A place on the roll
Founding members are recorded, by name, in the society’s first roll — a document that is written once and then never reopened. It is the one benefit of membership that cannot be bought later.
The Founding Roll
Put your name
at the beginning
A clan society is founded once. Everyone who comes after joins something that already exists — founding members decide what it is. That invitation is open now, and it will not be open indefinitely.
Eligibility
Who can join
More people than usually think they can. Scottish clan membership has never been a narrow matter of surname and male descent.
- By nameAnyone bearing the name Ogilvy, Ogilvie, Ogilby or any of its variant spellings.
- By descentAnyone descended from an Ogilvy — including through the female line, and including by adoption into an Ogilvy family.
- By septAnyone bearing one of the recognised sept names associated with the clan.
- By friendshipSpouses, partners, and friends of the clan who wish to support its work.
You do not need a completed pedigree to apply. A family story and a surname are a perfectly good place to start — helping you firm it up is part of what the society does.
Founding Membership
What it carries
A voice in the charter
Founding members are consulted on the constitution, the officers, the calendar of gatherings, and which causes in Scotland and at home the society will actually support.
Genealogical support
Access to shared research on Ogilvy descent, emigration records and spelling variants — and members who have already walked the route you are trying to walk.
Gatherings
The annual clan dinner, Highland games tents, Tartan Day and Burns suppers — plus planned group visits to Angus and the Ogilvy lands.
The clan journal
Regular dispatches: new research, news from Angus, member lineages, and the slow ordinary work of keeping a scattered family in touch with itself.
The badge
Guidance on the crest badge, the correct setts, and where to have them properly made — so that when you wear it, you wear it right.
Make an Enquiry
Write to us
Tell us what you know and what you don’t. Half-remembered family stories are welcome — most lines start exactly there.