Edward Colston was born in Bristol in 1636 in the reign of Charles I and died in 1721 in the reign of George I. In a remarkable life he accumulated immense wealth as a merchant and then used it on an unprecedented scale to found schools and to build almshouses for the "poor and infirm" of Bristol.

Colston's "example of Christian liberality" impressed his friends and colleagues so deeply that they formed the Colston Societies - the Grateful, Dolphin and Anchor Societies - to perpetuate his memory and to keep active his spirit of generosity and liberality.

The Anchor Society was formed in 1769 when it held a dinner at the Three Tuns, a tavern on the site of the present Corn Exchange with 22 members present. At this dinner the President, Gilbert Davis, took up a collection to benefit the poor and elderly in Bristol. Since then there is an unbroken record of Presidents' annual appointments and personal collections.

The dinners of the pre-World War I era were very political affairs, attended by Cabinet ministers, and The Anchor Society tended towards the Whig or Liberal interest; in 1909 Winston Churchill, then President of the Board of Trade, was the guest of honour. The after dinner speeches were regarded as being significant political statements. Today, the Society has no political dimension.

The menu for the 1909 Dinner held in Colston Hall, including a toast to The Liberal Party and a toast to the President proposed by Winston Churchill
- Click the menu to enlarge - Click here to view as a PDF file

Winston Churchill's response to a reminder of the 50th anniversary of the Dinner

In 1917 the annual dinner was held in the President's house when the strictures of the day allowed only past Presidents to attend. In 1943 the dinner was held at lunchtime to avoid the difficulties of the blackout. In 1969, the 200th anniversary of the first dinner, when the President of the Society was His Grace the Duke of Beaufort, the dinner, a memorable occasion, was held at Badminton House.

Today, one of the principal functions of the annual dinner is to announce the result of the President's personal collection made in the first two weeks of November.