As much as onlookers could see him underneath all that armor, the knight of St. George looked slightly bewildered Friday night at the English Ball, the annual fund-raising event of the St. George’s Society of New York.

But knights are never fearful for long. Standing on a side balcony in the Pierre hotel ballroom, this one quickly regained his composure and rolled out his scroll to fulfill his central duty: introducing the first female president of the society, Natalie Pray. (Rescuing damsels is so passe these days, and besides, Mrs. Pray, an Australian who is married to the Greenwich car-dealership magnate Malcolm Pray, an American, certainly needs none of that.)

Taking her cue, Mrs. Pray walked to the podium, taking leave of her distinguished guests, including the United Kingdom’s consul general in New York, Sir Philip Thomas, and the group chief executive of British Petroleum, Lord Browne of Madingley, who was being honored at the event.

Unlike the knight, Mrs. Pray was instantly at ease in front of her captive audience.

“As King Henry VIII said to his wives, I will not keep you long,” she said.

There were toasts to the queen and the president, as well as greetings to presidents of other societies, including the president of the New England Society, Alan Frese, and the president of the St. Nicholas Society, William Follett.

Then Mrs. Pray reminded guests of their charitable purpose, to provide monetary support to needy men and women from the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth who live in New York. Currently, 70 beneficiaries receive an average of $5,000 a year.

“Tonight, we are St. George and our dragons are poverty, sickness, disability, and distress,” Mrs. Pray said.

She and the other guests were mighty knights: The event raised more than $300,000, including $44,000 collected at a live auction conducted by George McNeely of Christie’s.

The event is beloved among the members of the St. George’s Society of New York, which was founded April 23, 1770, and had its first annual dinner at Fraunces Tavern.

“I’ve been in America too long. This is a chance to celebrate our British heritage,” one member, Jeff Downey, said.

In contrast, another, Robert Brooker, seemed relieved to have a more American-sounding name than his father, Evan Ethelbert Llewelyn Brooker, who was born at Barbados, where his family lived for 200 years.

Nancy and Andrew Mead were happy to be reunited with friends of more than 20 years, Philip and Dorothy McLean. When the couples met, living at Beacon Hill in Boston, they discovered they had both lived at the same house (at separate times) in East Oxford, England, at 60 Perry St.

“This is about old friends,” Mrs. Mead said. “There’s no other event like this, unless one of our other friends gets married.”