Pilgrim Society

The Pilgrim Society, founded July 16, 1902 by Sir Harry Britten, is a British-American society created, according to the American diplomat Joseph Choat, to "develop goodwill, good communication and eternal peace between the United States and Great Britain." This should not be confused with the Plymouth Pilgrim Society, Massachusetts. For many years, it included politicians, diplomats, businessmen and writers, among whom were Henry Kissinger, Margaret Thatcher, Caspar Weinberger, Douglas Fairbanks Jr., Henry Luce, Lord Carrington, Alexander Haig, Paul Walker, Thomas Keen, George Schulz and Walter Cronkite among many others. Members of the immediate Royal Family, US Secretaries of State, and United States Ambassadors in St. James's Court are usually ex officio admitted to the Society. The community is distinguished by hosting dinners to recruit every subsequent US ambassador to the United Kingdom. The patron saint of society is Queen Elizabeth II. The first unofficial meeting of the British pilgrims included General Joseph Wheeler, Colonel (later General Sir) Brian Mahon, Honorable Charles Rolls and Harry Britten. The first meeting of the United States pilgrims took place on January 13, 1903 at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York. Pilgrims of Great Britain and Pilgrims of the USA have mutual membership.