The first Philological Society, based in London's Fitzroy Square, was founded in 1792 under the patronage of Thomas Collingwood of St Edmund Hall, Oxford.

[10]: 107–8  Coleridge, and later Furnivall, led the project by compiling quotations, submitted by volunteer readers, illustrating the usage of words.

[13] At a later date, the Society was instrumental in the early stages of the Survey of English Dialects conducted by Harold Orton between 1950 and 1961, helping to develop, amongst other things, a questionnaire for use in gathering data.

[15] Every two years, together with the British Academy the Society organises the Anna Morpurgo Davies Lecture, named in honour of its former president.

[17] Every year, the Society further awards a limited number of bursaries valued at up to £15,000 each to students embarking on taught postgraduate programmes in all areas of linguistics or philology.