THE GARRICK—JOCKEY CLUB AT NEWMARKET—ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON AT
COWES—CONCLUSION
Though various London clubs possess a certain number of pictures and
_objets d’art_, the Garrick stands alone in the ownership of a unique
collection. This, however, has been described so frequently that any
detailed treatment would be superfluous.
The Garrick was originally started at 35 King Street, Covent Garden, in
1831, “for the purpose of bringing together the ‘patrons’ of the drama
and its professors, and also for offering literary men a rendezvous.”
The club-house had been a family hotel. It was comfortable enough when
it was first transformed into the home of the Garrick Club, but in
course of time the building was found insufficient for the increased
number of members, and in 1864 the club removed to a new house built for
them a little farther west than the old one, in the then newly-made
Garrick Street—a classic region associated with the old club-house.
The new Garrick was built by Mr. Marrable, who cleverly surmounted
certain difficulties connected with the back of the building.
The bulk of the Garrick Club collection consists of the gallery formed
by the elder Mathews, who had a passion for collecting theatrical
portraits, and who purchased most of the pictures owned by Mr. Harris,
the old lessee of Covent Garden.
Mrs. Mathews, the actor’s wife and biographer, describes how the
pictures were saved from the swindling tenant who robbed them of their
rent in the King’s Road cottage. Mathews’s “giant hobby,” as she calls
it, was then (1814) in its infancy; but the Mr. Tonson who succeeded
them in the cottage begged to be allowed to retain the pictures, which
were at that time hanging in one small room. Mathews, who would as soon
have left behind him an eye or a limb as these his treasures, managed to
retain them. Later on he built at his house at Hampstead a special
gallery for his pictures, which had then considerably increased in
number. Many writers came there to see them, all of whom were not
equally appreciative. When, however, Mathews found a real judge of art,
he called it “receiving a dividend,” and would launch out into all sorts
of disquisitions as to his treasures, enlivened by anecdotes and
imitations of the persons portrayed. Inquisitive people, who came to see
the actor as a celebrity rather than to inspect his pictures, irritated
and exasperated him by their behaviour and their mistakes, which were
often absurd. Harlowe’s fine picture of Mrs. Siddons as Lady Macbeth was
taken for a portrait of Mrs. Mathews; Dewilde’s exquisite portrait of
Miss De Camp—Mrs. Charles Kemble—in male attire, in “The Gentle
Shepherd,” was praised as being Master Betty. One individual, who had
evidently never entered a London theatre, asked why there was no
portrait of Milton. Eventually all the pictures were exhibited in Oxford
Street, and there still exists a catalogue of this exhibition, to which
a characteristic article of Charles Lamb’s, which appeared in the
_London Magazine_, is prefixed.
During Mathews’s lifetime the collection was removed to the Garrick
Club. It then practically passed into the possession of a member, Mr.
John Durrant, who eventually gave the pictures to the club.
There are many good portraits of Mathews at the Garrick, of which the
most remarkable is, perhaps, the one by Harlowe, who depicted him in
four perfectly different and distinct characters—a tribute to the
actor’s versatility. The four characters are those of Fond Barneyl, the
idiot newsvendor of York; another weak-minded simpleton catching a fly;
Mr. Wiggins, an extraordinarily stout man, in a farce called “Mrs.
Wiggins”; and Mathews himself in ordinary day dress. Another good
portrait, by Clint, A.R.A., shows Liston and Mathews in “The Village
Lawyer,” the former as Sheepface, the latter as Scout. Liston impressed
people on casual acquaintance with an idea of inveterate gravity; as
Sheepface he fairly amazed Mathews, and in this part made him laugh so
much that he was hardly able to go on.
Two of the finest pictures in the Garrick are those representing Garrick
and Mrs. Pritchard in “Macbeth,” and Garrick and Mrs. Cibber in “Venice
Preserved.” Zoffany, who excelled in theatrical portraiture, painted
both of these. Another portrait by him shows the great actor as Lord
Chalkstone.
The fine picture of Macbeth is highly interesting on account of
Garrick’s costume. Though a stage reformer, he did not dare to discard
old traditions of dress, and played the Highland thane in a long-skirted
blue coat with crimson cuffs, and a full-bottomed wig of the Georgian
period. Occasionally he acted Macbeth in the costume of a fashionable
gentleman of the day—a suit of black silk, with silk stockings, and
shoes, buckles at the knees and feet, a full-bottomed wig, and sword.
Benjamin West once asked Garrick why he adhered to this ridiculous
usage, to which he replied that he was afraid of his audience, who would
have thrown bottles at him if he had dared to change. John Philip
Kemble, when stage-manager at Drury Lane, finally corrected the
absurdities of stage costume, although Henderson appears to have
preceded him in this respect. In Romney’s picture of Henderson as
Macbeth, which is in the club, the chieftain appears as a medieval
warrior wearing body armour, with arms and legs bare. In 1772 Macklin
played Macbeth at Covent Garden in the dress of a Highlander, but, being
a clumsy old man, he is said to have looked more like a Scotch piper
than a warrior. Kemble, oddly enough, first played Othello in the full
uniform of a British General—as Macbeth he wore a hearse-like plume in
his bonnet; whilst Mrs. Crough, the singer, who played the First Witch,
wore powdered hair and the fashionable costume of her day.
Garrick excelled in the art of facial expression. When he sat to
Gainsborough, he paid, it is said, no fewer than sixteen visits to his
studio, and on each occasion wrought a change in his features. At length
the painter, declaring he could not paint a man with such a “Protean
phiz,” threw down his brush in despair. Garrick sat to Hogarth as
Fielding, after the novelist’s death, when the painter wished to paint a
posthumous likeness of the great writer. Dressed in a suit of Fielding’s
clothes, the actor cleverly assumed his features, look, and attitude.
Small wonder that Johnson, when he heard that Garrick’s face was growing
wrinkled, exclaimed: “And so it ought, for whose face has experienced so
much wear and tear as his?”
At times this great actor would indulge in very unconventional
behaviour. Acting in a tragedy in which a Mr. Thomas Hurst—who was a
brandy-merchant—took a part, Garrick, conceiving Hurst too tame to
support him, reproved him publicly on the stage. “Mr. Hurst,” said he,
“if you will put MORE _British spirit_ into your _acting_, and LESS in
your _brandy_, you may send me _two gallons_ to-morrow morning.” Whether
the brandy-merchant was offended or not, history does not relate; but he
took care to remember the order, which he sent the following day,
writing at the bottom of the bill of parcels: “As per your order last
night, on the stage of Drury Lane Theatre.”
