THE NATIONAL—OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE—UNITED UNIVERSITY—NEW UNIVERSITY—NEW
OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE—UNITED SERVICE—ARMY AND NAVY—NAVAL AND
MILITARY—GUARDS—ROYAL NAVAL CLUB—CALEDONIAN—JUNIOR ATHENÆUM
About the most valuable artistic possession owned by any London club is
the fine set of Flemish tapestries in the drawing-room of the National
Club, 1 Whitehall Gardens. These were acquired with the club-house in
1845 from Lord Ailsa, who had bought them in Belgium shortly after
Waterloo. The price paid was very moderate—£200—and at the present time
the tapestries in question are in all probability worth over ten times
as much.
A curious and interesting feature at the National is the building which
now serves as a billiard-room; careful inspection reveals that in the
days before the construction of the Thames Embankment this was a
boat-house, up to which water flowed. An old member of the club
perfectly remembers barges coming up the river and unloading the bricks
with which an additional story was built.
The National Club was originally founded for those holding strongly
Evangelical views; the late Lord Shaftesbury, of philanthropic fame, was
a member, and to it some staunch pillars of Protestantism still belong.
Of recent years a number of Government officials and literary men have
somewhat relieved the austerity of tone which formerly prevailed, but
the National yet adheres to most of the practices instituted at its
foundation, and remains the only club where morning and evening prayers
are regularly read.
The tone of the National is rather more intellectual than that of the
majority of West End clubs. It somewhat resembles that of the grave
institutions frequented by Deans and Bishops, where the membership is
limited to those who have been at one of the great Universities.
Of such clubs, the best known is the Oxford and Cambridge, which was
originally started, in 1830, at a meeting presided over by Lord
Palmerston at the British Coffee-house, in Cockspur Street. The club’s
first home was a house in St. James’s Square, where it remained till
suitable premises were built, in 1836–37, on the Crown property in Pall
Mall. These premises it still occupies. The architects were Sir Robert
Smirke and his brother Sydney, who produced an imposing façade on Pall
Mall, with very rich ornamental details. In panels over the upper
windows, seven in number, are arranged several bas-reliefs, executed by
Mr. Nicholl, who was also employed on those of the Fitzwilliam Museum at
Cambridge. The subject of that at the east end of the building is Homer;
then follow Bacon and Shakespeare. The centre panel contains a group of
Apollo and the Muses, with Minerva on his right hand, and a female,
personifying the fountain Hippocrene, on his left. The three remaining
panels represent Milton, Newton, and Virgil.
In addition to many ordinary amenities of club-life, two chief
attractions here are the fine library and the excellent cellar, which
enjoys a well-deserved reputation for fine claret.
The United University Club, the entrance of which is in Suffolk Street,
Pall Mall, was originally housed in a building constructed by W.
Wilkins, R.A., and J. P. Gandy, in 1826. An upper floor, with a
smoking-room, was added in 1852. A few years ago, however, the
club-house was entirely rebuilt from designs by Blomfield, the new
club-house being a sort of compromise between the Adam and Louis Seize
styles. A feature of this club is the very interesting collection of
Oxford University Calendars, with ornately engraved views and scenes,
many of them highly picturesque and quaint. The smoking-room also
contains a number of views of colleges, whilst in the dining-room hang
portraits in oil of the first Duke of Wellington, Lord Melbourne, and
Mr. Gladstone. Membership of this club is limited to 1,000—500 of the
University of Oxford, and 500 of the University of Cambridge.
This was Mr. Gladstone’s favourite club, where he might sometimes have
been seen partaking of a simple dinner, his attention divided between a
chop and some learned work.
Members of this club must have taken a degree at one of the two great
Universities, and many distinguished men have belonged to it—the Church
and the Bar being generally well represented.
The New University Club, in St. James’s Street, built by Alfred
Waterhouse, R.A., in 1868, and the New Oxford and Cambridge, in Pall
Mall, are also flourishing institutions, which, however, do not appear
to contain any pictures or _objets d’art_ of conspicuous interest.
