The Society of Old Friends is managed by a committee under the leadership of an elected President. The Society’s first President, it’s founder, Jack Barwick, held the position for 16 years until his death.
After that the Old Friends decided that Presidents should serve one year in office and it stayed this way until 2005, when the President’s term was extended to two years.
The notable exception to this was Sidney Goldsack who was elected in 1939. As the war broke out he agreed that he would hold the office until the fighting finished and then serve his year. Of course, he had no idea that the conflict would go on for six years, and despite efforts to pass the mantle to others, the Society kept him in office for 7 years!
A list of all of the Society’s presidents from 1909 to date follows below:
| From | To | |
| W J Barwick | 1909 | 1925 |
| P N McFarlane | 1925 | 1926 |
| R H Shaw | 1926 | 1927 |
| H Spurr | 1927 | 1928 |
| F House | 1928 | 1929 |
| H W Lewis | 1929 | 1930 |
| P Barringer | 1930 | 1931 |
| F C Guildford | 1931 | 1932 |
| F G Hollands | 1932 | 1933 |
| W Akerman | 1933 | 1934 |
| C Tollit | 1934 | 1935 |
| H G Culliford | 1935 | 1936 |
| S J Green | 1936 | 1937 |
| O Anderson | 1937 | 1938 |
| A E Rawlinson | 1938 | 1939 |
| S J Goldsack | 1939 | 1946 |
| H J S Ryman | 1946 | 1947 |
| H W Holt | 1947 | 1948 |
| G Staples | 1948 | 1949 |
| W A G Morgan | 1949 | 1950 |
| E P Elliott | 1950 | 1951 |
| H S Spurgeon | 1951 | 1952 |
| G Batchelor | 1952 | 1953 |
| L Pagliero | 1953 | 1954 |
| W B Phillips | 1954 | 1955 |
| A D Rawlinson | 1955 | 1956 |
| J J Ray | 1956 | 1957 |
| H F Guildford | 1957 | 1958 |
| C R Edgeley | 1958 | 1959 |
| H L Morbey | 1959 | 1960 |
| R A Last | 1960 | 1961 |
| T O Marston | 1961 | 1962 |
| E W Godfrey | 1962 | 1963 |
| W H Burnham | 1963 | 1964 |
| W K Oliver | 1964 | 1965 |
| R Patterson | 1965 | 1966 |
| G F Hayward | 1966 | 1967 |
| R Hastain | 1967 | 1968 |
| L V Chapman | 1968 | 1969 |
| E C Pryor (Died in Office) | 1969 | |
| D N Ascoli | 1969 | 1970 |
| D S Wylie | 1970 | 1971 |
| S R Branwhite | 1971 | 1972 |
| G H Weinberger | 1972 | 1973 |
| R W Waite | 1973 | 1974 |
| P J Pullinger | 1974 | 1975 |
| C J L Knight | 1975 | 1976 |
| A G Thackston | 1976 | 1977 |
| P D Newman MBE | 1977 | 1978 |
| K A Ells | 1978 | 1979 |
| H Kesselman | 1979 | 1980 |
| D F Hall | 1980 | 1981 |
| S R Wicks JP | 1981 | 1982 |
| A F Howe | 1982 | 1983 |
| P R Corliss | 1983 | 1984 |
| S D Vaughan | 1984 | 1985 |
| D C Alderson | 1985 | 1986 |
| J Kearns | 1986 | 1987 |
| T P Tully | 1987 | 1988 |
| M Topper | 1988 | 1989 |
| W C Holland | 1989 | 1990 |
| R W Murphy | 1990 | 1991 |
| A F Nelson | 1991 | 1992 |
| G Demetriou | 1992 | 1993 |
| L Cramphorn | 1993 | 1994 |
| B Tolley | 1994 | 1995 |
| G Cooke | 1995 | 1996 |
| M Dugdale | 1996 | 1997 |
| J Straker | 1997 | 1998 |
| A Crouse | 1998 | 1999 |
| M Bunch | 1999 | 2000 |
| G Barton | 2000 | 2001 |
| P Young | 2001 | 2003 |
| G Making | 2003 | 2004 |
| J Webster | 2004 | 2005 |
| G Davis | 2005 | 2007 |
| T Lewis | 2007 | 2009 |
| M James | 2009 | 2011 |
| G Betts | 2011 | 2013 |
| K Banks | 2013 | 2015 |
| K D Mistry | 2015 | 2017 |
| D S Langdown | 2017 | 2019 |
| S Robinson | 2019 | 2022 |
| J Logan | 2022 |