Garrick once set up a man in a snuff-shop, and actually recommended his
snuff, known as “No. 37,” from the stage, as a result of which the
snuff-merchant realized an ample fortune.
Garrick, as is well known, was not devoid of vanity, and was at times
fond of praising himself. During one evening at the Sublime Society, he
remarked that so many manuscript plays were sent him to read, that in
order to avoid losing them and hurting the feelings of the poor devils
the authors, he made a point of ticketing and labelling the play that
was to be returned, that it might be forthcoming at a moment’s notice.
“A fig for your hypocrisy!” exclaimed Murphy across the table. “You
know, Davy, you mislaid my tragedy two months ago, and I make no doubt
you have lost it.” “Yes,” replied Garrick; “but you forget, you
ungrateful dog, that I offered you more than its value, for you might
have had two manuscript farces in its stead.”
Amongst the many fascinating actresses of other days who smile from the
Garrick walls, some mention must be made of Mrs. Oldfield—Pope’s
Narcissa. Mrs. Oldfield was supposed to be the daughter of a Captain
Oldfield. Her early years were passed with an aunt, who kept the Mitre
Tavern in St. James’s Market. At this resort she attracted attention for
her recitation of one of Beaumont and Fletcher’s comedies, and Rich, the
celebrated manager, gave her an engagement at Drury Lane. Starting at a
small salary, she quickly rose to speaking parts, and soon became the
leading lady on the stage of that day. She went to the theatre in a
chair escorted by two footmen, and, seldom mixing with her
fellow-actors, enjoyed a unique position in spite of a by no means
severe morality. She had one son by Arthur Maynwaring, and afterwards
lived under the protection of General Churchill, a brother of the great
Duke of Marlborough. It is said that Queen Caroline remarked to her one
day: “I hear that you and the General are married.” “Madam,” replied the
actress discreetly, “the General keeps his own secrets.” Mrs. Oldfield’s
children married well; her granddaughter became the wife of Lord Walpole
of Wolterton, and was the direct ancestress of the present writer. The
American novelist Mr. Winston Churchill is, I believe, a descendant of
the sprightly actress.
From time to time the original collection at the Garrick Club has been
largely increased, and some of the additions are notable. One of the
most admirable modern portraits in the club now hangs over the
morning-room mantelpiece. It represents the late Sir Henry Irving in
morning dress, and was painted and presented by Sir John Millais.
Another good portrait of the veteran Phelps as Cardinal Wolsey, in
scarlet robes, is the work of that talented artist and actor—Mr.
Forbes-Robertson. Mr. Henry Neville, who died but recently, was painted
as Count Almaviva, by Mr. W. John Walton; and Sir Squire and Lady
Bancroft are represented in marble statuettes, done by the late Prince
Victor of Hohenlohe. A picture of Sir John Hare in one of his most
successful creations—Benjamin Goldfinch in “A Pair of Spectacles”—has
recently been added.
In the Garrick are preserved some small silver candlesticks, formed of
little figures representing harlequins and the like. These were
presented by the writer’s great-uncle, Edward Walpole, known as Adonis
Walpole on account of his good looks. The rest of the set is in the
possession of Lady Dorothy Nevill.
There have been many “characters” amongst Garrick members in former
days, of whom, perhaps, the most original was Tom Hill, who was an
authority upon most things—grave or gay.
Born in 1760 at Queenhithe, he became a dry-salter, but, having
sustained financial losses in 1810, retired about that year to rooms in
the Adelphi, where he lived comfortably enough. A great collector of
books, chiefly old poetry, and theatrical relics, he was very well known
in literary and stage circles.
Hill is said to have been the original of Paul Pry, but this is
doubtful. The great joke in connection with him was his age. James Smith
once said that it was impossible to discover his age, for the parish
register had been burnt in the Fire of London; but Hook capped this:
“Pooh, pooh!”—Tom’s habitual exclamation—“he’s one of the Little Hills
that are spoken of as skipping in the Psalms.”
Till within three months of his death, Hill usually rose at five, took a
walk to Billingsgate, and brought the materials for his breakfast home
with him to the Adelphi. At dinner he would eat and drink like a
subaltern of five-and-twenty, and one secret of his continued vitality
was that a day of abstinence and repose uniformly followed a festivity.
He then nursed himself most carefully on tea and dry toast, tasted
neither meat nor wine, and went to bed by eight o’clock. But perhaps the
grand secret was the easy, imperturbable serenity of his temper, which,
when he died in 1841 at the age of eighty-one, enabled him to look
twenty years younger. It was probably due to this fact, also, that his
cheerfulness remained unimpaired, in spite of the comparative poverty of
his later years.
Hill’s collection of old English poetry was dispersed in 1810, whilst
other rarities and memorials which he had got together took Evans, of
Pall Mall, a week to sell by auction. These included some very
interesting autograph letters, and among the memorials were Garrick’s
Shakespeare cup, a vase carved from the Bard’s mulberry-tree, and a
block of wood from Pope’s willow at Twickenham.
The late sittings for which the Garrick was formerly renowned seem to
have become more or less things of the past.
Supper at the Garrick some twenty-five years ago was, especially on
certain nights, a regular institution. The late Sir Henry Irving and Mr.
Toole were regular attendants, often sitting very late at the long table
in the smaller dining-room, where the supper-table was regularly laid.
Many of those who assembled round the festive board have now, like the
before-mentioned theatrical stars, joined the great majority.
At that time, except for lunch, the Garrick Club was not, during the
day, used by so many members as at present, nor was the club-house so
comfortable or the pictures and relics displayed to such advantage.
Those desirous of smoking were also hampered by restrictions, which have
since been removed. As a result of the enlightened policy pursued in
recent years, this club is now one of the most sociable and agreeable in
London, whilst its membership is still largely composed of men well
known in the literary and theatrical worlds.
The Arts Club, now in Dover Street, was formerly located at 17 Hanover
Square. “Sweet Seventeen,” as it came to be called, was a fine old
Georgian house, with marble mantelpieces and ceilings painted by
Angelica Kauffmann. Some of the rooms were originally panelled, and the
staircases were of old oak; but all these fine things are now dispersed,
and the house has been pulled down. At the time when it was occupied by
the Arts Club the walls were further adorned by pictures which were lent
for exhibition, and which completed a _tout ensemble_ of singular charm.
