Pilgrims Society

 

           Membership list

Note beforehand: Since this article first appeared knowledge about this group has greatly expanded. Therefore I suggest you also take a look at the introduction page and appendix B where the origins of this group and its influence is discussed in more detail. In past front page articles more information can be found on the templar, Rosicrucian, and Masonic influences within this group. I also suggest you take a look at this chart, which has been put together by looking at the individual biographies of the Pilgrims Society members.

Even today it's members consist of the wealthiest businessman and the most influential politicians. It was erected over a century ago and meets at least 2 or 3 times a year. Still, 99% of the world has never heard of it. We're talking about the Pilgrims Society. An aristocratic Anglo-American dining club who's members keep themselves informed by inviting politicians to make a speech. The primary purpose of this club is to keep the ties between the United States and Britain as strong as possible. The official reason was, and is, that the forefathers of most Americans from the Virginia and New York area emigrated from the British Isles, therefore they share a common heritage. They are blood brothers so to speak. Of course, the obvious reason was to form an unofficial alliance with the United States to improve the strained relations and to vastly increase the powers of the dwindling British empire. The heart of the British empire and the later British Commonwealth became the Pilgrims Society, it's philosophies dominated by the executives of the upcoming mega corporations, largely located in the City of London and the city of New York.

  The London chapter of the Pilgrims Society was established on July 11, 1902, followed by a New York chapter on January 13, 1903. It's patron is the British monarch, who has plenty of representatives attending the meetings. A member of the Royal family usually attends the London diners.

As you'll find out by looking at the membership list, the Pilgrims Society has clearly fused together the business centers of New York and London, together with a large portion of the political centers of both nations. Ninety percent of the American members are top-level bankers and businessmen from New York city.

Only a couple of Pilgrims own or chair companies with headquarters in Boston or Philadelphia. Businesses that have their headquarters in any other location than this small part of the north-east corner of the United States don't seem to be represented at all (do keep in mind that recent data is sketchy). Relatively few government officials from Washington are recruited into the Pilgrims Society. Officials from outside the UK or US visit the club occasionally. In the past they usually came from countries incorporated within the British Empire or the Commonwealth, most notably Canada and Australia.

A mistake usually made when people refer to this society, is when they call it the 'Pilgrim Society', because this name hasn't been used that often. The most often used name is the 'Pilgrims Society', sometimes spelled as 'Pilgrim's Society'. You might think this isn't such a big deal, but when you search the internet or some archives for the 'Pilgrim Society', you will hardly find any official sources, simply because they all refer to the 'Pilgrims Society'. The name 'Pilgrims Society' is also unique, so you won't confuse it with this one. Also try searching on 'The Pilgrims' or more specifically, the 'Pilgrims of the United States' and the 'Pilgrims of the United Kingdom'/'Pilgrims of Great Britain'.

The club is secret. It might be one of those 'open-secrets', but it's secret nonetheless. If it wasn't, we would have read about it in the history books, we would know all the details of the meetings, and we would have membership lists in the public domain. It is possible to find quite a bit of information in regular newspaper archives, but you really have to look for it. It takes forever to piece the story together. For example, The Scotsman made numerous references to it in the first half of the century (archives are only available up to 1950 atm). Time Magazine made them much less, but still referred to the club once every few years. After 1958, Time only mentioned the club 2 or 3 times, even though meetings continued as usual. Other newspapers in the U.S., like the New York Times and the Washington Post have referred the Pilgrims at times. The Wall Street Journal on the other hand never mentioned a whole lot about this dining club at any time in the past century. The Times of London mentioned the society a couple of times in the past 10 years, even though, as all the other papers, it didn't give many details about who's attending. Most other newspapers, including the Scotsman, New York Post, Washington Times, or even the Guardian, seem to have been (almost) completely silent about the Pilgrims in the last 5 to 7 years (that's how far the digital archives go back). In other countries it's virtually impossible to get any information on the Pilgrims. Not one large Dutch newspaper has mentioned the name in the past 20 years. References in German or French newspapers are just as uncommon. One thing you actually càn find, is different speeches on official websites; One at NATO, another one at the State Department, and yet another one from 1999 on the MoD website. They all deal with one little speech and when you ask for some background information you won't get any replies. And that's strange. Maybe it's done to give people the impression there's nothing unusual about the club. Indeed, looking at the speeches there certainly isn't. All they do is talk about regular pro-NATO politics and kiss up to their "brothers" on the other side of the ocean. Two recent examples:

[1] January 2002, Lord Robertson, 'NATO after September 11'
[2] November 2002, Richard Boucher on Foreign policy, the EU, and NATO

You can find other speeches in the references at the bottom of this article. Of course, it's probably not because of the speeches that the Pilgrims Society keeps itself out of the public eye. More likely it's because of who's being informed and for what purpose. Also, it's obvious that members discuss a lot of other business among themselves.

More in depth

As already stated, those who own or run the major banking houses, law firms, and insurance companies in the London and New York area will be invited to join, together with a few very specific government officials. This always includes the president of the United States, the U.S. Secretary of State and the U.S. ambassador to Great Britain. On the right you can see which other delegates traditionally are recruited into Pilgrims. Chancellors, Chief Justices, and Attorney Generals seem to be frequent members also. Occasional exceptions have been made to allow writers, composers and art collectors into the society. An example of that was Mark Twain. The patron of the  
Scanned by Charles Savoie of Silver Investor.
Pilgrims Society is the king or queen of England and a member from the royal family usually attends the Pilgrim dinners in Great Britain.

That's basically all there is to this Pilgrims Society; it's a dining club. Several times a year a dinner is planned and the board chooses which members it will invite this time, usually somewhere between 300 and 500. A few additional people are invited to hold a speech on a variety of political topics and someone is made the guest of honor. This guest of honor is usually a new member or a Pilgrim who has accomplished something worth remembering. In addition, the chairman of the Society (in Britain it is Robert M. Worcester atm) might give a speech to the CFR or the RIIA once in a while. As already demonstrated, the speeches are both boring and interesting at the same time. Boring because of their substance, and interesting because they show us that Pilgrims, as a whole, aren't privy to many state secrets.

  A great example of the cooperation between the London and American Pilgrims is theLondon Bush House, which was ordered to be built in 1919 by Pilgrim Irving T. Bush, a N.Y. businessman. At the time it was the most expensive building in the world and was meant to be an Anglo-American trade center where buyers could purchase goods in one place. It lost it's original function after a couple of decades, but still exists today as an office to the BBC World Service. Above the entrance there's a large statue, which represents this Anglo-American cooperation.

Britain is represented on the left by the lions, the USA is represented on the right by the Eagle. The Celtic cross indicates their common heritage. The torch can represent freedom, wisdom, victory, or something along that line. Below the statue you'll find the inscription "To the friendship of English Speaking Peoples".

The Pilgrims Society is allied with the English-Speaking Union, which is an organization that promotes the use of the English language all over the world. The patron is the English queen and the president is prince Philip. The chairman, as far as we know, is always a member of the Pilgrims.

The institutions the Pilgrims control

All the important members of the 1910 Jekyll Island meeting were Pilgrims; Vanderlip, Strong, Warburg, Davison, Norton, and Aldrich. Senator Aldrich's closest ally in congress, Edward B. Vreeland, was a Pilgrim too, together with his brother. Vreeland helped Aldrich establish a privately owned central bank. Of course, J.P. Morgan, George F. Baker, John D. Rockefeller, and Jacob Schiff were members also. Keep in mind these people were often competing with each other and weren't necessarily friends, as so many (conspiracy-oriented) people seem to think.  
N.Y. FED 'Pilgrim-presidents'
Benjamin Strong 1914-1928
George Harrison 1928-1940
Allan Sproul 1941-1956
Alfred Hayes 1956-1975
Paul Volcker 1975-1979
Anthony Solomon 1980-1985
E. Gerald Corrigan 1985-1993
William J. McDonough 1993-2003
Timothy Geithner 2003-present
Red = confirmed Pilgrim

Pilgrim-presidents of the New York Federal Reserve Bank cover the period from 1914 to 1979. The 4 presidents since then have not been members as far as we know, although that's probably because of a lack of recent data. Pilgrim-chairmen of the New York Federal Reserve cover almost the entire period from the 1920s up to 1990, so we can safely assume that the New York Federal Reserve Bank is owned by the Pilgrims. That's not that unusual, because New York itself is Pilgrims property.

