The Pilgrims Society, founded on 16 July 1902 by Sir Harry Brittain KBE CMG, is a British-American society established, in the words of American diplomat

Joseph Choate Joseph Hodges Choate (January 24, 1832 – May 14, 1917) was an American lawyer and diplomat. Choate was associated with many of the most famous litigations in American legal history, including the Kansas prohibition cases, the Chinese exclusi ...

, 'to promote good-will, good-fellowship, and everlasting peace between the United States and Great Britain'. It is not to be confused with the Pilgrim Society of Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Membership

Over the years it has boasted an elite membership of politicians, diplomats, businessmen, and writers who have included

Henry Kissinger Henry Alfred Kissinger (; ; born Heinz Alfred Kissinger, May 27, 1923) is a German-born American politician, diplomat, and geopolitical consultant who served as United States Secretary of State and National Security Advisor under the presid ...

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. She was the first female British prime ...

Caspar Weinberger Caspar Willard Weinberger (August 18, 1917 – March 28, 2006) was an American statesman and businessman. As a prominent Republican, he served in a variety of state and federal positions for three decades, including chairman of the Californ ...

, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Henry Luce,

Lord Carrington Peter Alexander Rupert Carington, 6th Baron Carrington, Baron Carington of Upton, (6 June 1919 – 9July 2018), was a British Conservative Party politician and hereditary peer who served as Defence Secretary from 1970 to 1974, Foreign Secret ...

Alexander Haig Alexander Meigs Haig Jr. (; December 2, 1924February 20, 2010) was United States Secretary of State under President Ronald Reagan and White House Chief of Staff under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. Prior to and in between these ...

Paul Volcker Paul Adolph Volcker Jr. (September 5, 1927 – December 8, 2019) was an American economist who served as the 12th chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987. During his tenure as chairman, Volcker was widely credited with having ended th ...

Thomas Kean Thomas Howard Kean ( ; born April 21, 1935) is an American businessman, academic administrator and politician. A member of the Republican Party, Kean served as the 48th governor of New Jersey from 1982 to 1990. Following his tenure as governor, ...

, George Shultz, and

Walter Cronkite Walter Leland Cronkite Jr. (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009) was an American broadcast journalist who served as anchorman for the ''CBS Evening News'' for 19 years (1962–1981). During the 1960s and 1970s, he was often cited as "the mo ...

among many others. Members of the immediate Royal Family, United States secretaries of state and United States ambassadors to the

Court of St. James's The Court of St James's is the royal court for the Sovereign of the United Kingdom. All ambassadors to the United Kingdom are formally received by the court. All ambassadors from the United Kingdom are formally accredited from the court – & ...

are customarily admitted ''ex officio'' to membership in the Society.

Activities

The Society is notable for holding dinners to welcome into office each successive

U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom The United States ambassador to the United Kingdom (known formally as the ambassador of the United States to the Court of St James's) is the official representative of the president of the United States and the American government to the monarc ...

. The patron of the society is

King Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to a ...

. Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivered a speech to the Society on March 18, 1941. Churchill, Winston S. Speech by the Prime Minister Mr. Winston Churchill to the Pilgrim Society, March 18, 1941. New York: The British Library of Information (1941).

History

The first informal meeting of the Pilgrims of Great Britain included General

Joseph Wheeler Joseph "Fighting Joe" Wheeler (September 10, 1836 – January 25, 1906) was an American military commander and politician. He was a cavalry general in the Confederate States Army in the 1860s during the American Civil War, and then a general in ...

, Colonel (later General Sir)

Bryan Mahon Bryan Thomas Mahon, (2 April 1862 – 29 September 1930) was an Irish general of the British Army, a senator of the short-lived Senate of Southern Ireland, and a member for eight years of the Irish Free State Senate until his death. Biograph ...