Another club of which much has been written is the Savage, started in
1855. This Bohemian institution has always had a number of celebrities
on its list. In its early days the membership included George
Cruikshank, J. L. Toole, Paul Bedford, Shirley Brooks, Dion Boucicault,
and George Augustus Sala. Sala’s name appears in the first list, and he
served on the first committee, but although he twice joined the club he
was not a “Savage” when he died. Other notable members of those days
were “Mike” Halliday, Arthur Sketchley, Sir Squire Bancroft, Sothern,
Henry S. Leigh, “Tom” Robertson, Lord Dunraven (then Lord Adair), Joseph
Hatton, Kendal, George Henty the war-correspondent (who won great fame
as a writer of boys’ books), W. S. (now Sir William) Gilbert, and Arthur
Sullivan the composer.
In connection with Bohemian clubs, some mention of the Players’ Club, at
16 Granmercy Park, New York, may not be out of place. The club in
question was opened on the last night of 1888 by the late Mr. Edwin
Booth, who, having purchased the building, remodelled and furnished it
as a club-house, and presented the title-deed to the members as a free
gift.
Membership of the Players’, like that of the Garrick, is not confined to
actors alone. It also resembles the latter club in that it contains many
prints and mementoes of great theatrical stars who have passed away,
including a priceless collection of costumes and properties. The memory
of Edwin Booth is commemorated firstly by the conservation, in an
untouched condition, of the bedroom in which the last years of his life
were passed; and secondly by the Booth library, containing a fine
collection of volumes bequeathed to the club by the great actor.
The contents of Edwin Booth’s bedroom are kept exactly as in his
lifetime, even to the last book he read, with a mark on the last page
the great actor turned. A chair and skull used by him in “Hamlet” are
also here.
On the last night of the old year, club custom at the Players’ ordains
that about midnight a loving-cup should be passed round amongst members,
in order that they may drink to the memory of the founder.
“Ladies’ day” is an annual festival of this club, held on Shakespeare’s
birthday—April 23rd—on which date a number of ladies, either connected
with or interested in the stage, are entertained.
This and “founders’ night” are the only two functions held, and
consequently invitations are very highly prized. Each member is allowed
but two cards of admission.
Another Bohemian New York club is the Lambs. The funds to pay off a
mortgage of 36,000 dollars on the club-house in West Thirty-sixth Street
were raised in a highly characteristic manner. For the space of one week
a company consisting entirely of stars—actors, musicians, and
authors—formed themselves into a minstrel troupe and toured through
eight cities, with the result that they made 67,000 dollars. Each member
of this troupe on its dispersal received one dollar as a souvenir of his
services.
The present club-house of the Lambs, at West Forty-fourth Street, cost
no less than 300,000 dollars. It is a most luxurious building furnished
with every modern convenience, and contains a theatre where the Lambs
hold their famous Gambols, and where plays never performed elsewhere are
played. Besides their private Gambols, the Lambs give an annual public
Gambol at a New York Theatre, to see which the public can obtain tickets
through members.
The Lambs are exceedingly charitable to any of their number who may be
overwhelmed by misfortune or sickness, and, indeed, membership of the
club has been said to constitute an insurance against adversity. Many a
stricken actor has had reason to bless the club, which on one occasion,
through a benefit performance organized in conjunction with the players,
obtained a comfortable annuity for an actor who had been seized by an
incurable malady.
Whilst hardly a club in the sense now usually understood, the Jockey
Club possesses rooms at Newmarket, and a number of sporting prints are
to be seen here. The most interesting relic in the possession of the
club, however, is a hoof of Eclipse, formed into an inkstand. On the
front are the royal arms in gold in high relief, and on the pedestal is
the following inscription: “This piece of plate, with the hoof of
Eclipse, was presented by His Most Gracious Majesty William the Fourth
to the Jockey Club, May 1832.” This hoof was originally given as a prize
in a Challenge race (rather like “The Whip”) run on Ascot Thursday. The
King gave an additional £200, and there was a £100 sweepstake between
members of the Jockey Club. It was run for soon after it was presented,
in the year of the great Reform Bill, on the same afternoon that
Camarine and Rowton ran a dead-heat for the Gold Cup, and over the same
course. One subscriber scratched, and, of the other two, Lord
Chesterfield, with the famous Priam (Conolly up), beat General Grosvenor
and Sarpedon, ridden by John Day. In 1834 Lord Chesterfield won again
with Glaucus (Bill Scott up), beating Gallopade, who had won for Mr.
Cosby the year before. Twelve months later the hoof was challenged for
by Mr. Batson, but there was no reply. It is much to be regretted that
no sporting event is now connected with this historic hoof. Considering
how small an interest the contests for the Whip have excited of late
years, there is little likelihood of this relic being again run for on
Newmarket Heath.
Eclipse is closely connected with the history of the Jockey Club. This
race-horse of historic memory lived for twenty-five years, and the years
in question just coincided with the period during which the Jockey Club
grew into a powerful body. It was also the time of the foundation of the
Derby, the Oaks, and the St. Leger. Then it was that the Jockey Club
first began to be quoted as a real and powerful authority, and when its
rulings were first accepted by racing men. The sentence of “warning
off,” originally established by precedent, was legally recognized in
1827, when, in the case of the Duke of Portland _v._ Hawkins, a man to
whom the Jockey Club objected was successfully proceeded against for
trespass on the freehold property of the club.
Although the memory of Eclipse is intimately connected with the history
of the Jockey Club, it is a rather remarkable thing that his owner never
succeeded in obtaining admittance to that exclusive circle. Colonel
O’Kelly’s one great grievance, which led him persistently to denounce
the Jockey Club, was the stubborn refusal of the members to elect him.
On one occasion, when Colonel O’Kelly was making a contract with a
jockey, he stipulated as a special condition that he should never ride
for any of the _black-legged_ fraternity. The consenting jockey saying
“he was at a loss to know who the Captain meant by the black-legged
fraternity,” he instantly replied, with his usual energy: “Oh, ——, my
dear, and I’ll soon make you understand who I mean by the black-legged
fraternity! There’s the Duke of Grafton, the Duke of Dorset,” etc.,
naming the principal members of the Jockey Club, “and all the set of
_thaves_ that belong to the humbug societies and _bugaboo_ clubs, where
they can meet and rob one another without fear of detection.”
Though old O’Kelly was never admitted, his nephew Andrew became a member
soon after his uncle’s death.
The Jockey Club appears to have been founded about 1752. The first
public mention of the new association—which is to be found in Mr. John
Pond’s “Sporting Kalendar”—evidently assumes the familiarity of his
readers with the club; for it makes the simple announcement for 1752 of
“a contribution free plate by horses the property of noblemen and
gentlemen belonging to the Jockey Club,” and by the May meeting of 1753
two “Jockey Club Plates” were being regularly run for. The list of
members as shown by these and similar races run for between this year
and 1773, and the date when the “Racing Calendar” was first produced by
James Weatherby, “Keeper of the Matchbook,” indicate very clearly what
were the objects of a club the origin and early history of which are
wrapped in considerable obscurity.