Because the Pilgrims have a large influence on Washington politics, it would be interesting to see if they have any members on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors, also located in D.C. If we have those names, we can estimate the Pilgrims' level of control over the Federal Open Market Committee. The FOMC is the main body of the Federal Reserve that decides on the monetary policy. The New York FED then carries out those directives through it's daily 'open market operations'. In the words of the official Federal Reserve website that I just gave a link to:

"Finally, the Committee [FOMC] must reach a consensus regarding the appropriate course for policy, which is incorporated in a directive to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York—the Bank that executes transactions for the System Open Market Account. The directive is cast in terms designed to provide guidance to the Manager in the conduct of day-to-day open market operations. The directive sets forth the Committee's objectives for long-run growth of certain key monetary and credit aggregates. It also sets forth operating guidelines for the degree of ease or restraint to be sought in reserve conditions and expectations with regard to short-term rates of growth in the monetary aggregates."

The FOMC consists of the 7 FED governors, 1 permanent New York FED president, and 4 presidents of the other 11 FED banks that rotate each year. The chairman of the board of governors is also the chairman of the FOMC, and the president of the permanently represented New York FED is the vice chairman of the FOMC. We quote from the same page:

"...Traditionally, the Chairman of the Board of Governors is elected Chairman and the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York is elected Vice Chairman..."

When sifting through the members list, it turns out that at least 4 of the 13 Federal Reserve chairmen are confirmed Pilgrims (they cover the years 1933-1934 & 1959-1987). Two other chairmen, Eugene Meyer and Alan Greenspan, have all the trademarks of being Pilgrims members. If that could be confirmed, the FED's Board of Governors has had Pilgrims as chairman from at least 1930 to 1934 & from 1959 on to 2005. In any case, the Pilgrims Society seems to be represented a disproportionate amount on the most influential places inside the U.S. monetary system, especially for a society that doesn't want it's existence to be known to the general public. It is likely that at least since 1959 the chairman and vice chairman of the FOMC were Pilgrims, together with the persons carrying out the directives of the FOMC through the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Function Amount
CFR non-executive members 45
CFR executive members 33
Carnegie Institute executives 21
FED executive positions 21
J.P. Morgan executives 17
Chase Bank executives 16
Skull & Bones 11
President World Bank 4 (of 10)
  After analyzing the Pilgrims Society members list of about 360 names (updated in the meantime), I found that the institutions you see on the left were the most often represented. About 75% of this list is American and 25% British (rough estimate). This means that about 1 in 3 of the U.S. members of the Pilgrims Society is a confirmed member of the CFR. Striking is the fact that such a large percentage of CFR members are executive officers. About 50% of all the CFR executive officers have been confirmed members of the Pilgrims Society, which seems to indicate that quite possibly all of them are.

I remember looking at an old documentary about the CFR "master conspiracy". The usual stuff came by; banking, the Illuminati and the dollar bill. At the end they showed these concentric rings, indicating the CFR had unknown inner circles. Guess we can now say for sure what the second circle is, counting from the outside. It's the Pilgrims Society and it undeniably shows the close link between American and British foreign policy.

Of course, it has long been speculated that the same group that set up the RIIA, set up the CFR, but I was never convinced enough though, because the group connecting both organizations has never been fully identified. The existence of the Round Table, however likely, has never been proven. For now, the Pilgrims Society, a seemingly larger body, is a fine substitute, because it shares many similarities with the "association of helpers" from the Round Table. Read this text from the 1966 book 'Tragedy and Hope - A history of the world in our time', written by Oxford professor Carroll Quigley:

  "In 1891, Rhodes organized a secret society with members in a "Circle of Initiates" and an outer circle known as the "Association of Helpers" later organized as the Round Table organization. In 1909-1913, they organized semi-secret groups know as Round Table Groups in the chief British dependencies and the United States..

The Round Table Groups were semi-secret discussion and lobbying groups whose original purpose was to federate the English speaking world along lines laid down by Cecil Rhodes. By 1915, Round Table groups existed in seven countries including England, South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India and the United States.

Money for their activities originally came from Cecil Rhodes, J.P. Morgan, the Rockefeller and Whitney families and associates of bankers Lazard Brothers and Morgan, Grenfell and Company.

The chief backbone of this organization grew up along the already existing financial cooperation running from the Morgan Bank in New York to a group of international financiers in London led by Lazard Brothers.

Lionel Curtis established in England and each dominion a front organization to the existing local Round Table Group. This front organization called the Royal Institute of Public Affairs, had as its nucleus in each area the existing submerged Round Table Group.

In New York, it was known as the Council on Foreign Relations and was a front for J.P. Morgan and Company in association with the very small American Round Table Group. The American organizers were dominated by the large number of Morgan "experts" including Lamont and Beer, who had gone to the Paris Peace Conference and there became close friends with the similar group of English "experts" which had been recruited by the Milner group. In fact, the original plans for the Royal Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations. In 1928, the Council on Foreign Relations was dominated by the associates of the Morgan bank. Closely allied with this Morgan influence were a small group of Wall Street lawyers whose chief figures were Elihu Root, John W. Davis, the Dulles Brothers, John J. McCloy...

...There does exist and has existed for a generation, an international Anglophile network which operates to some extent in the way the Radical Right believes the Communists act. In fact, this network, which we may identify as the Round Table Groups, has no aversion to cooperating with the Communists, or any other groups, and frequently does so...

...It might be pointed out that the existence of this Wall Street Anglo-American axis is quite obvious once it is pointed out. It is reflected by the fact that such Wall Street luminaries such as John W. Davis, Lewis Douglas, [John] Whitney and Douglas Dillon were appointed to be American ambassadors in London."

 

 
  If we forget about the other groups, the description of the U.S. and U.K. Round Table Groups as submerged nucleuses of respectively the CFR and the RIIA is the perfect description of the Pilgrims Society. Also, the only name of a person in the quote above, that is not represented in my incomplete Pilgrims members list, is Lionel Curtis. All the other names are confirmed Pilgrims. And what is said here about the large number of Morgan representatives is something I also immediately noticed when I was filling in all the biographies. Even though Rockefeller interests, especially in later times, were just as dominant, the history of the Morgan family really shows their ties to England throughGeorge Peabody and Junius S. Morgan. At the turn of the century, the Morgans wielded enormous power over the United States economy [1].

Besides the organizations I put in the table above, you will also find that institutions like the Atlantic Institute for International Affairs, Bilderberg, the Bohemian Grove, the Trilateral Commission, the Brookings Institution, the Ford Foundation, the Ditchley Foundations, the Fabian Society, the Japan Society, the Asia Society, the American-Australian Association, and some others, are quite frequently represented. I didn't specifically look for these institutions though, simply because it takes me too much time. Often, these institutes aren't mentioned in the bios of the person you're researching.