Amongst the most important clubs of London are those used by the
military. In old days most officers spent a good deal of time in London,
many leading a life of luxurious ease. A curious incident illustrating
this occurred in 1858.
In that year, on the occasion of one of the regiments of the Life Guards
being ordered to take part in a course of instruction at Aldershot, a
wealthy Captain tendered his resignation. The Commander-in-Chief,
however, declined to accept it, and eventually the gallant Captain was
persuaded by his Colonel to remain in the regiment, and undergo for a
short period the vicissitudes of camp life. At that time it was with
some difficulty that officers could be obtained for the Household
Cavalry, for to be a military man was often much the same thing as being
a man of pleasure. Clubs were thronged with officers at certain times of
the year. Though this state of affairs has passed away, the service
clubs still retain their popularity. Excellent management distinguishes
these institutions, of which the first to be established was the United
Service. This was founded in May 1831, as the General Military Club for
naval and military officers, by Sir Thomas Graham (afterwards Lord
Lynedoch), Lord Hill, and some other officers. Naval men, however, were
admitted in the following year, when the name was changed. At first it
was only open to officers of field rank, beginning with a Major in the
army, and the corresponding rank of Commander in the navy. The club’s
original abode was in Charles Street, St. James’s; the site of the
present premises in Pall Mall was obtained ten years later on a ninety
years’ lease from the Crown. The old club-house was then sold to the new
Junior United Service Club for £17,442, which considerable sum went to
defray the cost of the new building in Pall Mall. This, with furniture,
amounted to £49,743. Nash was the architect, and it was finished in
November 1828. An addition was made about 1858 by the acquisition of the
lease of the adjoining site, the sum of £34,000 being spent in
connecting it with the older house and adapting it for the purposes of a
club.
The club-house is a fine building with a classical portico in the front
facing Pall Mall. The interior is well planned, and is a good specimen
of the style popular in Nash’s day. The Senior and Junior United
Service, with the Army and Navy, or “Rag,” once received the three
nicknames of “Cripplegate,” “Billingsgate,” and “Hellgate”—the first
from the prevailing advanced years and infirmity of its members; the
second on account of the supposed tendencies of certain officers who
followed the traditions of the army which “swore in Flanders”; and the
last from its love of high play.
The United Service contains many interesting pictures and some
statuary, the most striking example of which, in the entrance hall, is
a colossal bust of the Duke of Wellington, by Pistrucci. Six other
busts represent Lord Seaton, by G. G. Adam; King William IV, by
Joseph; Nelson, by Flaxman; Sir Henry Keppel, by H.S.H. Prince Victor
of Hohenlohe-Langenburg; and Lieutenant-General Lord Cardigan, by
Marochetti (the gift of his widow). The sculptor of the sixth bust,
representing Admiral Sir Thomas M. Hardy, Bart., is unknown.
The pictures in the morning-, coffee-, and smoking-rooms include the
following portraits: Admiral Viscount Exmouth (a copy by S. Lane, after
Lawrence); General Sir John Moore (a copy by W. Robinson, after
Lawrence); Major-General Charles G. Gordon, by Dickinson, from a
photograph; Field-Marshal Lord Raglan, by F. Grant; Field-Marshal Lord
Clyde (a copy by Graves, after F. Grant); Admiral Lord Rodney (a copy by
Bullock, after Reynolds); Field-Marshal H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, by
A. S. Cope, A.R.A.; Field-Marshal Sir John F. Burgoyne, by Graves, from
a photograph; Field-Marshal Viscount Combermere, by W. Ross; Charles,
fifth Duke of Richmond, K.G., by A. Baccani; John, first Duke of
Marlborough, by Sir G. Kneller; Field-Marshal the Marquis of Anglesey (a
copy by W. Ross, after Lawrence); General Lord Lynedoch, by Sir T.