Another very exclusive institution is the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes,
which was originally founded by a number of noblemen and gentlemen (as
the old-world phrasing ran) desirous to promote the science of marine
architecture and the naval power of the kingdom. Prize cups were
frequently given to be sailed for, not only by their own vessels, but by
those of other clubs; the pilot and fishing vessels of the Island were
not forgotten; and liberality and national utility were the main objects
of the club. The result of all this was that great improvement in the
construction of ships was absolutely forced upon the Government of that
day.
On June 1, 1815, a body of gentlemen met at the Thatched House Tavern in
St. James’s Street, under the presidency of Lord Grantham, and decided
to form a club which should consist only of men who were interested in
the sailing of yachts in salt water. These gentlemen nominated
themselves with others to the number of forty-two to form a list which
should constitute the original members of the club, decided upon a small
subscription, and drew up a few simple rules to govern their
newly-formed yacht club.
The original idea of the club would seem to have been merely an
association of those yacht-owners who frequented Cowes during the
summer, and it was to be maintained by a couple of annual meetings—one
in the spring at the Thatched House, the other at a dinner at the hotel
at East Cowes. There was at first no club-house, and the subscription
was only two guineas. The qualification for any future candidate was the
possession of a yacht of a certain tonnage, the payment of an entrance
fee of three guineas, and the occupation of such a social position as
should commend him to the members of the club, who would consider the
matter at a general meeting.
The original title was the Yacht Club, and the rules relating to
yachting were few and simple. Every member, upon payment of his three
guineas to the secretary and treasurer, was entitled to two copies of
the signal-book, “and will be expected to provide himself with a set of
flags according to the regulations contained therein.” That same
signal-book was the subject of a great deal of anxious consideration
during the next few years. The club paid Mr. Finlaison £45 for printing
the first copies, which they soon found to be based upon a wrong system,
and appointed a committee to consider the matter, who called in “the
well-known skill and experience of Sir Home Popham, K.C.B.,” to assist
them in devising a new set. A few years later these also were found
wanting “as clumsy and inconvenient,” by reason of the number of flags
employed, when the Yacht Club adopted the code “composed by Mr.
Brownrigg, midshipman of H.M.S. _Glasgow_, it being thought that two
flags, two pennants, and an ensign are all that can be required.”
Members were requested to register the name, rig, tonnage, and port of
registry, of their vessels with the secretary, and the club adopted as a
distinguishing ensign “a white flag with the Union in the corner, with a
plain white burgee at the masthead.”
Lord Uxbridge, afterwards the first Marquis of Anglesey, of Waterloo
fame, was one of the original founders of the club. He was very proud of
the whiteness of the decks of his famous cutter, the _Pearl_, and when
he gave a passage to Lord Adolphus FitzClarence, who wore carefully
varnished boots which left marks on the deck after a shower, he told off
one of his hands to follow the offender with a swab and remove the mark
of each footstep.
The first Commodore of the club was the Hon. Charles Pelham, so popular
in later years as Lord Yarborough, and as the owner of the two famous
yachts called the _Falcon_. Lord Yarborough’s memory was so revered
among his club-mates that when his son came up for election, nearly half
a century later, all the formalities of the ballot were dispensed with,
and he was elected with acclamation.
Another original member was Lord FitzHarris, and his official yacht, the
_Medina_, of eighty tons, was always to be seen at the earlier functions
of the club. “She was the connecting link,” wrote his son, “between the
ships painted by Van de Velde and those which preceded ironclads. She
was built in William the Third’s reign, and her sides were elaborately
gilded. She was highest by the stern, with such a deep waist forward as
to endanger her going down head foremost if she shipped a heavy sea. She
had very little beam, and her complement consisted of Captain Love,
R.N., the master, and twelve men.”
Sir William Curtis, the founder of the present banking house of Robarts,
Lubbock and Co., was another member. The Prince Regent often stayed with
him upon his luxurious yacht, the _Emma Maria_. Sir William was an
amiable and charitable man, of whom many amusing stories were told. He
went with George IV to Scotland in 1822, and appeared in complete
Highland costume at Holyrood, even down to the knife stuck in his
stocking. The King himself appeared in a kilt, and, it was said, was
much chagrined to find Curtis the only man in the room similarly clad.
The Baronet, on the other hand, was flattered to think that he alone
shared the Highland costume with His Majesty, and asked King George if
he did not think him well dressed. “Yes,” replied that monarch, “only
you have no spoon in your hose.”
In 1821 the Yacht Club, for some obscure reason, changed the original
white ensign and jack with a white burgee to a red ensign and burgee. In
1824 they added the letters R.Y.C. and a crown and foul anchor to the
burgee; in 1826 they changed the ensign to a jack with a white border,
without any explanation being recorded in the minutes.
In 1824 the club began to feel the want of a meeting-place at Cowes, and
a year later the Gloucester Hotel became its first habitation. To meet
the increased expenses resulting from the change, we may note that the
annual subscription was raised in the year of removal successively to £5
and to £8, the entrance fee to £10, and the tonnage qualification for
the boats of new members was raised from 20 to 30 tons.
After the vacation of Cowes Castle by Lord Anglesey, the Governor, the
Squadron acquired the old building, and, after a good deal of money had
been expended in alterations, the club took up its abode there in 1858.
Then began a new era in its history, and, owing to the interest taken by
the then Prince of Wales, its importance as an exclusive social
institution greatly increased.
One of the most pleasant rooms in the present well-appointed club-house
is the library, over which the late Mr. Montagu Guest used to preside.
The collection of books here dates from 1835, when members were first
invited to increase the number of volumes owned by the club either by
donations of money or gifts of books.
In the castle hang a number of pictures connected with the history of
the club. These include portraits of Lord Yarborough, the Earl of
Wilton, and other notabilities connected with the past history of the
Squadron. As a club-house, the old castle is one of the pleasantest in
the world. It is an ideal retreat for members tired of town, for whose
use a number of excellent bedrooms are provided. The Royal Yacht
Squadron is singularly fortunate in its secretary, a retired naval
officer of much urbanity and tactful charm.
The Royal Yacht Club, as it was called in the early days of its
existence, did much to improve naval architecture, and was without doubt
of considerable national utility.