The reason that you find quite a few Skull & Bones members (or members who have family in Skull & bones) in the Pilgrims Society is probably because Yale is a prestigious University and a first choice for many law and MBA students. It's also located very close to New York. Don't kid yourself however, 20 year old boys don't rule anything. You'll also find at least 5 Scroll & Key members and many more Yale students who haven't been into any society. But as far as I can see, the Pilgrims Society is open to anyone who learns enough, works enough, and winds up in the right place for a Pilgrims invitation. Harvard and Columbia are other common universities where Pilgrims have studied.

Some examples of involvement of the Pilgrims over the last 100 years

  • 1906 - Pilgrims are involved in the secret Algeciras Conference to settle a dispute among the British, Germans, and French about the division of Morocco.
  • 1913 - The earlier mentioned establishment of the Federal Reserve and of course the 1910 Jekyll Island meeting that preceded it.
  • 1917 - Some Pilgrims are said to have been financing the Communist revolution of 1917. Most is known about the partners of Kuhn, Loeb & Co.; Pilgrims Jacob Schiff, Paul Warburg and Otto Kahn.
  • 1919 - Many Pilgrims played an important role in the Versailles peace conferences following WWI. In all the history books I've seen, only the discussions of the 'big three', Woodrow Wilson, Lloyd George and Georges Clemenceau, are emphasized. I'm still looking for all the names involved, but I've already seen quite a few Pilgrims and suspected Pilgrims. In any case, Robert Cecil, chairman of the Supreme Economic Council of the Versailles Peace Treaty was a member. In the same year, he was the chairman of the committee that established the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
  • 1924 - After the German economy was completely taken apart and they couldn't pay their imposed debts anymore, the Reparations Commission Committee of Experts was set up. President Coolidge appointed Pilgrim Charles G. Dawes as chairman. The committee comes up with the so called 'Dawes-plan'.
  • 1927 - It is said that Pilgrim Benjamin Strong (head FED) and Pilgrim Montagu Norman (head Bank of England) had at least one secret meeting in July of this year with their friend Hjalmar Schacht of the German Reichsbank.
  • 1930 - The Young plan, which is named after committee chairman and Pilgrim Owen D. Young, is introduced as a follow up of the Pilgrims concocted Dawes plan, because Germany still can't pay their debts. Hjalmar Schacht doesn't agree with the reparations and quits as the head of the German Reichsbank. The same year Schacht becomes a Fascist, starts bringing all the German industrialists together and becomes the most crucial person for bringing Hitler to power in 1933.
  • 1933 and on - J.P. Morgan and Rockefeller associates are financing Nazi germany. Pilgrims Watson and Watson Jr. of IBM are involved. Pilgrims Douglas Dillon Sr. and Jr. are involved. Pilgrim Averell Harriman is involved. Ford was involved, and looking at the prominent presence of the Ford Foundation in the Pilgrims Society, he probably was a member too.
  • 1934 - Because general Smedley Butler exposes the planned coup, FDR is not overthrown and replaced by a fascist government. The persons financing various fascist elements turn out to be the Pilgrims Morgan Jr., the du Ponts, Louis S. Cates through Phelps-Dodge company, and undoubtedly many other, but unconfirmed, Pilgrims. As for Phelps-Dodge, the Rockefellers had married into that fortune in 1907 through a marriage between Geraldine Rockefeller, daughter of William Rockefeller, and Marcellus Hartley Dodge.
  • 1945 - Nazis, Knights of Malta (SMOM), and elements in the OSS create the so called 'Vatican rat lines', through which thousands of Nazis are smuggled into Spain, South-Africa, and South-America. Pilgrim and SMOM member Allen Dulles played a large role in this project. He also plays a crucial role in releasing and recruiting Nazi intelligence chief Reinhard Gehlen (Le Cercle) so this person can establish the Gehlen Organization. This Gehlen Org becomes the eyes and ears of the CIA in eastern Europe. Reinhard recruits many serious nazis in his organization.
  • 1946 - Pilgrim Francis Beverly Biddle was one of the four primary judges at the Nuremberg trials representing the United States. I'll bet the British judge (and president) of the trials was a member of the British Pilgrims.
  • 1947 - Pilgrims Society member, five-star general and U.S. Secretary of State George C. Marshall introduces his European Recovery Program (ERP).
  • around 1948 - Pilgrim John J. McCloy oversees the release of Fritz Thyssen, Hjalmar Schacht, Friedrich Flick and Alfred Krupp. They are the main industrialists who built up the Nazi war machine and are close associates of different Pilgrims Society members.
  • 1949 - Pilgrims member and ambassador Lewis Williams Douglas had a daughter, Sharman Douglas, who, according to a very sure ITV (competitor of the BBC), had a 2-year lesbian affair with Queen Elizabeth II's younger sister, Princess Margaret Windsor. Sharman also married Andrew Hay of the Pilgrims. (Normally I wouldn't dive into tabloid topics, but this is just too funny to pass over)
  • 1951 - General Douglas MacArthur, who has just driven back the North-Koreans, is removed from his command when he doesn't accept the decision from the US government to not attack the Chinese forces. Pilgrims Harry Truman, Dean Acheson and George C. Marshall are his main adversaries on this issue. MacArthur is replaced by Pilgrim Matthew B. Ridgway. Senator McCarthy attacks Truman, Acheson and Marshall for being in the communist camp.
  • 1954 - Some of the earliest invites to the Bilderberg conference are Pilgrims Society members; David Rockefeller, George Ball, and Henry Heinz.
  • 1961 - Howard Hughes, owner of Trans World Airlines, is charging Pilgrim Charles C. Tillinghast, Jr., the president of his company, with conspiring with others to take over the ownership the company.
  • 1963 - Pilgrims John J. McCloy and Allen Dulles are members of the Warren Commission. Gerald Ford, a future honorary Pilgrim, is a third member.
  • 1965-1973 - During the Vietnam war, Pilgrim Henry Kissinger is the chief US negotiator for the communist regimes. At the same time, Kissinger and many of his Pilgrims Society buddies were investing massive amounts of capital into the Soviet Union, even though this country continued to supply about 50% of North-Vietnams military arms. Of course, these were allowed to enter North-Vietnam almost unobstructed, because the US government was afraid for an escalation of the conflict if Haiphong harbor was closed off and bombed into oblivion. Pilgrims Society members controlled at least some of the institutions that had to check the goods that were imported into the USSR.
  • 1973 - Pilgrim Edward W. Simon was chairman of the President's Oil Policy Committee from February to December of 1973 (oil crisis started in October in the midst of the Yom Kippur war). He also was an administrator of the Federal Energy Office since December 1973 and was charged with the responsibility of minimizing the effects of the energy crisis and preventing future crises (decided the oil prices and the distribution). Together with Pilgrim Henry Kissinger he was the most important speaker of the 1974 International Energy Conference. In 1973, Henry Kissinger first informed the Pilgrims about the creation of an "International Energy group", which became the International Energy Agency.
  • 1975 - Pilgrim Nelson Rockefeller heads the U.S. President's Commission on CIA Activities Within the United States. It was created in response to a December 1974 report in The New York Times that the CIA had conducted illegal domestic activities, including experiments on U.S. citizens, during the 1960s. The commission was, among other things, responsible for the investigation and publication of Project MKULTRA, a CIA mind control study.
  • 1977 - Pilgrims Society member Edmund de Rothschild attends the 1st World Wilderness Conference. At the 4th conference Maurice Strong will inform everyone that Edmund was the founder of the environmental movement and climate debates everyone has become so accustomed to.
  • 1992 - Pilgrim Lord Bingham of Cornhill heads an inquiry into the Bank of England to find out their responsibility in the BCCI drug laundering scandal. Turns out the Bank of England was just a bit lazy, but didn't do anything on purpose. The persons that owned the BCCI were 1001 Club member like Agha Hasan Abedi and Salem Bin Laden. Kalid bin Mahfouz was another one. Lord Bingham became a member of the very elite Order of Garter in 2005. Some other persons involved with the BCCI scandal were members of the secret international intelligence group Le Cercle.
  • 2001 - Henry Kissinger, who was picked as the first chairman of the 9/11 Commission, was a Pilgrim, not to mention one of the pioneers of psychological warfare in the aftermath of WWII; all in all, a great asset to have on a truth commission. The old vice-chairman of the 9/11 Commission, George John Mitchell, became a director of the CFR in 1995, so chances are very substantial he's a Pilgrim too. The new chairman, Thomas H. Kean, is from a very prominent New Jersey family and has been a chairman of the Carnegie Foundation, so don't be surprised if it turns out that he also attends Pilgrims dinners (or 1001 Club meetings in his case).
  • 2002 - In December of this year, Pilgrims Society member Lord Guthrie, former chief of the Defense Staff and out of office by then, is send to Turkey to discuss a possible invasion of Iraq via Turkey. He becomes an apologist for the Bush and Blair administrations, and warns the public for biological and nuclear attacks by terrorists. According to him, Syria is one of the largest supporters of terrorism. But who else is Lord Guthrie? He's a member of the Knights of Malta, a patron of the Cardinal Hume centre, a director of N.M. Rothschild & Sons, and represents the latter to the Trilateral Commission since 2002. In the past, Guthrie has been appointed Gold Stick to the Queen and Freeman of the City of London. He was also appointed Aide-de-Camp General to the Queen in 1993.
  • 2004 - Pilgrims Society member Lord Peter Inge is part of a five-member panel that looks into the gathered intelligence that was used to justify an invasion in Iraq the year before. All 5 are Privy Councillors and just as the panel's chairman, Lord Inge is a knight of the Order of the Garter.
  Conclusion

