In the summer of 1884 prominent Burnsians were attending the unveiling of a bust of Robert Burns in Poet's corner of Westminster Abbey. A casual remark of David Mackay to David Sneddon and Colin Rae Brown led to a preliminary meeting in London and to an inaugural meeting in Kilmarnock on 17th July 1885 to form the Burns Federation. Seventeen gentlemen sat at the meeting, fourteen from Kilmarnock Burns Club, two from Glasgow and one though originally from Greenock now resident in London. As already reported, a member of this Society, John G Paterson, was President of the Robert Burns World Federation during 2005/2006.