1778 Simon Fraser of Lovat1779 Archibald Montgomerie, 11th Earl of Eglinton1780 James Graham, 3rd Duke of Montrose1781 Alexander Gordon, 4th Duke of Gordon1782 Lord Adam Gordon1783 John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl1784 Lord Adam Gordon1785 John Murray, 4th Earl of Dunmore1786 John Campbell, 1st Marquess of Breadalbane1787 Douglas Hamilton, 8th Duke of Hamilton1788 Francis Mackenzie, 1st Baron Seaforth1789 Francis Stuart, 9th Earl of Moray1790 James Duff, 2nd Earl Fife1791 Alexander Macdonald, 1st Baron Macdonald1792 George Campbell, 6th Duke of Argyll1793 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon1794 Robert Hay-Drummond, 10th Earl of Kinnoull1795 John Murray, 4th Duke of Atholl1796 Sir John Sinclair, 1st Baronet1797 George Gordon, 9th Marquess of Huntly1798 Eric Mackay, 7th Lord Reay1799 Henry Dundas, 1st Viscount Melville1800 Hector Munro, 8th of Novar1801 James Forbes, 17th Lord Forbes1802 Alexander Macdonald, 2nd Baron Macdonald1803 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon1804 Alexander Hamilton, 10th Duke of Hamilton1805 Archibald Hamilton, 9th Duke of Hamilton1806 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex1807 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex1808 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of Sussex1809 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon1810 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon1811 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon1812 George Gordon, 5th Duke of Gordon1813 Prince Augustus Frederick, Duke of SussexIn 1782, the Society was instrumental in securing the repeal of the statutory proscription of tartans 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.