It is obvious that the Pilgrims Society has a very interesting history and that it's membership consists of very influential people. Above all, it seems that the Pilgrims Society represents that old dream of Cecil Rhodes to create a worldwide English-speaking free-trade zone (his exact words), with the dominant position for the Anglo-Saxon race. Rhodes had also been speculating about a network of secret societies that had to absorb the wealth of the world. In fact, the enormous fortune he left behind was probably used to set up the Pilgrims Society just 4 months after he died. But especially these days, 'free-trade' policies seem to

be nothing more than a tool by which western companies wrestle control of foreign markets. This makes it hard to say if their ultimate goal of 'global peace' really is that noble.

In the course the 20th century, especially after WWII, many organizations with similar objectives have sprung up worldwide. Among them are Bilderberg, the Trilateral Commission, the British Invisibles, the European Round Table, the Group of thirty, the European Institute, the Trans-Atlantic Business Dialogue, the 1001 Club, the EU-Japan Business Dialogue, the Pacific Basin Economic Council, Le Cercle, the Multinational Chairman's Group, and dozens more.

In every single case, British and American interests are represented more than adequately, at the very least in leadership positions. Even though recent names are in rather short supply it has already become obvious that we can find most, if not all of these leaders back in the Pilgrims Society. This indicates that we are dealing with one of the most important privately funded institutions of the globalist movement. But, like I already said, let's not exaggerate by saying that we found 'the puppet masters' or something like that. At any time, there are loads of intelligence operations going on most of the well over a 1000 members know nothing about. Also, looking at the bios, it's obvious that there is considerable infighting going on and that different members can't get along with each other at all. So, as for now, I suggest that we focus our energy on gathering as many names as possible. Then the picture will become clear by itself.

A lot of additional information on the Anglo-American establishment and/or the British Empire can be found in the books of professor Carroll Quigley. The articles on Executive Intelligence Review also contain a lot of insightful information.

References

[1] October 1901, #6, McClure’s Magazine, ‘J. Pierpont Morgan’
[2] February 05, 1903, Reuters, 'Lord C. Beresford in Washington'
[3] March 3, 1903, The Scotsman, 'Great Britain and the United States - Banquet in London'
[4] June 20, 1903, The Scotsman, 'MP George Wyndham at the Pilgrims Club'
[5] February 20, 1908, New York Times, ‘Ambassador Reid – the Pilgrims guest’
[6] April 24, 1910, Associated Press, Mark Twain deceased - Pilgrims visit
[7] February 6, 1913, The Scotsman, King George delivers message at Pilgrims Society
[8] December 24, 1915, The Scotsman, 'Closer Unity of the British Empire'
[9] June 1, 1918, Press Association, 'Hands off the Southern Pacific'
[10] December 22, 1919, The Scotsman, Pilgrims celebrate 299th birthday of original Pilgrims
[11] March 17, 1924, Time Magazine, 'A Summing-Up'
[12] April 21, 1924, Time Magazine, 'The Judgment'
[13] December 2, 1926, The Scotsman, 'Duke of York - Pilgrims God Speed'
[14] May 4, 1928, The Scotsman, Nicholas Butler becomes the new president of the U.S. club
[15] July 6, 1931, Time Magazine, '30 Years of Picasso'
[16] October 26, 1939, The Scotsman, Pilgrims speaker denounces the Nazis as Barbarian Pagans
[17] November 6, 1939, Time Magazine, ‘Aims and Rights’
[18] 1940, John Whiteford, ‘Sir Uncle Sam, Knight of the British Empire’
[19] January 20, 1941, Time Magazine, 'Churchill & the U.S.'
[20] March 20, 1941, The Scotsman, Nazis denounce Churchill's Pilgrims speech and the Anglo-Saxons
[21] December 3, 1942, The Scotsman, 'New World Order - Path of Equality and Human Brotherhood'
[22] E.C. Knuth, 1946, ‘The Empire of the City’
[23] December 13, 1947, The Scotsman, 'Marshall on his Mission'
[24] October 23, 1950, Time Magazine, No Pushing
[25] November 7, 1950, The Scotsman, 'No Slackening after Korea'
[26] Oct. 27, 1952, Time Magazine, 'No Pushing'
[26] July 2, 1956, Time Magazine, 'Give 'Em Hell, Harricum!'
[27] Dec. 8, 1958, Time Magazine, 'The Double Dare'
[28] April 16, 1965, Time Magazine, Ambassador Patrick farewell
[29] 1966, Carroll Quigley, 'Tragedy and Hope - A history of the world in our time'
[30] December 1973, Kissinger addresses the Pilgrims and suggests an "International Energy group"
[31] June 1975, American Opinion, William P. Hoar, ‘Henry Kissinger: This Man Is On The Other Side’
[32] January 30, 1981, Reuters, 'Mrs. Thatcher Detects No Sign Of Moscow's Interest in Detente' (excerpt)
[33] 1983 (original from 1952), Eustace Mullins, ‘Secrets of the Federal Reserve’
[34] December 10, 1985, New York Times, ' Excerpts From Shultz Remarks on Aid to Rebels' (excerpt)
[35] Official Federal Reserve websites
[36] April 20, 1994, The Times, 'Britain belongs to Europe'
[37] April 20, 1994, The Times, 'US ambassador leaves with rebuke for Euro-sceptics; Raymond Seitz'
[38] November 16, 1994, The Times, 'US tries to forge pact on eastward expansion of Nato'
[39] April 6, 1995, The Times, 'FDR and The Times'
[40] June 30, 1999, MOD, Speech of George Robertson
[41] 2002, Anne Baker Pimlott, ‘The Pilgrims of Great Britain – a centennial history’
[42] 2002, Antony Sutton, ‘America’s Secret Establishment’
[43] Watch.pair.com, ‘The Pilgrim Society & The English Speaking Union’
[44] January 31, 2002, nato.int, ‘NATO After September 11’
[45] November 28, 2002, U.S. State Department, ‘State's Boucher on U.S. Foreign Policy, EU and NATO, Iraq, Freedom’
[46] 2002, University of Dundee, 'Laureation Countess of Strathmore and Kinghorne - Professor Alan Newell'
[47] January 21, 2004, Royal.gov.uk, 'Diary of engagements of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh...'
[48] February 4, 2004, Times Online, 'Today's royal engagements'
[49] February 12, 2004, The UK Mission to the United Nations, 'Speech to Pilgrims of the United States on "A Multilateral Journey"'
[50] September 16, 2004, Chatham House, internal program list names Robert Worcester as a Pilgrim
[51] September 2004, English Speaking Union, 'Panel Discussion on the US Election'
[52] Charles Savoie, Silver Investor, 2004-2005, ‘Meet the World Money Power’-series. (highly recommended. Many names come from this person's research.)
[53] Kansas City Infozine, biography of Robert M. Worcester (again) confirms he is a chairman of the Pilgrims.
[54] Corporate Entertainer Magazine, 'Banking on Hospitality' (article on Rupert Hambro, year unknown)