Lawrence; Admiral Lord de Saumarez, by S. Lane; General Sir James
Macdonell (a copy by Say); Admiral Earl St. Vincent, by Sir W. Beechey;
Admiral Sir Thomas Troubridge, Bart., by S. Drummond; Earl de Grey, by
H. W. Pickersgill; Field-Marshal Viscount Gough, by Sir F. Grant, R.A.;
Lieutenant-General Lord Saltoun, by Sir T. Lawrence; Vice-Admiral Sir
Francis Drake (a copy by Lane from an original in the possession of the
donor, Sir T. T. Drake); General Sir Ralph Abercrombie, by Colvin Smith;
Admiral of the Fleet Sir George Cockburn, by T. Mackay; Field-Marshal
Sir Edward Blakeney, by Catterson Smith, R.H.A.; General Viscount
Beresford, by Reuben Sayers; Field-Marshal Lord Seaton, by W. Fisher;
General Hon. Sir G. Lowry Cole (a copy by Harrison after Lawrence);
Admiral Sir Pulteney Malcolm (a copy by Dickinson, after Lane); General
Sir J. Frederick Love, by A. Baccani; Field-Marshal Lord Strathnairn, by
Bassano, from a photograph; Admiral Viscount Keith (a copy by Hayes,
after Saunders); Admiral Sir Charles Napier, by J. M. Joy; General
George Augustus Elliott, Lord Heathfield (a copy by S. Lane, after Sir
T. Reynolds); Admiral Earl Howe (a copy by J. Harrison); the Emperor
Napoleon I, by an unknown artist (the gift of Colonel Bivar); Allied
Generals before Sevastopol; Major-General Sir R. Dick, by W. Salter;
General Sir George Brown, by Werner; Field-Marshal Lord Napier of
Magdala (a replica by S. Dickenson); Admiral of the Fleet Sir Thomas
Byam Martin, by T. Mackay.
The grand staircase is embellished by a statue of H.R.H. the Duke of
York, by T. Campbell, and the following pictures: The Battle of
Trafalgar, by C. Stanfield; Admiral Lord Nelson, the head by Jackson,
finished by W. Robinson; Field-Marshal the Duke of Wellington, by W.
Robinson; General Lord Hill, a replica by H. W. Pickersgill; and Admiral
Lord Collingwood, a copy by Colvin Smith, after Owen. There is also a
picture of The Battle of Waterloo, by G. Jones.
In the upper billiard-room is a picture of the Battle of Trafalgar, the
frame of which is wood from the timbers of the _Victory_.
The Junior United Service Club, amongst other valuable pictures,
possesses two from the brush of Sir Thomas Lawrence. Here are also a
number of military relics, including the sword which Lord Hill carried
at Waterloo. A more grim souvenir is some locks of hair from the heads
of women and children massacred during the Indian Mutiny at Cawnpore.
Lord Kitchener and Sir John French are old members of this club.
[Illustration:
THE ARMY AND NAVY CLUB.
From an early drawing.
]
The Army and Navy Club, in Pall Mall, known as the “Rag,” possesses one
of the finest club-houses in the world. It was originally established as
the Army Club, but owing to a desire expressed by the Iron Duke, naval
officers were admitted, and the name altered in consequence. The
club-house in Pall Mall was only opened some ten years later, having
been built as a copy of the Palazzo Rezzonico at Venice. The original
model for the building is still in the club. Captain William Duff, of
the 23rd Royal Welsh Fusiliers, first invented the nickname of the
“Rag.” He was a celebrated man about town at a time when
knocker-wrenching and other similar pranks were in favour; Billy Duff’s
exploits in such a line were notorious. Coming in to supper late one
night, the refreshment obtainable appeared so meagre that he nicknamed
the club the “Rag and Famish.” This tickled the fancy of the members,
and a club button, bearing the nickname and a starving man gnawing a
bone, was designed, and for a time worn by many members in evening
dress. Such buttons are still made.
