In the 2001 census 140,000 people described themselves as Buddhists - about one in a hundred. But the range of people drawn to Buddhism has been very broad. It first arrived in London not with groups for whom it was an indigenous faith, but with Westerners who had gone overseas - often as part of the colonial project, or as missionaries - and brought back ideas of what Buddhism was like.

Late 18th century accounts of Buddhism came first from the Asiatic Society - whose leading light was Sir William Jones. Lacking access to the oldest Sanscrit texts about Buddhism, his theories were wildly off the mark, and envisaged a prehistoric intercontinental religion, just an Indo-European is the basis for a vast swathe of languages. He seems to have conflated Buddha with Hinduism. He wrote:

"The Hindu religion spread probably over the whole earth, there are signs of it in every northern country, and in almost every system of worship; in England it is obvious: Stonehenge is evidently one of the temples of Boodh."

As late as 1834, Henry O'Brien was speculating that the Round Towers of Ireland has been constructed by an ancient migrating tribe of Buddhists.

This Victorian romanticism fuelled by lack of knowledge, gradually receeded in the face of real information about the faith. Lawrence Sutin, whose 'All Is Change' gives a detailed account of the transmission of Buddhism to the West says that Brian Houghton Hodgson (1800 - 1894) was the first to read Buddhist writings (in Nepal). His mid 19th century writings more accurately portrayed the history of the religion.

Knowledge of Buddhism reached a popular Victorian audience in Edwin Arnold's The Light of Asia a poem telling the story of Buddha's life and enlightenment. Some argue that Arnold himself was a Buddhist. A later Buddhist convert Anagarika Sugatananada (Francis Story) writes:

"Personally I have no doubt Arnold was a Buddhist at heart. But many people in the West still feel that being a Buddhist does not exact any public avowal..... And in Arnold's time, more than now, an open declaration of Buddhism by a prominent and titled man would have caused something of a scandal."

Of course at the same time as Victorians were discovering Buddhism, Chinese sailors were coming to the ports of London, who would have had at least an element of Buddhism in their cultural practices. untoldLondon has made some enquiries on the subject, but so far there seems to have been little research on 'Limehouse' Buddhism. We do not know whether Chinese Buddhists had any influence on their white middle class counterparts in London.

Theosophists

From the late 19th century onwards, Westerners began to be converted to the faith, and organise their own Buddhist societies. Many were attracted to the Theosophical Society, run by Madame Blavatsky. Although Blavatsky's work was dogged by accusations of fraud, and many early members left, it led many people into a deeper exploration of Buddhism. One of these was Christmas Humphreys who founded the Buddhist Society.

The Buddhist Society

The Buddhist Society was founded in 1924 by Christmas Humphreys, a lawyer, his future wife Aileen Faulkner and a group of friends. The Society then had a white middle class demographic. It settled at 58 Eccleston Square in the 1950s, which is still the home of its operations. It has an informal connecting role between the many different Buddhist groups in London, and offers a library and classes in Buddhist practice and meditation.

Pictures and documents from the life of the Buddhist Society are now held by Westminster Archives including this picture showing the visit of the King and Queen of Thailand.

An average gathering at the Society today includes a mix of Buddhists from many backgrounds - including many who have converted to Buddhism from another faith.

During the 20th century migrants from many Asian countries brought many versions of Buddhism to the capital. Korean, Thai, Tibetan and Chinese temples can all be found in London - as well as meditation centres using the precepts of Buddhism as the basis of their work. You can find some of them mentioned here.