Author: Joël van der Reijden
Original:
May 3, 2005
Last update: March 31, 2006
Version: 1.8

 

 

The group surrounding the Rockefeller and Rothschild families

 

  • Lots of biographical updates in the Pilgrims Society membership list. Two important names that are added, earlier mentioned by Charles Savoie, are Sir Cyril Hugh Kleinwort (has a nephew in the 1001 Club) and Sir Peter Sutherland. Sutherland is huge and already in my introduction article I described him as "almost certainly a Pilgrim." So predictable...
  • While doing the updates I noticed that the Chief Justices of the US Supreme Court that have certainly been recruited in the Pilgrims Society cover the period from 1921 to 1941 and from 1969 to 2005, which is enough to add this position to the gif oversight. And because Chief Justices also are automatically elected chancellors of the Smithsonian Board of Regents, that institute has been added to the gif also. A few other Pilgrims have been trustees/regents/secretaries of the Smithsonian, but many more undoubtedly still have to be found within the Pilgrims ranks.

 

Top of page

 

Pilgrims Society
Incomplete membership list
continually updated

Besides the regular members, all of the persons who occupied the following positions have been made honorary members and have attended the meetings:

  President of the US  
UK ambassador to the US (complete) UK secretary of state Permanent representative of the UK to the UN
US ambassador to the UK US secretary of state UK consul general at NY

The head of the Episcopalian Church in the U.S. and the Archbishop of Canterbury (head Anglican church) were both vice-presidents of the Pilgrims Society in 1942. If this is always the case is unknown.

Over time newly found members will be added, just as additional biographical data. The most interesting aspects of a persons life are often also the most hidden.


 
Royal family members Pilgrim function
Life
Biography
Windsor, Queen Elizabeth Mary II patron
1926-alive
Queen of England since 1953, married to Prince Philip Mountbatten. The Queen has been, and might still be, a major stockholder in Rio Tinto and other large corporations. No official details are ever released.
[queen] ”Nobody, Paul has been as close to a member of my family as you have. There are powers at work in this country about which we have no knowledge.”
[Paul] “She wanted me to make sure my wife Maria and children remained safe. It was not a threat, it was sound advice. She had my interests at heart…No-one had never warned me like that. It made me suddenly realise the magnitude of the situation. It was obviously much, much bigger than I had ever thought.”
- The Queen and Paul Burrell in a 3-hour talk in November of 1997 at Buckinham Palace. Paul was the butler of Diana right up until her death on August 31, 1997. In January of 2001, Paul was accused of stealing some items from the Diana after her death. On November 1, 2001, the trial collapsed when the Queen herself stated that Paul had informed her of taking these items with him. (The Mirror in an interview with Paul Burrell - June 11, 2002)
 
