A 'meeting of persons in favour of the formation of a Branch of the Historical Association of Scotland' was held at the [Royal] High School, Edinburgh, on Wednesday 6 December 1911, at 8p.m. The Rev. Dr. John Morrison took the Chair on the motion of Mr. W. Ross who acted as Secretary. The name of the Branch put forward, voted upon, and carried, was 'Edinburgh and South-East of Scotland Branch'. At this meeting, the Rev. Professor A. R. MacEwen (1851-1916) was proposed as the first President, and this was accepted unanimously. The first annual general meeting (AGM) of the Edinburgh and South-East of Scotland Branch of the Historical Association of Scotland was held on 15 November 1912.

The Rev. Professor A. R. MacEwen was a Scottish writer, and minister, and he was appointed Moderator of the United Free Church of Scotland in 1915. He retired from the Presidency of the Edinburgh and South-East of Scotland Branch (Historical Association of Scotland) in 1916 due to ill-health.

The second President of the Branch was Professor Sir Richard Lodge (1855-1936). He had been Professor of History at the University of Glasgow from 1894-1899 and then Professor of History at the University of Edinburgh from 1899 to 1925. During his time at Edinburgh University he was appointed Dean of the Faculty of Arts. He was a fellow of the Royal Historical Society, and in due course became its President (1929–1933). He was knighted in 1917.

Professor Sir Richard Lodge had also been the founder and first President of the Historical Association of Scotland. He held the Presidency of the Edinburgh and South-East of Scotland Branch of the Association until 1924.

Other early Presidents of the Branch included: Mr. D. P. Heatley; Professor Basil Williams (1867-1950) from 1925-26; Mr. W. C. A. Ross from 1929; Professor Robert Kerr Hannay (1867-1940) from 1933; and, Mr. Evan Whyte Melville Balfour-Melville from 1937.

The Association Branch Meetings were held in diverse locations. Between 1911 and 1937 the Branch met in: the Senate Room, New College, Edinburgh University; the Humanity Classroom, Edinburgh University; the Old History Library, Edinburgh University; the Goold Hall, St. Andrew Square; the Philosophical Institution, Queen Street, Edinburgh; the Retiring Room of the Ecclesiastical History Classroom, Edinburgh University; the Geography Classroom, Edinburgh University; the History Classroom, Edinburgh University; the Psychology Classroom, Edinburgh University; the Latin Classrooms, Edinburgh University; the Greek Classroom, Edinburgh University; and, the Lounge Hall at the YMCA Rooms, St. Andrew Square, Edinburgh.

Varied subjects and lectures were offered at meetings, including: George Savile, Marquis of Halifax; higher historical instruction in schools; Scotland in the Renaissance; the real value and use of history; Agricola and the Roman Conquest of Scotland; the place of London in English political history; Bannockburn; the type of text-book most serviceable in the teaching of history; Norman castles in Scotland; the study of national history; James Durham, a Scottish Divine of the 17th century; early sea voyages; Celtic civilisation; the early navy of Henry VIII; the secret diplomacy of James VI; Tudor policy in Wales; Mazzini; raw material of history; Dutch foreign policy, 1709-1713; history in the primary school; Flodden; and, a demonstration of history broadcasting in schools. Additionally, there were visits to: Register House; Edinburgh University Library (Old College); the then Royal Scottish Museum; David's Tower, Edinburgh Castle; and the then Museum of Antiquities.

There were annual summer excursions to places beyond Edinburgh e.g.: 1912, Linlithgow Palace; 1913, Stirling; 1914, Roman Wall; 1916, Inveresk and Musselburgh; 1917, Craigmillar Castle; 1918, Dunfermline; 1919, the Battlefield of Prestonpans; 1920, Borthwick Castle; 1922, Haddington, Stirling, Kirkliston and Dundas Castle; 1925, Traprain Law, Castle Campbell, and Edinburgh Castle; and, during the 1930s, Dirleton Castle, Inchcolm, Crichton Castle, and Culross.

By the 1960s, the Association as a whole was styled, the Historical Association 'in' Scotland... rather than 'of' Scotland.