We’re bursting with Yorkshire pride

The Yorkshire Society is the not-for-profit organisation with a regional, national and international reach, for people who love Yorkshire. It exists to celebrate Yorkshireness, bring the people of Yorkshire together and promote the Yorkshire brand.

We are non-political and do not receive any public money; the Society is funded through revenue generated from events, membership fees and other commercial activity in line with our purpose, as mentioned above.

Reflecting the diverse nature of Yorkshire, the Society is inclusive and welcomes anyone who shares its values. It is managed by its members and volunteers, giving individuals and businesses from Yorkshire the opportunity to promote themselves and work together for the greater good.

The history of Yorkshire Societies is long. Many have been established over time and mostly by and for those living outside Yorkshire itself as a means of maintaining some connection with it.

The first general meeting of the ‘Gentlemen and others in and near London who were born within the County of York’ took place at Bow Church on 3rd December 1678, and by 1812 another Yorkshire Society was running a school in London for boys and girls of Yorkshire parentage.

In 1891, the Society of Yorkshiremen in London was founded. It lasted for some 80 years, flourishing in the 1920s and 30s and boasting King George V and the then future King, the Duke of York, as patrons.

Our Yorkshire Society, THE Yorkshire Society, was founded in 1980 and is almost certainly the first and only one ever to be based in Yorkshire itself. It was started as a non-political, not for profit organisation to encourage businesses, charities and individuals from or living in all parts of Yorkshire to join in “promoting the county”.