The original premises occupied by the Army and Navy Club, when it was
opened in 1838, were at the corner of King Street and St. James’s
Square, in a house, then numbered 16, which in 1814 had been Lord
Castlereagh’s. Two doors down was the house occupied by Mrs. Boehm in
1815. This lady, who “gave fashionable balls and masquerades,” was
entertaining the Prince Regent at dinner when the news of the victory of
Waterloo arrived. The post-chaise, containing Major Henry Percy, with
the despatches, stopped first at Lord Castlereagh’s, and then went on to
Mrs. Boehm’s. The carriage, out of the windows of which three French
eagles projected, was followed by a great crowd. The site of Mrs.
Boehm’s house now forms part of the East India United Service Club.
Before the Army and Navy Club, another club, the Oxford and Cambridge
New University, occupied No. 16. The Army and Navy remained here until
the purchase of its present freehold site; but while the new house was
being built it moved into No. 13, then known as Lichfield House, and the
next but one to the north-west corner of the square. It was so called
after the Earl of Lichfield, who was Postmaster-General in Lord
Melbourne’s Administration, and it was the home of the club until
February 25, 1851.
The new club-house has a frontage of 80 feet in Pall Mall and 100 feet
in St. James’s Square. The price of the site, together with the
excavations, concreting, and so forth, amounted to £52,000; the building
cost £54,000, and furnishing £10,000 more; so that the total outlay on
the club-house was £116,000. The architects were Messrs. Parnell and
Smith, who adopted as their model the well-known Palazzo Rezzonico,
which occupies a prominent position on the Grand Canal in Venice.
Representations of this palace hang in various rooms of the club. The
builders of the house were Messrs. Trego, Smith, and Appleford, and the
first stone of the new building was laid on May 13, 1848, by Colonel
Daniell, of the Coldstream Guards.
The freeholds purchased by the club included a house owned by the
trustees of the Baroness de Mauley, which had formerly been in the
possession of Spencer, Earl of Wilmington, and afterwards of John, Earl
of Buckinghamshire. This was No. 20, St. James’s Square, which had at
more recent dates been occupied by the Hon. W. Ponsonby and by the
Parthenon and Colonial Clubs. Other properties purchased were the
freehold of Mr. Martineau, No. 3 George Street; Nos. 36 and 37, the
freehold of Mr. Malton; Mrs. Justice’s freehold, No. 38 Pall Mall; and
that of Mr. Tegart, No. 39 Pall Mall.
This club contains some interesting relics; amongst them, in the
smoking-room, is a mantelpiece from the Malmaison, carved by Canova. One
of the figures supporting this, however, is modern, and the difference
from the other carved by the great sculptor can be clearly discerned.
Another treasured possession of the Army and Navy Club is the Nell Gwynn
mirror, which is over the fireplace in the members’ smoking-room. This
was in Lord de Mauley’s house, and is probably a genuine relic. A silver
fruit-knife which is said to have belonged to the celebrated beauty,
bearing the date 1680, has its place in the smoking-room, just below the
mirror. The portrait of her by Sir Peter Lely which hangs in the same
room was presented by a member, and took the place of another for years
said to be Louise de Querouaille. In reality, this represents Mary of
Modena.
As late as the eighteenth century the back room on the ground-floor of
the old house on this site was covered with looking-glass, as was said
to have been the ceiling also. Over the chimney-piece was a picture of
Nell Gwynn, whilst a portrait of her sister hung in another room. The
house then belonged to Thomas Brand, Esq., of the Hoo, in Hertfordshire.
The tradition that Nell Gwynn lived in the house standing on the ground
now occupied by the Army and Navy Club, whilst now generally accepted,
has been questioned by some. According to another tradition it was the
house opposite—up to recent years used as part of the War Office—which
really belonged to the Merry Monarch’s favourite. This, it is said,
communicated by an underground passage with the house pulled down when
the present club was built. The passage was stopped up within the last
fifty years.