Mountbatten, Prince Philip  
1921-alive
Born in 1921 on the Isle of Corfu, Greece. Parents were evacuated from Greece after a revolution and both became depressed (father) or mentally instable (mother). Studied in Germany under Kurt Hahn and both came to Scotland in 1933. Played polo in his youth, often against Sir Evelyn de Rothschild. Philip is the Duke of Edinburgh, a Knight of the Order of the Garter, a Knight of the Order of the Thistle, Grand Master and First or Principal Knight of the Order of the British Empire, and was a prince of Greece and Denmark until he married. Patron or President of 814 organizations. His wife, Queen Elizabeth II is patron of the Pilgrims Society. Long career in the navy from the start of WWII as a midshipsman to commanding his own frigate, the HMS Magpie. William R. Denslow's 10,000 Famous Freemasons: "Philip was initiated in Navy Lodge No. 2612 of London on Dec 5, 1952. Present at the initiation were the Earl of Scarbrough, grand master, q.v., and Geoffrey Fisher, archbishop of Canterbury." Philip is a Master Mason, never having shown great interest in the organization, while his cousin, Prince Edward (b. 1935) is the grand master of the United Grand Lodge. He and his wife set off for a tour of the Commonwealth, with visits to Africa, Australia, and New Zealand in 1952. They went on to visit the remote parts of the Commonwealth in 1956. Gordon Creighton, a Foreign Service official and Intelligence officer, concluded his story about a reported 1960s UFO landing on the estate of Prince Philip with: "So there had been a landing on the estate of Mountbatten and there was Mountbatten's great interest." The entire testimony was made during an interview with the Disclosure Project in September 2000. Prince Philip supposedly had a drawer full of sketches and information on different types of UFOs. Philip co-founded the WWF International in 1961 with Julian Huxley and Prince Bernhard. He has been the long time president of WWF UK. Co-founded the 1001 Nature Trust and 1001 Club from 1971 to 1974, together with Anton Rupert and Prince Bernhard. Co-founded Population Concern in 1977 with Earnest Kleinwort, Sir Cyril Kleinwort (Pilgrims), Prince Philip, Lord Caradon, Lord Renton and Lord McCorquodale. Co-founded the Interfaith consultations between Jews, Christians, and Muslims in 1984, together with Crown Prince Hassan of Jordan and Sir Evelyn de Rothschild at Windsor castle. In August 1988, Prince Philip said to the West German Deutsche Press Agentur: "In the event that I am reincarnated, I would like to return as a deadly virus, in order to contribute something to solve overpopulation". He wrote something along similar lines in the foreword of the 1987 book 'If I Were An Animal', written by Fleur Cowles. Philip was supposedly hostile to Diana after she divorced Charles in 1996. Mohamed Al-Fayed claimed Prince Philip had ordered Diana's murder who was killed in a car crash on August 31, 1997. Queen Elizabeth II said to Diana's butler Paul Burrell in December 1997: "Nobody, Paul has been as close to a member of my family as you have... There are powers at work in this country about which we have no knowledge." She advised him to be cautious and to lay low. Unlike his son, Charles, Philip supports genetically modified foods. On June 7, 2000, The Guardian quoted the Duke of Edinburgh as saying: "Do not let us forget we have been genetically modifying animals and plants ever since people started selective breeding." Philip is known to be the head of the family; what he says, generally goes. He is still president emeritus of the WWF International.
Laurence, Princess Anne  
1950-alive
HRH The Princess Royal. Daughter of Prince Philip and Queen Elizabeth II. Younger sister of Prince Charles. Attended a dinner of the Pilgrim Society on February 4, 2004 at 3:45 PM, Four Seasons Hotel, Hamilton Place, London. She is a member of the Order of the Garter.
Windsor, Prince Charles  
1948-alive
Became Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Great Steward of Scotland and Knight of the Garter when Elizabeth II ascended to the throne. Studied in part under Kurt Hahn, invested as Prince of Wales in 1969, assumed a seat in the House of Lords in 1970, married Lady Diana Frances Spencer in 1981, divorced in 1996 and Diana died in a car crash in 1997, married Camilla Parker Bowles in 2005, heir to the British Throne. Anno 2005 he is listed as a member of the Advisory Board of The Pilgrims of the United States.
Windsor, Prince Andrew Edward  
1960-alive
Third child and second son of Queen Elizabeth II and The Duke of Edinburgh. When he married he was created The Duke of York, Earl of Inverness and Baron Killyleagh. He currently serves as United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment.
Windsor, Prince Arthur William Patrick Albert president
1850–1942
English prince, son of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, brother of Edward VII. Trained for a military career, he served in Egypt (1882) and India (1886–1890) and as commander in chief in the Mediterranean 1907-1909. He was governor-general of Canada 1911-1916. His son, Prince Arthur of Connaught 1883-1938, was governor-general of South Africa 1920-1923.
Windor, Prince Edward  
b. 1935
Duke of Kent. Brother of King George VI. Knight of the Garter. Has been vice-chairman of British Trade International and the United Kingdom's Special Representative for International Trade and Investment. President of the British Invisibles, which these days tend to use the more official name International Financial Services, London (IFSL). Grand Master of the Order of St Michael and St George since 1967. Grand Master of the United Grand Lodge of England, which is the governing body of Freemasonry in England, Wales, and the Channel Islands. Photographed in the early 1960s during a Pilgrims Society diner in London, standing next to Walter Elliot, Lord Halifax, Joseph Kennedy, and Lord Derby.
Other members
Pilgrim function
Life
Biography
Adams, Charles Francis IV  
1910-1999
Direct descendant of President John Adams and John Quincy Adams. Spent several years with his parents in St. Petersburg, Russia. Harvard College. Partner in Paine, Webber, Jackson, & Curtis banking firm 1937-1947. Director of Raytheon 1938-1942. U.S. Naval Reserve with active duty, commanding destroyer escorts in the Atlantic & Pacific theaters 1942-1945. Commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet 1945-1947. President of Raytheon (sales grew forty fold in his almost 40 years with the company) 1948-1960 & 1962-1964. Chairman of Raytheon 1960-1962 & 1964-1972. Retired as director of Raytheon in 1997. Director of the First National Bank of Boston, the Gillette Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance Company, Sheraton Corporation, Bath Iron Works, Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the Boston Chamber of Commerce, Pan American World Airways, and the Massachusetts Higher Education Assistance Corporation. Chairman of the Board of Visitors of Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. Trustee of the Children's Hospital, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, the Industrial School for Crippled Children, the Massachusetts Humane Society, the Naval War College Foundation and more. A fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and Vice President of the Massachusetts Historical Society.
Acheson, Dean Gooderham  
1893-1973
Yale Scroll & Key 1915. Harvard 1915-1918. Private secretary to the Supreme Court Justice 1919-1921. Became Under Secretary of the Treasury in 1933. Constructed the Marshall Plan with General Marshall and Will Clayton, according to Pilgrims Society member David K.E. Bruce. U.S. Secretary of State under Harry S. Truman 1949-1953. Accused of being soft on Communism and had a dispute with General Douglas MacArthur. Mccarthy saw him as one the most dangerous Communists and believed that the "Acheson group had almost hypnotic powers over Truman." Member Council on Foreign Relations. His son, David C. Acheson ended up in the 1943 Skull & Bones class.
Acton, Lord  
alive
Born in Shropshire, England. Acton's family immigrated in 1948 to Southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where he was educated at St. George's College, Salisbury. Later he received his bachelor's and master's degrees in modern history at Trinity College, Oxford. In 1989, he took his seat in the House of Lords as the fourth Lord Acton, dividing his time between Iowa and London since his marriage to Patricia Nassif, a clinical professor at the UI College of Law. Later, the government of the United Kingdom put forth a proposal to restructure the House of Lords. This passed in November 1999, which resulted in the abolition of Acton's hereditary peerage. However, the Prime Minister appointed him as a Life Peer, and Acton returned to the House of Lords in April. Acton is also a writer whose articles have appeared in many American periodicals, including The New York Times Book Review, The North American Review, British Heritage, the Christian Science Monitor, The Chicago Tribune and The San Francisco Chronicle. In 1995, Acton and his wife wrote a book on the legal history of Iowa entitled, "To Go Free: A Treasury of Iowa's Legal Heritage," published by Iowa State University Press to commemorate Iowa's sesquicentennial. He also received the Iowa State Historical Society's Throne/Aldrich Award in 1995 for the best article on Iowa history published by The Palimpset. His articles have appeared in The Iowan and The Des Moines Register. His latest book is "A Brit Among the Hawkeyes," published by Iowa State University Press. Has spoken at the Iowa City Foreign Relations Council (ICFRC), which is in the neighborhood he often lives. He and his wife split their time between Ceder Rapids and London. He is a member of the Royal Africa Society and the Pilgrims Society. Lord Acton is writing a book about one his forefathers, Sir John Acton, who, according to him, ruled Naples and Sicily in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Adler, Julius Ochs  
1892-1955
