Buddhist Society

The Buddhist Society in London was founded in 1924 by Christmas Humphreys, a man who led a double life as both a high-ranking British judge and a pioneering figure in Western Buddhism. Humphreys served as a prosecutor and later a judge at the Old Bailey, balancing his demanding career in the criminal courts with a devotion to Buddhist practice that spanned nearly sixty years. He established the society initially as an offshoot of the Theosophical movement before it became an independent organization, eventually moving into its current townhouse location in Eccleston Square in 1956.