Whether or not Nell Gwynn resided in a house on the site of which the
Army and Navy Club now stands, it is at any rate certain that part of it
was connected with the grant made by Charles II to her; for among the
title-deeds of the club property is a deed, dated 1725, which recites
that King Charles II, by letters patent dated April 1 in the seventeenth
year of his reign, gave and granted unto certain persons several pieces
or parcels of ground which formed part of a field or close called Pell
Mell Field, otherwise St. James’s Field. This grant was made on the
nomination of Henry Jermyn, Earl of St. Albans, to Baptist May and
Abraham Cowley, in trust for the second Earl of St. Albans, his heirs
and assigns, for ever. Evelyn records in his Diary that he saw and heard
the King (Charles II) in familiar discourse with “an impudent comedian,
Mrs. Nellie, as they called her,” who was looking over the garden wall
of a house standing on the north side of Pall Mall. The “Mall” was not
then the same as the present street, but an avenue shaded by trees lying
north of it, and following the line of the present south side of St.
James’s Square, so that a house on the north side of Pall Mall might
very well occupy the position of the corner house incorporated with the
club.
A constant frequenter of the Army and Navy Club in old days was Prince
Louis Napoleon, afterwards the Emperor Napoleon III, who always took
great interest in everything connected with it. He had known it as a
young man when—an obscure and impoverished exile—he lived in a modest
lodging in King Street, St. James’s, in the immediate neighbourhood of
the club, which he practically made his home. Soon after his accession
to power in France, he presented the club with the fine piece of
tapestry which hangs on the grand staircase. This is dated 1849, the
year after he became Prince President of the French Republic. It
represents “The Worship of Pales,” and is of Gobelins manufacture in
1784.
The Emperor ever cherished a kindly feeling for the club. When he
returned to England after his downfall, he gladly resumed his honorary
membership, and on his visits to town from Chislehurst he was frequently
seen in the club, lunching constantly in the coffee-room, with his
equerry seated opposite to him. He never failed to express a great
liking for the club, because, as he said, he was always treated in it as
a private person, and, except when he wished it, no particular notice
was taken of him. It may be added that quite a number of interesting
works of art relating to the Bonapartes are possessed by the club, and
are kept in the visitors’ drawing-room.
The Army and Navy Club contains what amounts to quite a collection of
pictures, statuary, and works of art, some acquired by purchase, others
gifts of various members of the club. In the first category is a
colossal bust of Queen Victoria, by Alfred Gilbert, R.A., which is a
replica of that exhibited in the Royal Academy in 1887—the Jubilee year.
Another bust executed for the club, to replace one of plaster which had
been broken, is that of Field-Marshal H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, the
President of the club. This bust was executed by Admiral H.S.H. Prince
Victor of Hohenlohe (Count Gleichen), R.N., who was for many years, and
until within a short time of his death, a member of the club. Two
portraits in the inner hall—one of Queen Victoria, the other of the Duke
of Wellington—were purchased by subscription.
Two interesting marble busts of T.R.H. the Prince and Princess of Wales
were presented by Admiral Sir Arthur Cumming, K.C.B. The late Captain J.
S. Manning, 1st Dragoon Guards, made some liberal gifts to the club,
including the clock and marble case on the centre chimney-piece in the
coffee-room. This member also gave several portraits, including one of
the first President of the club, H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, and of
Lord Nelson. Two silver snuff-boxes and a picture of the Battle of
Camperdown were likewise presented by him.
In the coffee-room, panelled with portraits of distinguished officers,
are two fine busts of Wellington and Nelson, both presented by members.
A particularly interesting relic in the possession of the club is a
miniature portrait of Lady Hamilton, which was found in Lord Nelson’s
cabin after his death at Trafalgar, and which was presented to the club
by J. Penry Williams, Esq., late 1st Royals. The club also possesses
autograph letters of Lord Nelson and of the first Duke of Wellington.