Lord Yarborough’s _Falcon_ was a very fine vessel, as was the Duke of
Norfolk’s 210-ton cutter _Arundel_, which was said to be one of the
finest and fastest of its kind in the world. Lord Belfast quite put the
naval authorities to shame with his brig, the _Water Witch_. Taking the
given length of the worst and most despised class of vessels in King
William IV’s navy—that called the “ten-gun brig”—he declared that he
would construct a brig that should not only be superior for the purposes
of war, but should actually be made to outsail any vessel in the royal
navy—rather a bold declaration this, it must be acknowledged, more
particularly as two vessels built upon an improved and scientific plan
were to be opposed to him. To work, however, his lordship went, and the
product of his labours was the celebrated _Water Witch_, built for him
by Mr. Joseph White, of East Cowes, on the model of his former yachts,
the _Harriet_, _Thérèse_, and _Louisa_, and precisely the length of the
ten-gun brig, which, though incapable of either fighting or running,
was, unfortunately, quite capable of going to the bottom.
Lord Yarborough enforced naval discipline on board the _Falcon_, the
crew of which were paid extra wages on condition that they submitted to
the usual rules in force on British vessels of war. These included
flogging under certain circumstances, and it is said that, in
consideration of the additional sum paid by Lord Yarborough, some of the
crew cheerfully submitted to the occasional application of the
cat-o’-nine-tails.
Indeed, before the _Falcon_ left Plymouth Sound for a cruise, all hands
cordially signed a paper setting forth the usefulness of a sound
flogging in cases of extremity, and their perfect willingness to undergo
the experiment whenever it was deemed necessary for the preservation of
good order.
In the early days of the club only two instances of blackballing seem to
have occurred. One was in the person of a noble Duke who had been
scratched off the list on account of not paying his annual subscription,
who, when he sought re-election, was excluded as a matter of course. The
other individual was the owner of a yacht like a river barge, with a
flat bottom, and he was rejected more in joke than otherwise, it being
reported that his yacht was two months on her voyage from the Thames to
Cowes, and that, moreover, the bulkhead and chimney in the cabin were of
_brick_!
The candidates of that day, as may be judged from their almost
invariable success in the ballot, were generally of a highly acceptable
description. The same, perhaps, can hardly be said of some in recent
years, when, in accordance with the spirit of the age, certain
individuals, whose only claim to social consideration lay in their
wealth, have made attempts to force the Squadron portals.
One of these received what was perhaps the most severe rebuff ever
sustained by a candidate, in the shape of no fewer than seventy-eight
black balls, which figure, it was said, would have been increased to
eighty had his proposer and seconder attended the election. It should be
added that the name of the candidate in question had been submitted for
election at the instigation of a highly important personage whose
suggestions it was impossible to ignore.
A prominent figure at the Squadron from about 1834 to 1882 was the late
Mr. George Bentinck, well known as Big Ben. Mr. Bentinck was very bluff
and outspoken, and when in Parliament he once administered a violent
lecture to both front benches, shaking his finger at the distinguished
offenders who sat on both, and saying: “You know you have all ratted;
the only difference between you is that some of you have ratted twice.”
He was no fair-weather yachtsman, and had the greatest contempt for
people who did not live on board their vessels, who employed captains or
sailing-masters, and who confined their yachting to the safe waters of
the Solent. He had no notion, as he said, of a Cowes captain who always
wanted to be ashore with his wife, so he commanded his own ships with
the strictest discipline, and with the thorough respect of his crew.
When in harbour, his first officer always knocked at his cabin door and
reported eight bells. “Are the boats up?” was Mr. Bentinck’s inquiry.
“Yes, sir.” “Very well, make it so;” and after that hour there was no
going ashore for anybody. He was always delighted to take friends on a
sea-voyage, but could never be induced to give any particulars as to
where bound or the probable length of the cruise, and very much resented
an inquiry on either point. People, accordingly, who accompanied him
always settled their affairs for a reasonable period, not knowing when
they would return. One of Mr. Bentinck’s trips from Cowes to Gibraltar
took forty-two days owing to bad weather, and on another voyage he
declared that his yacht, the _Dream_, once shipped twenty tons of water
in the Baltic. A somewhat unflattering caricature of Mr. Bentinck is
preserved in the club-house at Cowes.
Another well-known member of the Squadron was Lord Cardigan, of
Balaclava fame, who exhibited considerable eccentricity as a yachtsman.
Whilst out sailing one day, his skipper said: “Will you take the helm,
my lord?” “No, thank you,” was the reply; “I never take anything between
meals.” Lord Cardigan was certainly not much of a sailor, and, according
to tradition, was accustomed to appear in a costume which included
military spurs. He was also, according to all accounts, a man of
somewhat unconciliatory temper, thoroughly imbued with a high sense of
the importance of his great social position. He was born in the closing
years of the eighteenth century, and was at strife with most of his
acquaintance throughout his career of seventy-one years. He was very
late in choosing the army as a profession, as he entered the service in
1824, at the age of twenty-seven, and by 1830 was a Lieutenant-Colonel,
promotion being easy for a rich nobleman in the days of purchase.
Whilst the Royal Yacht Squadron at Cowes occupies a unique position as
the chief yachting club and authority in the United Kingdom, it cannot
boast a history dating back as far as an Irish yacht club—the “Royal
Cork”—which traces its origin from a very ancient yachting club existing
at Cork as far back as 1720. This would seem to have been a highly
convivial institution, for one of the rules ran: “Resolved that no
admiral do bring more than two dozen of wine to his treat, for it has
always been deemed a breach of the ancient rules and constitution of the
club, except when my lords the judges are invited.”
At that date the rules and constitutions were described as being
ancient, and some of the customs connected with the club (curious
records of which are in the possession of the Royal Cork Yacht Club)
were picturesque and curious.
Once a year the “Water Club” took part in a ceremony, something like
that performed by the Doge of Venice, when he was wedded to the
Adriatic. A contemporary writer thus describes this function: “A set of
worthy gentlemen, who have formed themselves into a body which they call
the ‘Water Club,’ proceed a few leagues out to sea once a year in a
number of small vessels, which for painting and gilding exceed the
King’s yacht at Greenwich and Deptford. Their admiral, who is elected
annually, and hoists his flag on board his little vessel, leads the van
and receives the honours of the flag. The rest of the fleet fall in
their proper stations, and keep their line in the same manner as the
King’s ships. This fleet is attended with a prodigious number of boats
with their colours flying, drums beating, and trumpets sounding, which
forms one of the most agreeable and splendid sights your lordship can
conceive.”