His family started the New York Times, received the Distinguished Service Cross, the Purple Heart, the Silver Star, Star with Oak Leaf Clusters, the French Legion of Honor and the French Croix de Guerre for his achievements as commander of a battalion of infantry on the Western Front in France in WWI, as a General he commanded the 77th Infantry Division, responsible for the defense of Hawaii from 1941 to 1944. After World War II, joined The New York Times as vice-president, later to become general manager, publisher of the Chattanooga Times, invited by General Eisenhower to visit the liberated concentration camps in 1945, which inspired him to write a bunch of articles on his experiences, appointed as major general in the Army Reserve in 1948.
Aiken, Alfred Lawrence exec. committee
1870-1946
Graduated from Yale in 1891, president Federal Reserve Bank of Boston 1914-1917, president and chairman National Shawmut Bank of Boston 1918-1924, director New York Life Insurance Co 1924-1936, president of New York Life Insurance & Co. in 1936, trustee of Clark University and Wellesley College, member Council on Foreign Relations.
Aldrich, Herbert I.  
unknown
This name was mentioned by J. Thorkelson, a U.S. Congressman from Montana, in a speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on August 20, 1940.
Aldrich, Nelson Wilmarth  
1841-1915
Nelson W. Aldrich. Private in the Rhode Island National Guard during the American Civil War. Elected to Rhodes Island city council 1869. Rhodes Island city council president 1872-1873. Republican Congressman 1879-1881. Senator 1881-1911. His daughter marries John Davison Rockefeller, Jr. in 1901. In 1906 Aldrich is accused of taking huge bribes from corporations in an article of Cosmopolitan. Attends the Jekyll Island meeting on November 22, 1910. Chairman Committee on Transportation Routes to the Seaboard, Committee on Rules, Select Committee on Corporations Organized in the District of Columbia, Committee on Finance, and the National Monetary Commission. Aldrich worked together with co-Pilgrim and congressman/banker Edward Butterfield Vreeland to establish the Federal Reserve.
Aldrich, Winthrop Williams  
1885-1974
Winthrop W. Aldrich was the uncle of Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller. The major stockholder in Equitable Trust Company (merged with Chase National Bank in 1930). President of Chase National Bank 1930-1934 and chairman from 1934 to 1953 (Chase National Bank eventually became Chase Manhattan and J.P. Morgan Chase). Ambassador to England from 1950 to 1953 and gave a speech to the English Pilgrims on March 19, 1953. Director of Westinghouse Electric, American Telephone & Telegraph (AT&T), International Paper, Discount Corporation of New York, Metropolitan Life Insurance, and the American Society for the Control of Cancer.
Aldrich, Malcolm Pratt  
born 1900
Yale Skull & Bones 1922. Cousin of Winthrop Aldrich. Head of the Commonwealth Fund.
Aldrich, Hulbert Stratton  
born 1907
Cousin of Winthrop Aldrich, president of Greer School with mrs. David Rockefeller (1942/1947), vice chairman of Chemical Bank 1959-1972, director of Ametek Incorporated, IBM World Trade Corporation, Empire Savings Bank, George W. Rogers Construction Corporation, Peter Paul Incorporated, president of Commonwealth Fund (succeeded Pilgrim Edward S. Harkness), Royal Globe Insurance Group and Hill Samuel Group Limited, London.
Alexander, Charles Beatty  
1849-1927
Grandson of a co-founder of Princeton Theological Seminary, trustee of Princeton University, married into the Crocker fortune of 40 million (1888) dollars, director of the International Banking Corporation, Mercantile Trust Company; Equitable Trust Company, Equitable Life Assurance, Society of the U.S., Tri-State Land Company, Windsor Trust, member of the Society of the Cincinnati.
Alexander, Henry Clay  
unknown
Studied at Vanderbilt University and Yale where he graduated in 1923 and 1925, Trustee of Vanderbilt University, president J.P. Morgan & Company, chairman Morgan Guaranty Trust Company of New York in 1960, director General Motors & Johns-Manville Corporation
Anderson, Arthur Marvin  
died 1966
Director of Northern Pacific Ry, director U.S. Steel Corporation, vice-chairman J.P. Morgan & Company, has a ship named after him.
Angell, Ernest  
unknown
Lived from about 1890 to the 1970s, attended Harvard in 1907, New York lawyer, married Elizabeth Chapin of the American Motors fortune, national chairman of the A.C.L.U., member of the International Commission of Jurists meetings in Athens and New Delhi.
Angelson, Mark A.  
alive
Educated at Rutgers College, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and at Rutgers Law School. Angelson began his career in 1975 as a lawyer with Sullivan & Cromwell. From 1982 through 1995, he practiced with Sidley & Austin, serving as Co-Chair of International Operations and Resident Managing Partner of the law firm's offices in Singapore, New York and London. During this period, he participated in the development of substantial, notably successful law practices in each of those cities, and served on the boards of various multinational companies and not-for-profit organizations. From 1996 until 2001, Mr. Angelson served in various capacities, including as Executive Deputy Chairman, at Big Flower Holdings (NYSE: BGF), a printing and advertising services holding company, and its successor, Vertis Holdings, Inc. At Big Flower, he was involved in approximately 30 printing industry acquisitions and related financings, and the $2 billion leveraged recapitalization and sale of control of the company to Thomas H. Lee Fund IV and Evercore Capital Partners. Before assuming his current position, Mr. Angelson served as Chief Executive Officer of Moore Wallace Incorporated (TSX, NYSE: MWI), the third largest printing company in North America. He was a principal architect of the merger between RR Donnelley and Moore Wallace, and of the earlier merger between Moore Corporation Limited (TSX, NYSE: MCL) and Wallace Computer Services, Inc. (NYSE: WCS). Prior to joining Moore as CEO, Mr. Angelson served as Moore's Non-Executive Chairman and Lead Independent Director. Previously, Mr. Angelson served as Deputy Chairman of Chancery Lane Capital, the New York-based private equity investment firm that led the Chancery Lane/GSC Partners L.P. investment in Moore and recruited the Moore management team. Today he is Chief Executive Officer of Chicago-based R.R. Donnelley & Sons Company (NYSE: RRD), the largest provider of printing and print-related services in the world, with approximately 43,000 employees, annual revenues of approximately $8 billion, nearly 600 locations around the globe and more than 40,000 customer relationships. The company provides these services to the catalog, retail, magazine, book, directory, advertising, financial, healthcare, telecommunications, automotive and many other industries. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations (New York), a Fellow of the Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures & Commerce (London), a Trustee of Northwestern University, a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations, and a member of the Pilgrims of Great Britain, the Yale Club of New York City, The Economic Club of Chicago, the Chicago Club and the Civic Committee of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Annenberg, Walter H.  
1908-2002
Son of Moses Annenberg, publisher of The Philadelphia Inquirer. The story of Moses & Max (older brother) Annenberg is a tale of a hardworking immigrants and financial geniuses who got their start working alongside violent Chicago gangsters while employed by newspaper titan William Randolph Hearst at the turn of the last century. After some time, the owner of the Tribune, Bertie McCormick, decided to hire Moses Annenberg away from Hearst. For a while, the Annenberg brothers were sending out thugs to battle each other. Fifteen years later, Max Annenberg was alleged to be an associate and friend of Chicago crime boss Al Capone. In 1924, Moses Annenberg got involved with a racing news service in Chicago and Milwaukee. Soon there were reports that those who didn't take the Annenberg race wire service were themselves the victims of beatings, fire bombings and, on occasion, murder. The crime syndicates had come to be dependent on Moses Annenberg. Without his service they couldn't operate their illegal gambling rackets. In 1938, the Secretary of the Interior, Harold Ickes, traveled from Washington D.C. to give a speech in Philadelphia condemning Moses Annenberg, who, at that time, was backing the Republican candidate for governor of Pennsylvania. Ickes charged it was Annenberg's violent tactics during the Chicago newspaper wars that inspired gangsters like Al Capone. Ickes said that "the hiring of Moses Annenberg by Hearst was the beginning of the subsequent flood of lawlessness that almost engulfed law enforcement in the United States." Moses, Walter, and 2 other business associates were indicted in 1939 for evading more than $2 million in taxes and another $3 million in penalties and interest. Moses was later separately indicted for conspiring to bribe a Philadelphia detective. In April 1940, Moses Annenberg agreed to plead guilty to one count -- "willfully" evading $1,217,296 -- and to pay almost $9 million in fines and penalties. In exchange for his plea the government agreed to drop all charges against his son, Walter Annenberg. In the 1940s, Walter Annenberg established Triangle Broadcasting, which at its peak controlled 6 AM radio stations, 6 FM radio stations, and 6 TV stations. He is also the founder and owner of Triangle Publications, which owned the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Daily News, TV Guide and Seventeen Magazine. Received the Alfred I. DuPont Award (Pilgrim) in 1951. Received the Marshall Field Award (Pilgrim) in 1958. Founded The Annenberg School for Communication at The University of Pennsylvania in 1958. Ambassador to England 1969-1974. During his assignment to Britain, Annenberg appointed Gorden Gray as chairman of his Triangle Broadcasting Company 1969–1975. Gray was very big in government and intelligence since 1947, the original