This paper was delivered by invitation as the opening plenary address at the 16th International Conference of Historical Geographers held at the Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers) in London, UK, 5–10 July 2015. That series of conferences had its origins in a British‐Canadian symposium held in Kingston, Ontario, Canada, in 1975. Coincidentally, the Journal of Historical Geography was also founded in 1975. This paper assesses the contributions of the ICHG and of the JHG to the internationalisation of historical geography during the first 40 years of their existences. It provides some reflections not only on their significant, positive, contributions but also on the problems raised by their structures, breadth of coverage, costs, and use only of the English language. It concludes by acknowledging the role of other international gatherings of historical geographers and of other journals of historical geography.