The rules of this club dealt largely with conviviality. Rule XIV, for
instance, laid down “that such members of the club as talk of sailing
after dinner be fined a bumper.”
In 1737 it was ordered “that for the future, unless the company exceed
the number of fifteen, no man be allowed more than one bottle to his
share and a peremptory.”
The Royal Thames Yacht Club springs from the Cumberland Society which
was formed of members who had sailed for the Duke of Cumberland’s Cup.
His Grace himself was wont to present this cup to the winner at a
function of considerable solemnity. The boats of the society were all
anchored in line, flying the white flag with the St. George’s cross. The
captains waited in skiffs, and only boarded their boats when the Duke
appeared in his gilded barge and proceeded to the boat of the Commodore
of the fleet. The victorious captain was then summoned to that vessel
and introduced to the Duke, who filled the cup with claret and drank the
health of the winner, to whom he thereupon presented the cup. The winner
then pledged the health of His Royal Highness and his Duchess, and the
whole squadron sailed to Mr. Smith’s tea-gardens at the Surrey end of
Vauxhall Bridge, then a pleasant rural spot.
The owner of the gardens in question, Mr. Smith, seems to have held the
post of Commodore in the society during the first five years of its
incorporation, and a year or two later his establishment took the name
of the society’s patron, and was thenceforward known as Cumberland
Gardens.
It was the rule, after the annual dinner, for members to adjourn to
Vauxhall, close by, where they finished a jovial evening.
* * * * *
At the present day there exist a multitude of other clubs, but scarcely
any of them come within the scope of this volume—which the writer hopes
may prove not unwelcome both as a record of interesting club possessions
and as a modest contribution to the history of English social life.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
INDEX
Addison, Joseph, 19, 33
Ad Libitum Club, the, 52, 53
Albion Hotel, the, 3
Alfred Club, the, 283
Allen, Lord, 81, 82
Almack, William, 100
Almack’s, 95, 100
Alpine Club, the, 267
Alvanley, Lord, 79, 80–82, 283
American clubs, 295, 296
Amphitryon Club, the, 204–206
Apollo Club, the, 1
Arbuthnot, 26
Archer, Thomas, Lord, 31
Arlington Club, the (now the Turf Club), 181
Armstrong, Colonel, 81
Army and Navy Club, the, 244–251, 256;
Junior, 256
Arnold, Samuel James, 39–43
Arthur, John, 71, 75
Arthur, Robert, 75
Arthur’s, 63, 69–71, 144, 145, 148, 256
Arts Club, the, 294
Ashburton, Dunning, Lord, 115
“Asiatic Sundays” at the Athenæum, 280
Athenæum Club, the, 148, 162, 164, 256, 275–283;
Junior, 256
Aubrey, Lieutenant-Colonel, 188
Aylott, Sir James, 222–223
Bachelors’ Club, the, 221
Badminton Club, the, 192
Baker, Mr., Master of Lloyd’s, 21
Baldwin Club, the, 189
Banderet, Henry, 104, 106
Bath Club, the, 163
Bathurst, Benjamin, 122
Batson’s, 9
Beaconsfield, the Earl of, 278–279
Beauclerc, Topham, 265, 266
Beaufort, Henry, Duke of, 66, 67, 165
Bedford Coffee-house, the, 28
Bedford, Francis, Duke of, 29
Beefsteak Club, the first, 19;
the present, 52, 53, 184
Beefsteaks, the Sublime Society of, 37–53, 87, 131
Belfast, Lord, 304
Bentinck, George (“Big Ben”), 306–307
Bentinck, Lord George, 160–161
Bentinck, Lord Henry, 188
Bessborough, the Earl of, 112, 114
Black, William, 235, 236
Blackballing, 160, 164
“Bloods,” 13
Bold Bucks, the, 17
Bolingbroke, Viscount, 26
Boodle’s (formerly the Savoir Vivre), 63–69, 98, 145, 165
Booth, Edwin, 295
Boswell, James, 267
Bourke, the Hon. Algernon, 50, 85, 86
Bowes, the late Mr., 56
Brackley, Lord, 160–161
Bridge, introduction of, 188
Bright, John, 235
British Coffee-house, the, 12
Broadhurst, Mr., 21
Brook Club, the (New York), 34
Brooks’s, 63, 98, 99–122, 129, 145, 189, 256
Brooks, the proprietor of the club-house, 98, 100, 101, 103, 104
Brothers’ Club, the, 26
Brougham, Lord, 120–121, 188
Brummell, Beau, 78–80, 109–110, 172
Bucks, the Society of, 33
Burke, Edmund, 266
Burlington Fine Arts Club, the, 274–275
Button’s, 3, 24, 27
Byerley, Thomas, 12
Byng, the Hon. Frederick, 121–122
Byron, Lord, 283
Caledonian, 256
Cambridge Beefsteak Club, the, 55
Camelford, Lord, and the “blood,” 13–14
Candidates for election, 158
Cardigan, Lord, 307–308
Carlton Club, the, 147, 148, 223–225, 256
Castle Tavern, the, kept by Belcher and Spring, 32
Cavalry Club, the, 255
Cavendish, the Hon. Henry, 272–273
Chapter Coffee-house, the, 9, 10, 11
Chatterton, 10
Chelmsford Beefsteak Club, the, 54
Cheshire Cheese, the, 4–7
Child’s, 3, 9
Churchill, Lord Randolph, 224
Cibber, Colley, 76
Cider Cellar, the, 31
City Pickwick Club, the, 20
Clarke, Chamberlain, 8
Clarke, Sir Edward, 20
Club, the first, 1;
evolution of the, 2;
increase in the number of clubs, 135;
change in club-life, 136;
opposition to improvements, 138;
washed silver in change, and other customs, 145;
smoking in clubs, 146;
strangers visiting clubs, 147;
bedrooms for members, 151;
increased comfort, 151–152;
clubs of to-day and their members, 156;