, the Hon

Charles Rolls Charles Stewart Rolls (27 August 1877 – 12 July 1910) was a British motoring and aviation pioneer. With Henry Royce, he co-founded the Rolls-Royce car manufacturing firm. He was the first Briton to be killed in an aeronautical accident wit ...

and

Harry Brittain Sir Harry Ernest Brittain, Order of the British Empire, KBE, Order of St Michael and St George, CMG (24 December 1873 — 9 July 1974) was a British journalist and Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician. Biography Brittain was born i ...

. The first meeting of the Pilgrims of the United States was at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York on 13 January 1903. The Pilgrims of Great Britain and the Pilgrims of the United States have reciprocal membership. Executive Committee members, as of 2020, are: * Marshal of the Royal Air Force the Lord Stirrup KG GCB AFC (President) * Mrs Diane Simpson (Chairman) * Sir Stephen Wright KCMG (Honorary Secretary) * Mr Richard Reid (Honorary Treasurer) * Mr Abdul Bhanji * Sir Peter Bottomley MP * Mr Peter Cadbury * Professor Stephen J. Challacombe * Mr

Piers Coleman Piers Coleman (born 1958) is a British-born theoretical physicist, working in the field of theoretical condensed matter physics. Coleman is Professor of Physics at Rutgers University in New Jersey and at Royal Holloway, University of London. E ...

* Mr Paul Dimond CMG * Mr Tristan Elbrick * Mrs Kweilen Hatleskog * Mrs Valerie Humphrey * Ms

Yael Lempert Yael Lempert (born 1973/1974) is an American diplomat. She had served as Acting Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs between August 31, 2021 - May 31, 2022. She also served as Deputy Chief of Mission for the U.S. Embassy in Lon ...

, Deputy Chief of Mission,

American Embassy, London The Embassy of the United States of America in London is the diplomatic mission of the United States in the United Kingdom. It is located in Nine Elms and is the largest American embassy in Western Europe and the focal point for events relating ...

* Sir David Newbigging OBE * Sir Bryan Nicholson GBE * Mr Mark Seligman * Air Marshal Sir David Walker KCVO OBE * Ms

Xenia Wickett Xenia Wickett (née Dormandy) is a British-American executive coach and international advisor. Biography Wickett leads her own business, Wickett Advisory, that helps individuals and institutions make smarter, more informed decisions by gaining ...

* Admiral Sir George Michael Zambellas, GCB, DSC, ADC, DL, FRAeS Mrs Amy Thompson is the Executive Secretary, successor to Mrs Tessa Wells

Notable members

* Queen Elizabeth II *

*Senator

Nelson W. Aldrich Nelson Wilmarth Aldrich (/ ˈɑldɹɪt͡ʃ/; November 6, 1841 – April 16, 1915) was a prominent American politician and a leader of the Republican Party in the United States Senate, where he represented Rhode Island from 1881 to 1911. By the 1 ...

*Ambassador

Winthrop W. Aldrich Winthrop Williams Aldrich GBE (November 2, 1885February 25, 1974) was an American banker and financier, scion of a prominent and powerful political family, and US Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Early years Aldrich was born in Rhode Islan ...

*Philanthropist

John Nicholas Brown II John Nicholas Brown II (February 21, 1900 – October 10, 1979) was the United States Assistant Secretary of the Navy (AIR) from 1946 to 1949. He was a member of the Brown family that had been active in American life since before the American Re ...

*Columbia University President

Nicholas Murray Butler Nicholas Murray Butler () was an American philosopher, diplomat, and educator. Butler was president of Columbia University, president of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, and the deceased Ja ...

*NATO Secretary General

*Ambassador

John W. Davis John William Davis (April 13, 1873 – March 24, 1955) was an American politician, diplomat and lawyer. He served under President Woodrow Wilson as the Solicitor General of the United States and the United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom ...

*Vice President

Charles G. Dawes Charles Gates Dawes (August 27, 1865 – April 23, 1951) was an American banker, general, diplomat, composer, and Republican politician who was the 30th vice president of the United States from 1925 to 1929 under Calvin Coolidge. He was a co-reci ...