The Army and Navy started with a smoking-room at the very top of the
house, but in course of time gave up first one and then a second
strangers’ coffee-room to lovers of tobacco. A lift has now been
constructed to convey visitors to the original smoking-room upstairs. A
determined effort was made a few years back to allow smoking in the
beautiful morning-room facing Pall Mall, but this was defeated by a
small section of the older but fast-diminishing set opposed to smoking.
A curious feature of the Army and Navy Club is the position of a
fireplace in the entrance hall, where it is under a short flight of
stairs leading to the main staircase. At first sight one is puzzled to
imagine where the outlet for the smoke can be. In the same club-house is
another fireplace situated directly beneath a window—a most unusual but
agreeable position.
In 1862 the only service clubs existing in London were the United
Service, Junior United Service, and Army and Navy, which were all full.
To meet the want of another, a service club—the Naval and Military—was
founded in March of that year by a party of officers chiefly belonging
to The Buffs, then quartered at the Tower of London. These officers
were: Major W. H. Cairnes, The Buffs; Captain W. Stewart, The Buffs;
Lieutenant F. T. Jones, The Buffs; Captain L. C. Barber, R.E.; and H. H.
Barber, Esq., late 17th Lancers.
The club commenced with 150 members, at an entrance fee of £15 15s., a
home subscription of £5 5s., and a supernumerary subscription of 10s.
The first club-house was at No. 18 Clifford Street. Soon, however, it
was found too small, and at the end of 1863 a move was made to more
commodious premises at No. 22 Hanover Square, where the club remained
until the end of 1865. Cambridge House, full of Palmerstonian
associations, was taken in 1865, and opened in April of the next year.
On the renewal of the lease in 1876, it was determined to make the house
as perfect as possible. Alterations were carried on from December of
that year till April 1878, during which time the original house was
entirely renovated. The structure was also enlarged, a new dining-room,
billiard-rooms, offices, and cellars being added on the site of the
stables and other offices.
The upper smoking-room, in which hangs a portrait of General Sir W.
Nott, G.C.B., and some engravings after Hogarth, was once Lord
Palmerston’s bedroom, from which formerly a small semi-secret staircase
led to Whitehorse Street, by which it is said foreign spies and other
desirable or undesirable persons were admitted. The present card-room
was Lady Palmerston’s bedroom, opening into her boudoir—the octagon
room, which retains a beautiful ceiling.
Mr. Gladstone used to say that Lord and Lady Palmerston once formed a
Ministry in this octagon room.
The present library was the ball-room, and the State apartments were _en
suite_.
The Duke of Cambridge—tenth child of George III—lived at Cambridge House
till his death in 1850, the year in which Queen Victoria, who had gone
to inquire after his health, was struck with a cane by Robert Pate, a
retired officer, just as the royal carriage was driving out of the gate.
Her bonnet was crushed over her forehead, and her cheek hurt.
Pate was transported for seven years.
A number of portraits and busts are in the Naval and Military—the Duke
of Wellington; Napoleon; Nelson, after Hoppner; Queen Victoria, by
Winterhalter; and George III, by Beechey. Some fine heads presented by
members also decorate this club, which is one of the most comfortable
and best managed in London.
An interesting feature is the roll of honour in the corridor. This bears
the names of members who have lost their lives in the service of their
country since the foundation of the club.
The Junior Naval and Military club, almost next door to the Naval and
Military, was founded about ten years ago, and has a large membership,
mostly drawn from officers of junior rank. The club-house is one of the
few modern buildings in London which have a façade of excellent though
restrained design. The exterior of this club affords an agreeable
contrast to most buildings of recent years, being quite free from the
superabundance of decoration which now disfigures so many West End
thoroughfares.