elections and committees, 157;
hall-porters, 174;
porters’ boxes, 177;
late sittings, 178;
the Garrick the “latest” club, 183;
foreign clubs taxed, 185;
sporting-club-men, 191;
decrease in drinking, 192;
club-men and their foibles, 195–203;
restaurant clubs, 205;
registration of clubs, 207
Club-man, the modern, 139
Cocoa-tree, the, 1, 3, 63, 128–132
Coffee-houses, 1, 2, 3
Colenso, Bishop, 279
Committee, the club, 158
Conservative Club, the, 133, 147, 227–228
Constitutional Club, the, 236
Cooking, club, 170
Cosmopolitan Club, the, 267–268
Coventry, Lord, 215
Coventry House, 217
Crockford, Benjamin, 190, 228–232, 254
Crockford’s, 94, 185, 186, 190–191, 229–232
Croker, John Wilson, 275
Crown and Anchor Tavern, 35
Cunningham, Colonel, 13
Curtis, Sir William, 302–303
Daffy Club, the, 32
Damer, Colonel, 232
Daniel’s, 9
Davies’s “Life of Garrick” _quoted_, 76
Defoe, Daniel, 19
Devonshire Club, the, 228–232
Devil Tavern, the, 1
Dickens and the George and Vulture, 20;
his chair, 278;
reconciliation with Thackeray, 280
Dickens Club, the, 7
Digby, Sir Kenelm, 31
Dilettanti Society, 256, 257–263
Disraeli, Isaac, 278
Dryden, John, 24, 25, 28
Dudley, Lord, 35
Duff, Captain William, 244
Durnford, Bishop, 279
East India United Service Club, the, 254–255
Eccentric members, 198
Eclipse, the race-horse, 297–298
Edinburgh Club, the, 59
Edward VII, King, 165, 204, 205, 219
Edwards, Mr., and the introduction of coffee-houses, 18
Elections, 157
Ellice, Edward, 232
Elliot, Lettsom, 282
Essex Head, the, 8
Estcourt, Richard, 19
Etiquette at coffee-houses, 17–18
Evans’s, 31–32
“Everlasting,” the, 34
Fines, 182
Fitzgerald, George Robert, 115–118
FitzHarris, Lord, 302
Foote, Samuel, 28–29
Forrest’s, 3
Fox, Charles James, 102, 106, 111, 120, 125–127
Fox Club, the, 124, 126–127
Francis, Sir Philip, 110–111
Fraser, Sir William, 283
Gambling, French and English, 185–187
Gambling clubs, 185–188
Gardner, Mr. John, 19
Garraway’s Coffee-house, 3, 12, 21–23
Garrick, David, 28–29, 37, 265, 288–290
Garrick Club, the, 148, 183, 193, 256, 285–294
Garth, Dr. Samuel, 271
Garway, Thomas, 22
Gay, 26
Gayner, the late Mr., 65–68
George III, King, 3
George IV, King, 99, 111–114, 133, 171, 173, 302–303
George and Vulture, the first coffee-house, 18, 19, 20
George’s, 9
Giles’s, 3
Gladstone, W. E., 107, 166, 239, 257
Golden Fleece Club, the, 34
Goldsmid, Sir Julian, 219
Goldsmith, Oliver, 10, 266
Goosetree’s, 98, 109
Graham’s Club, 188
Granville, Lord, 108
Great Bottle Club, the, 33
Greaves, Samuel, 8
Grecian, the, 3
Green, John, 31–32
Greville, Charles, 160–161
Gronow’s “Reminiscences” _quoted_, 137
Groom’s, 19
Guards’ Club, the, 148, 253–254, 256
Guests, 147, 148
Gurney, Hudson, 58
Gwynn, Nell, 247
Haggis Club, the, 59
Haines, Thomas, 27–28
Hall-porter, the, 174
Hamlin’s, 9
Hammond, Mr., 11
Hawkins, Sir John, 265
Hayward, Abraham, 279
Heidegger, John James, 71–74
Hell-Fires, the, 17, 19
Hill, Thomas, 292–293
Hogarth, William, 19, 29, 37, 289
Hole-in-the-Wall Club, the, 57
Hood, Tom, _quoted_, 150
Hook, Theodore, _quoted_, 143, 179, 189, 210, 279–280
House-dinners, 145, 146
Humbugs, the, 33
Hunlock, Sir Hugh, 215
Hurst, Thomas, 289
Irving, Sir Henry, 20, 281
Isthmian Club, the, 219–220
“Je ne sçai quoi” Club, the, 33
Jerdan, William, 42
Jockey Club, the, 297–299
Johnson, Dr., 2, 4, 5–8, 149, 151, 221, 265, 289
Johnson Club, the, 6–7
Jonathan’s, 3, 12
Jones, Inigo, 29
Jonson, Ben, 1, 4
Junior Athenæum Club, the, 256
Junior Carlton Club, the, 147, 173, 226–227, 256
Junior Constitutional Club, the, 236
Junior Naval and Military Club, the, 253
Junior United Service Club, the, 244, 251, 256
Kemble, John, 32, 49
Kemble, John Philip, 288
King of Clubs, the, 34
Kinglake, Alexander, 281
King’s Coffee-house, 29
King’s Head, the, 7
Kit-Kat Club, the, 270
Kneller, Sir Godfrey, 29–30
Lade, Sir John, 126
Lambs’ Club, the (New York), 296
Landseer, Sir Edwin, 281
Late sittings, 178
Lawn-market Club, the, 59
Leech, John, 20
Leinster, the Duke of, 39
Lely, Sir Peter, 29
Lewis, T., 25
Lindley, Ozias, 57
Literary Club, the, 263–267
Little-man’s Coffee-house, 12
Lloyd’s Coffee-house, 21
Locker, Frederick, 63
London Coffee-house, the, 20
Lotus Club, the, 220
Low, David, 30, 31
Lowther, Sir James, 9
Lying Club, the, 33
Macaulay, Lord, 278
M’Clean, the highwayman, 94
Macklin, Charles, 288
Mackreth, Sir Robert, 91, 129
Maison Dorée Club, the, 206
Malcolm, Sir John, 212–213
Manning, Cardinal, 279
Marlborough Club, the, 147, 218–219
Martindale, John, 77
Mathews, Charles, 286–287
Mermaid Tavern, the, 1
Miles and Evans’s, 98
Military clubs, 240
Mills, Pemberton, 80
Mitre Tavern, 6, 8
Montagu, the Duke of, 72–74
Montagu, Lady Mary Wortley, 270–271
Montfort, Lord, 90–91, 94
Morris, Charles, 47–50
“Mug-house clubs,” 24
Murphy, Arthur, 290
Nando’s, 3
Napoleon III, the Emperor, 82, 248–249
National Club, the, 237–238
National Liberal Club, the, 195, 236
National Sporting Club, the, 32
Naval and Military Club, the, 251–253, 256
Norfolk, Charles, eleventh Duke of, 46–50, 131–132
Northumberland, the Countess of, 77
North’s, 9
Octagon rooms at St. James’s Club, 217;