director of the Psychological Strategy Board, and a heir to the R.J. Reynolds fortune. Annenberg founded The Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California in 1971. In 1988, News Corp. acquired Triangle Publications, including TV Guide. Founder-trustee and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Eisenhower Medical Center in Rancho Mirage, California. Annenberg also served as Trustee of the Eisenhower Exchange Fellowships and the Winston Churchill Traveling Fellowships. He was Emeritus Trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, The University of Pennsylvania and The Peddie School. Annenberg received honorary degrees from many international universities. Annenberg was named Honorary Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire by Queen Elizabeth II. He was also named Officer of the French Legion of Honor, and presented with the Order of Merit of the Republic of Italy. (received dozens of other awards and honors) He was a member of the Associated Press, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, International Press Institute, National Press Club, Overseas Press Club, American Newspaper Publishers Association, Sigma Delta Chi, the International Arts-Medicine Association, and the Inter-American Press Association. Has been awarded by the ADL. A former Commander of the United States Naval Reserve, Annenberg also was a member of the Navy League of the U.S. He also has his own foundation, the Annenberg Foundation. Walter Annenberg was a generous philanthropist who gave millions to universities, art museums, charities and PBS. He was a friend to kings and presidents. Member of the Pilgrims Society and the 1001 Club.
Armour, Norman  
1887-1982
Embassy secretary at Petrograd (then the capital of Russia) 1916-1918, ambassador to Haiti 1932-1935, Canada 1935-1938, Chile 1938-1939, Argentina 1939-1944, Spain 1945, Venezuela 1950-1951 and Guatemala 1954-1955. Married European nobility in the form of Princess Myra Kondacheff, member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Armstrong, Anne Legendre  
1927-alive
Born in New Orleans. Daughter of an aristocratic New Orleans coffee merchant. Graduated from Vassar College. She married Tobin Armstrong, a Texas cattle rancher, in 1950, whom she met in 1942 on the 825,000 acre King Ranch. The King Ranch has been home to many international power elites including Prince Charles and Prince Johannes von Thurn und Taxis. Tobin was close friends with the Bushes. She served as vice chairman of the Texas Republican Party from 1966 to 1968. In 1971 and 1972, she was cochairman of the Republican National Committee. As counselor to the President, Armstrong was a member of the president's Domestic Council, the Council on Wage and Price Stability, and the Commission on the Organization of Government for the Conduct of Foreign Policy. First American woman ambassador to Great Britain from 1976 to 1977. In 1977, Prince Charles visited the Armstrong Ranch to play polo with Anne's husband. Director of American Express (with Henry Kissinger and Vernon Jordan), Boise Cascade, General Motors, and Halliburton (with Cheney). She chaired the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board from 1982 to 1990 and was a trustee of Southern Methodist University and the Smithsonian Institution. She also chaired the Georgetown University's Center for Strategic and International Studies advisory board.
Astor, William Waldorf  
1848-1919
Educated in Germany and in Italy and at the Columbia law school, member of the NY state assembly 1878-1879, senator 1880-1881, minister to Italy 1881–1885, heir to about 100 million dollars, reversed the family immigration by returning to England in 1890 and bought some large real estate, purchased the Pall Mall Gazette 1893, purchased the London Sunday Observer 1911, was made a baron in 1916 and a viscount (of Hever) in 1917, his elder son became leader of Tory democracy, his younger son bought a large share in The Times of London. His son, Waldorf Astor (unconfirmed Pilgrims member), was a chairman of the Royal Institute for International Affairs from 1935 to 1949 and had helped to establish it.
Astor, William Vincent  
1891-1959
Heir of the John Jacob Astor fortune, Franklin D. Roosevelt supporter in 1932, New Deal supporter after WWII, director of Chase National Bank, Western Union Telegraph Company, Great Northern Railway Company, the United States Lines, New York Post-Graduate Medical School and Hospital and other institutions and corporations, trustee of the New York Public Library and the New York Zoological Society, governor of New York Hospital, staff officer in the Navy during both World Wars, seemed to have a bit of competition from the English branch of the family. (He and his former wives had themselves or married to Huntingtons and Whitneys)
Astor, (Roberta) Brooke Russell  
1902-alive
Daughter of USMC General John Henry Russell, wife of Vincent Astor, president Vincent Astor Foundation from 1959 and on, which gave away about 195 million in all, author of 2 fiction books.
Astor, Francis David Langhorne  
1912-2001
Educated at Eton College he went on to Oxford University where he suffered a nervous breakdown and left university in 1933 without obtaining a degree, psycho-analyzed by Anna Freud, at Oxford in 1931 he met Adam von Trott zu Solz, later executed for the role he played in a failed assassination of Hitler, who had a lot of influence on him, during World War II David Astor was wounded in France, In 1936, he joined the Yorkshire Post newspaper where he worked for a year then joined his father's newspaper, The Observer where he would serve as editor for 27 years, He warned of the dangers of big government and of big business, influenced by his friend and employee of The Observer, George Orwell, he supposedly was anti-big government, very critical of corrupt politicians, pro-blacks, pro-life, etc, in 1977 The Observer was sold to Robert O. Anderson, the American owner of the Atlantic Richfield oil company. (had lots of aggressive competition)
Astor, Gavin   1918-1984 2nd Baron Astor of Hever, controlling shareholder Times Publishing Co. Ltd. This company controlled the The Times Book Co. Ltd., Issuing House Year Book Ltd., St. Paul's Engineering Ltd., The Review (Insurance) Ltd., The Times Pension Trusts Ltd., The Times London Incorporated. and The Gardeners' Chronicle Ltd. Director Times Publishing Co. Ltd. 1952-1959, chairman Times Publishing Co. Ltd. 1959-1966.
Astor, John Jacob, 8th  
1946-alive
Better known under 3rd Baron Astor of Hever, educated at Eton College, Birkshire (England), Lieutenant in 1966 in the service of the The Life Guards, managing director of Honon et Cie in 1982, managing director of Astor France in 1989, Deputy Lieutenant of Kent in 1996, Chief Whip of the House of Lords 1998. Freemason.
Attlee, Clement Richard  
1883-1967
Educated at Oxford, he was called to the bar in 1905. His early experience as a social worker in London's East End led to his decision to give up law and devote his life to social improvement through politics. In 1907 he joined the Fabian Society and soon afterward the Labour party. He was a lecturer in social science at the London School of Economics, and, after service in World War I, he became (1919) the first Labour mayor of Stepney. Attlee entered Parliament in 1922. In 1927 he visited India as a member of the Simon commission and was converted to views that strongly favored Indian self-government. He joined the Labour government in 1930 but resigned in 1931 when Ramsay MacDonald formed the National government. As leader of the Labour party from 1935, Attlee was an outspoken critic of Conservative foreign policy, objecting particularly to the government's failure to intervene in the Spanish civil war. During World War II he served (1940–45) in Winston Churchill's coalition cabinet, and on Labour's electoral victory in 1945 he became prime minister. Under Attlee's leadership, the Bank of England, the gas, electricity, coal, and iron and steel industries, and the railways were nationalized. His government also enacted considerable social reforms, including the National Health Service. Independence was granted to Burma (Myanmar), India, Pakistan, Ceylon (Sri Lanka), and Palestine, and Britain allied itself closely with the United States in the cold war confrontation with the Soviet Union. The postwar economic crisis required stringent economic and financial controls, which reduced support for the government. Labour won the 1950 general election by a narrow margin, but in 1951, Attlee decided to go to the country again and was defeated. He was leader of the opposition until his retirement in 1955, when he received the title of Earl Attlee.
Bache, Jules Semon  
1861-1944
American banker and art collector who made an enormous fortune on Wallstreet, organized the banking firm of J. S. Bache and Company, president and treasurer of Dome Mines Limited, director of Chrysler, Lake Superior Railroad, Louisiana Oil Refining, Tennessee Copper & Chemical, Southern Agricultural Company, U.S. Industrial Alcohol Company, New River Collieries, Cuba Distilling, American Indemnity, Anniston City Land, New Amsterdam Casualty, Ann Arbor Railroad, Empire Trust Company and others, member Council on Foreign Relations.
Bail, Ancell H.  
unknown
This name was mentioned by J. Thorkelson, U.S. Congressman from Montana, in a speech to the U.S. House of Representatives on August 20, 1940. More info is not available.
Baker, George Fisher  
1840-1931
Harvard. Fortune of the Baker family estimated at 500 million in 1924 and later grew to about a billion dollars. Chairman of Manhattan's First National Bank, First Security Co., and had directorships in at least 50 other companies. Close associate of J.P. Morgan who wanted him on every board of the companies he financed. Trustee of the Frick Collection (Frick was an associate of Andrew Mellon and was waging a war on his slave-workers). Donated $2,000,000 to Henry Pomeroy Davison (Pilgrim) when he needed money for Red Cross work during WWI. One of the largest philanthropist ever and never appeared in public.
Baker, George Fisher III