Clan Baird Society Worldwide

Clan Baird Society Worldwide is the oldest and largest modern Clan Baird group. It was established (1963) by Byron Owsley Baird and his wife Frances, in Florida, as well as the Earl of Kintore, Sir James Ian Baird Keith, in Scotland, and is a worldwide organization with members in Australia, Scotland, England, New Zealand, Canada, Spain, and the U.S.. The Society is governed by a Board of Directors, Chieftains, and Honorary Chieftains,. In August 2019, the Lord Lyon King of Arms appointed Richard Holman Baird as Commander of Clan Baird. Richard is the grandson of Sir James Ian Baird Keith, Earl of Kintore. Richard became the hereditary president of Clan Baird Society Worldwide in August of 2020. The Society center moved to Stonehaven, Scotland and his estate of Rickarton at that time.
The main objective of the group is to bring together Bairds of the world, especially those who were a part of the diaspora after each Scottish Rebellion and the Highland Clearances, with those who remained in Scotland.
The Society holds biennial meetings in Scotland and the United States. The 2017 meetings were held in Aboyne, Aberdeenshire, Scotland at the Boat Inn, and at the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, in Linville, North Carolina. The August 2019 meetings were held at the Old Auchmedden Estate of the Bairds in Aberdeenshire, and a Family Convention was held 5 August 2019 at St. Leonard's Hall, Edinburgh, Scotland to recommend a candidate for Commander, a leader for the Bairds for the first time in almost three-hundred years.
Baird Archaeological and Historical Initiative (BAHI) is one of the most important aspects of the Society. The BAHI sponsors projects in history and antiquities each year. In 2017, the sponsored project was St. Drostan's Pilgrimage Walk, New Aberdour, Aberdeenshire, Scotland.
In 2020, the Society decided to form an independent Clan Baird Society Worldwide Foundation, hoping to do more good work in all the countries where Bairds reside. The first project is to work toward restoration of the cemetery of the old St. Drostan's Kirk in Aberdour, Scotland, where so many Bairds of Auchmedden are buried.

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