Ambitious Beginnings And Transitions

There was no social safety net. Hard times and poverty were rampant in Halifax and the need was great in 1768 when Chief Justice Jeremy Pemberton, Hon. John Butler Dight, Admiral Herbert Sawyer, R.N. and 68 leading citizens followed the Charitable Irish Society’s and the North British Society’s (“The Scots”) lead with the launch of the St. George’s Society at Halifax. The Society grew like a weed and its benevolence and social gatherings soon made a Saint George’s event “ the place to be seen”. With an annual dues of 20 shillings – roughly $240 today – the Society was well-funded and energetically fulfilled its ‘mission of charitable support for the “indigent, the distressed and newly arrived immigrants”.

As Halifax and the need grew, the Society kept pace. In 1807, the then St. George’s Society at Halifax was reorganized as the Saint George’s Benevolent Society and shortly thereafter Sir John Wentworth, 1^st Baronet, took the reins. In 1823 the Society was renamed The Saint George’s Society of Nova Scotia then reincorporated in 1856 as The Saint George’s Charitable Society of Halifax with Henry Pryor as president. One-hundred-and-six years and two World Wars later, Commander W.G. Hunt, C.D. was at the helm in 1992 when the Society recommitted to its mission and became, with Royal Assent, The Royal Saint George’s Society of Halifax, Nova Scotia.

The Royal St. George’s Society Today

Although established in 1768 as one of Canada’s and the Commonwealth’s first Social and Charitable Societies, the Royal St. George’s Society of Halifax is not a relic of the past. Today, we celebrate the best of the British Isles and England – Arts & Letters, Sciences , Common Law, Enterprise and Industry, Innovation and Initiative – and their contributions to Canada’s past, present, and future.

In today’s hectic world, we see heritage as the all-important sweet-spot where the past and the present come together for everyone’s benefit. It’s more than traditional folkways and festivals, monuments to military heroes and victories at sea, past poets, ancient cathedrals and celebratory toasts at Saint George’s Day dinners. Heritage fosters a sense of place, national pride and involved citizenship. We may still whistle Gilbert & Sullivan tunes and sing along with The Beatles, quote Kipling and Churchill, read Jane Austin, Shelley and Keats and dream of Cotswolds country lanes but we’re Canadians, living in the present and looking ahead. If you agree, join us today.