at Naval and Military, 252
October Club, the, 34
Odd Fellows’ Club, 33
O’Kelly, Colonel, 298–299
Oldfield, Mrs., 290–291
Old Man’s Coffee-house, 3, 12
Old Slaughter’s, 3
Orford, the Earl of (Admiral Russell), 31
Oriental Club, the, 211–215
Orleans Club, the, 221
Orsay, Count d’, 82, 86
Osborne, Bernal, 236
“Ourselves,” 7
Oxford, Robert Harley, Earl of, 26
Oxford and Cambridge Club, the, 148, 238–239, 240
Oxford and Cambridge New University Club, the, 245
Ozinda’s, 3
Past Overseers’ Society, the, 59–62
Pattison, Mark, 278
Payn, James, 235, 236
Peele’s Coffee-house, 8
Pelham, Henry, 94
Percival, the late Mr., 83, 84
“Percy Anecdotes,” the, 13
Percy Coffee-house, the, 12
Permanent official, the, 195–197
Piazza Coffee-house, the, 30
Pilgrims, the Society of, 33
Pinche’s School, Dr., 20
Pitt, William, 99
Players’ Club, the (New York), 295–296
Pon’s Coffee-house, 14
Pope, Alexander, 25, 26
Porters’ boxes, 177
Portland Club, the, 188
Pratt’s, 36
Prince of Wales Coffee-house, the, 13
Pulteney, William (afterwards Earl of Bath), 89–90
Purl Drinkers, the, 33
Queen’s Arms, the, 8
Queensberry, the Marquis of, 230–231
Radcliffe, Dr., 29–30
Raggett, father and son, 77, 78, 83, 222
Raikes, Dandy, 120
Rainbow, the (now Groom’s), 19
Raleigh Club, the, 192
Reform Club, the, 232–236
Restaurant clubs, 204
Revett, Nicholas, 258
Reynolds, Sir Joshua, 265
Rich, Henry, 37
Rivers, Lord, 93
Robertson, Joseph, 13
Robin’s, 12
Rogers, Samuel, 35
Rosee, Pasqua, 18, 19
Roxburghe Club, the, 268–269
Royal Cork Yacht Club, the, 308
Royal Exchange, the, 11, 12
Royal Naval Club, 255
Royal Societies’ Club, the, 273–274
Royal Society Club, the, 272–273
Royal Thames Yacht Club, the, 310
Royal Yacht Squadron, 299–308
Rules and regulations, 167–170
Rump Steak Club, 7
St. Dunstan’s, 7
St. James’ Club, the, 184, 215–218, 256
St. James’ Coffee-house, 3
St. Leger, Colonel, 119–120
Sala, George Augustus, his definition of “club,” 135, 235, 294
Salisbury, Lord, 226
Salting, George, 134
Samsonic Society, the, 33
Savage Club, the, 294
Savile Club, the, 284
Savoir Vivre, the (now Boodle’s), 65
Sawdust Club, 7
Scott, General, 94–95
Scriblerus Club, the, 26
Selwyn, George, 95–97, 109, 112–114, 130–131
Shakespeare, 1, 4
Shand, the hall-porter at the Turf Club, 174
Shenstone, 9
Sheridan, R. B., 30, 111–115, 133
Silver, change given in washed, 145
Simpson, William, 6
Smith, Bobus, 34–35
Smith, Major-General (“Hyder Ali”), 111
Smith, Tippoo, 111
Smoking in taverns and clubs, 4, 146, 281, 283–284
Smyrna, the, 3, 12
Snuff-boxes formerly in clubs, 146
Soaping Club, the Edinburgh, 59
“Social Villagers,” the, 34
Soyer, Alexis, 233–235
Spencer, Herbert, 282–283
Spenser, Edmund, 34
Spring, Samuel, 173
Steele, Sir Richard, 19, 75, 271
Stepney, Sir Thomas, 119–120, 171
Stewart, Admiral Keith, 115–117
Strangers in clubs, 147
Stuart, James, 258
Sunday at clubs, 194
Supper clubs, 207
Sussex, the Duke of, 38–41
Swift, Jonathan, 19, 25, 26, 27
Sydney, Viscount, 100
Sylvester, Joshua, 4
Tatham, Dr., 279
_Tatler_, the, _quoted_, 23, 75
Taylor, William, 58
Taxes on club funds in France and Germany, 185
Temperance, growth of, 193–194
Thackeray _quoted_, 150, 211, 212, 235, 278, 280
Thatched House Club, the, 131–134
Thatched House Tavern, the, 256, 260, 263, 300
The Club, 263–267
Thespian Club, the, 33
Thornhill, Sir James, 30
Thrale, Henry, 8, 265
Tobacco-box belonging to Past Overseers of St. Margaret’s, Westminster,
59–62
Todd, Harry, 6
Tom’s, 2, 3, 12, 24, 28
Tourville, Admiral de, 31
Travellers’ Club, the, 148, 162, 163, 209–211, 256
Truby’s, 3
True Blue Club, the, 56
Turf Club, the, 162, 174, 181, 184, 218, 256, 263
Tyrawley, Lord, and the Frenchmen, 14–17
Ude, Louis Eustache, 230, 231, 232
Union Club, the, 222
United Service Club, the (at first the General Military Club), 240–244,
251, 256
United University Club, the, 239, 240
Uxbridge, Lord, 301–302
Vernon, Admiral, 21
Visitors in clubs, 147
Walpole, Horace, _quoted_, 77, 87, 128, 129, 259
Walpole, Sir Robert, 21, 89–90
“Water Club,” the, 309
Watier’s Club, 171–172
Webster, Sir Whistler, 77, 83
Wellington, the Duke of, 86
Wellington Club, the, 222
West, Benjamin, 288
West, James, 31
West, Thomas (proprietor of Tom’s), 24–25
Wet Paper Club, the, 11
Whistler, 53
White, Francis, 71
White, Mrs., 71, 74, 75
White’s, 2, 3, 50, 69–71, 74–98, 99, 129, 144, 145, 146, 165, 169, 189,
191, 256
Wilberforce, Samuel, 109
Wilbraham, Roger, 110–111
Wilkes, John, 19, 37
Will’s, 3, 12, 24, 25, 28
Windham, William, 220–221
Windham Club, the, 220
Yarborough, Lord, 302, 305
York, Frederick, Duke of, 99, 119–120
Young Man’s Coffee-house, 3, 12
Zoffany, 29
THE END
BILLING AND SONS, LTD., PRINTERS, GUILDFORD
------------------------------------------------------------------------
● Transcriber’s Notes:
○ Missing or obscured punctuation was silently corrected.
○ Typographical errors were silently corrected.
○ Inconsistent spelling and hyphenation were made consistent only
when a predominant form was found in this book.
○ Text that was in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_).