*Admiral

William J. Crowe William James Crowe Jr. (January 2, 1925 – October 18, 2007) was a United States Navy admiral and diplomat who served as the 11th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, and as the ambassad ...

*Senator

Chauncey Depew Chauncey Mitchell Depew (April 23, 1834April 5, 1928) was an American attorney, businessman, and Republican politician. He is best remembered for his two terms as United States Senator from New York and for his work for Cornelius Vanderbilt, as ...

*CIA Director Allen W. Dulles *Secretary of State John Foster Dulles *Ambassador James W. Gerard *General

*Ambassador to the United States Edward Wood, 1st Earl of Halifax *Ambassador W. Averell Harriman *Ambassador

Joseph P. Kennedy Joseph Patrick Kennedy (September 6, 1888 – November 18, 1969) was an American businessman, investor, and politician. He is known for his own political prominence as well as that of his children and was the patriarch of the Irish-American Ken ...

*Ambassador Henry R. Luce *Financier John Pierpont Morgan Sr. *Congressman

Ogden Reid Ogden Rogers Reid (June 24, 1925 – March 2, 2019) was an American politician and diplomat. He was the U.S. Ambassador to Israel and a six-term United States Representative from Westchester County, New York. Early life Reid was born in New Y ...

*Ambassador

Whitelaw Reid Whitelaw Reid (October 27, 1837 – December 15, 1912) was an American politician and newspaper editor, as well as the author of ''Ohio in the War'', a popular work of history. After assisting Horace Greeley as editor of the ''New-York Tribu ...

*Publisher

Ogden Mills Reid Ogden Mills Reid (May 16, 1882 – January 3, 1947) was an American newspaper publisher who was president of the '' New York Herald Tribune''. Early life Reid was born on May 16, 1882 in Manhattan. He was the son of Elisabeth ( née Mills) Reid ( ...

*Publisher

Whitelaw Reid (journalist) Whitelaw Reid (July 26, 1913 – April 18, 2009) was an American journalist who later served as editor, president and chairman of the family-owned ''New York Herald Tribune''. An avid sportsman throughout his life, he won a national singles t ...

*Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor *Secretary of State

*Attorney General

Elliot Richardson Elliot Lee Richardson (July 20, 1920December 31, 1999) was an American lawyer and public servant who was a member of the cabinet of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford. As U.S. Attorney General, he was a prominent figure in the Watergat ...

*General of the Army

George C. Marshall George Catlett Marshall Jr. (December 31, 1880 – October 16, 1959) was an American army officer and statesman. He rose through the United States Army to become Chief of Staff of the US Army under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry ...

*Secretary of the Treasury

Andrew W. Mellon Andrew William Mellon (; March 24, 1855 – August 26, 1937), sometimes A. W. Mellon, was an American banker, businessman, industrialist, philanthropist, art collector, and politician. From the wealthy Mellon family of Pittsburgh, Pennsylv ...

*Oil Refiner

John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...

*Banker

David Rockefeller David Rockefeller (June 12, 1915 – March 20, 2017) was an American investment banker who served as chairman and chief executive of Chase Manhattan Corporation. He was the oldest living member of the third generation of the Rockefeller family, ...

*Secretary of State Elihu Root *Banker

Jacob Schiff Jacob (; ; ar, يَعْقُوب, Yaʿqūb; gr, Ἰακώβ, Iakṓb), later given the name Israel, is regarded as a patriarch of the Israelites and is an important figure in Abrahamic religions, such as Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Ja ...

*Ambassador

John Hay Whitney John Hay Whitney (August 17, 1904 – February 8, 1982) was U.S. Ambassador to the United Kingdom, publisher of the '' New York Herald Tribune'', and president of the Museum of Modern Art. He was a member of the Whitney family. Early life Whi ...

*Theologian Robin Ward

References

External links

* {{Authority control Dining clubs Organizations established in 1902

Membership

Activities

History

Notable members

References

Further reading

External links