Notable members of the society when it was formed in 1864 included Furnivall himself, Alfred Tennyson (poet laureate), Warren de la Rue (inventor of the lightbulb), Richard Chenevix Trench (Irish ecclesiastic), the Rev. Richard Morris (the editor of 12 volumes between 1862 and 1880), and others. Anne Hudson was the director from 2006 to 2013. The current director is Vincent Gillespie.