The Guards’ Club was established in 1813 at a house in St. James’s
Street, next Crockford’s. The present club-house, however, was erected
only as far back as 1848; it was built from the designs of Mr. Henry
Harrison. Established for the three regiments of Foot Guards, it seems
originally to have been conducted on a military system. Billiards and
low whist were the only games indulged in. The dinner was, perhaps,
better than at most clubs, and considerably cheaper.
The Guards’ club-house in St. James’s Street fell down on November 9,
1827, in consequence, it was said, of the walls being undermined in the
preparation for building a foundation to the new subscription house
about to be erected next door by Mr. Crockford. The following
epigrammatic verses were written on this occasion:
“‘Mala vicini pecoris contagia lædunt.’
What can these workmen be about?
Do, Crockford, let the secret out,
Why thus your houses fall.
Quoth he: ‘Since folks are not in town,
I find it better to pull down,
Than have no pull at all.’
“See, passenger, at Crockford’s high behest,
Red-coats by black-legs ousted from their nest;
The arts of peace o’ermatching reckless war,
And gallant Rouge undone by wily Noir!
“‘Impar congressus’ …
Fate gave the word—the king of dice and cards
In an unguarded moment took the Guards;
Contriv’d his neighbours in a trice to drub,
And did the trick by—turning up a club.
“‘Nullum simile est idem.’
’Tis strange how some will differ—some advance
That the Guards’ club-house was pulled down by chance;
While some, with juster notions in their mazard,
Stoutly maintain the deed was done by hazard.”
The Guards’ Club, it should be added, is considered as a guard-house,
and can be used by officers on duty.
In St. James’s Square is the East India United Service Club, which was
founded in 1849. The present club-house really consists of two
mansions—Nos. 14 and 15—which were formed into one commodious and
handsome building by the skill of the architect—Mr. Adam Lee. The East
India United is of course an essentially Anglo-Indian club, and many
distinguished officials—civil as well as military—have been members.
A number of pictures and prints are in this club-house, most of the
portraits of famous Anglo-Indians being copies of originals in the India
Office, National Portrait Gallery, and elsewhere.
An interesting piece of plate here is a silver vase presented by the
Patriotic Fund at Lloyd’s to Commodore Sir Nathaniel Dance, H.E.I.C.,
upon the occasion of his defeating a French squadron on February 15,
1804. This was lent to the club in October 1895, by the great-nephew of
the Commodore, G. W. Dance, Esq., B.C.S.
A quite modern military club, which has prospered exceedingly, is the
Cavalry, which was started in 1895 for officers who had served in the
various mounted arms, English and Indian cavalry, Royal Horse Artillery,
and Imperial Yeomanry. Unlike several other clubs started about the same
time, it flourished, and has a membership of 1,300. Here there is a
dining-room to which ladies are admitted as guests, which has no doubt
contributed to the success of the club.
During the last year the comfortable club-house in Piccadilly was
enlarged, and it is now capable of accommodating a larger number of
members than before.
Little is ever heard of the Royal Naval Club—one of the oldest in the
world, for it originated about 1674. Many great Admirals have belonged
to this convivial dining club, including Nelson, who is generally
supposed to have belonged to no club. At one time these dinners were
held in the large dining-room at the Thatched House, in St. James’s
Street, on the walls of which hung the portraits of the Dilettanti
Society, illuminated by wax candles in fine old glass chandeliers.
During the present year yet another military club—the Junior Army and
Navy—has opened its doors at the Clock House, Whitehall, which was
originally built for Lord Carrington.
The Caledonian, in Charles Street, St. James’s, also occupies a mansion
which was once in private hands. The largest house in the street, it was
erected in 1819 for Pascoe Grenfell, and subsequently became the
property of the Beresford family, from whom it was acquired by the
Caledonian Club.
The Junior Athenæum, at the corner of Dover Street, Piccadilly, like the
Caledonian, was not intended for a club, having been built some sixty
years ago, at a cost of £30,000, for Mr. Henry Thomas Hope, whose
initial still remains upon the elaborate cast-iron railings of French
design.
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