The Alexandra Club was a private members club for women in Edwardian London. It was based at 12 Grosvenor Street, at the east end of the street on the north side, in London's Mayfair district. The club was founded in 1884, and closed in 1939. [1] [2] The club had 600 members by 1888. [3]
Membership of the club was only available to women eligible to attend the Queen's Drawing Rooms. [1] Amy Levy in her 1888 novel, The Romance of a Shop considered the merits of the Alexandra Club against other clubs for women and concluded that the phrase "who has been or who would probably be precluded from Her Majesty's Drawing Rooms" to be "full of the sound and fury of exclusiveness and signifying not so much after all". [3] Smoking was forbidden at the club, and members were not permitted to entertain men. Accommodation was available. [1]
The entrance fee was 5 guineas, with the annual subscription fee 4 guineas for members from the country, and 5 guineas for those in town. [1] The popularity of the club led to disputes between members over the best tables those in which according to the historian Anne de Courcy, the "lunchers could be viewed in all their glory from the street". The Prince of Wales, visiting his wife, Princess Alexandra, was once denied entrance by the footman of the club. The prince's satisfaction over this caused him amusement and led him to say that the club was entitled to bear his wife's name as a result. [2]
Marlborough House, a Grade I listed mansion in St James's, City of Westminster, London, is the headquarters of the Commonwealth of Nations and the seat of the Commonwealth Secretariat. It was built in 1711 for Sarah Churchill, Duchess of Marlborough, the favourite and confidante of Queen Anne. For over a century it served as the London residence of the dukes of Marlborough. It became a royal residence through the 19th century and first half of the 20th. The house was expanded for the Prince of Wales, the future king Edward VII, and became closely associated with the prince in the Victorian era. Queen Mary lived there when she was Princess of Wales and took a special interest in the house; she returned to live there in her widowhood. The building was leased by Queen Elizabeth II to the Commonwealth Secretariat beginning in 1965.
Amy Judith Levy was an English essayist, poet, and novelist best remembered for her literary gifts; her experience as the second Jewish woman at Cambridge University, and as the first Jewish student at Newnham College, Cambridge; her feminist positions; her friendships with others living what came later to be called a "New Woman" life, some of whom were lesbians; and her relationships with both women and men in literary and politically activist circles in London during the 1880s.
Henry Holland was an architect to the English nobility.
White's is a gentlemen's club in St James's, London. Founded in 1693 as a hot chocolate shop in Mayfair, it is the oldest gentleman's club in London. It moved to its current premises on St James's Street in 1778.
Coventry Street is a short street in the West End of London, connecting Piccadilly Circus to Leicester Square. Part of the street is a section of the A4, a major road through London. It is named after the politician Henry Coventry, secretary of state to Charles II.
The Naval and Military Club, known informally as The In & Out, is a private members' club located in St James's Square, London. It was founded in 1862 for gentlemen of the British Armed Forces. It now also accepts female members, and members who have not served in the armed forces, but continues to observe service traditions.
The Colony Club is a women-only private social club in New York City. Founded in 1903 by Florence Jaffray Harriman, wife of J. Borden Harriman, as the first social club established in New York City by and for women, it was modeled on similar clubs for men. Today, men are admitted as guests.
The Oxford and Cambridge Club is a traditional London club. Membership is largely restricted to those who are members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, including men and women who have a degree from or who are current undergraduates of either university.
The United University Club was a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1821. It occupied the purpose-built University Club House, at 1, Suffolk Street, London, England, from 1826 until 1971.
Dover Street is a street in Mayfair, London. The street is notable for its Georgian architecture as well as the location of historic London clubs and hotels, which have been frequented by world leaders and historic figures in the arts. It also hosts a number of contemporary art galleries. An equestrian sculpture by Elisabeth Frink stands on the junction of Dover Street and Piccadilly, opposite the Ritz Hotel.
The New Club is a private social club in the New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpose-built rooms on Princes Street. The 1837 building was replaced with a modern building to a design by Reiach and Hall, which is protected as a category A listed building. Women were admitted in 1970, and offered full membership from 2010. The only stated requirements for membership are that a candidate is over 18 and is "clubbable".
Lady Alexandra Naldera Metcalfe, CBE was the third daughter of George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston and Viceroy of India, and Lord Curzon's first wife, the American mercantile heiress, Mary Victoria Curzon, Baroness Curzon of Kedleston. She was named after her godmother, Queen Alexandra and her place of conception, Naldehra, India. She and her two older sisters were the subjects of a biography by Anne de Courcy in The Viceroy's Daughters: The Lives of the Curzon Sisters.
The Army and Navy Club in London is a private members club founded in 1837, also known informally as The Rag.
The Athenaeum is a private members' club in London, founded in 1824. It is primarily a club for men and women with intellectual interests, and particularly for those who have attained some distinction in science, engineering, literature or the arts. Humphry Davy and Michael Faraday were the first chairman and secretary and 51 Nobel Laureates have been members.
Lower Grosvenor Street was a street in London, England, later renamed Grosvenor Street. It was at the south-eastern corner of Grosvenor Square, extending eastward towards Bond Street. Count de Melfort, in his Impressions of England, described the street as consisting of "a great number of excellent houses, the majority of which are inhabited by titled persons and affluent families".
The Romance of a Shop is an 1888 novel by Amy Levy. The novel centers on the Lorimer sisters, who decide to open their own photography business after the death of their father leaves them in poverty. The novel examines the opportunities and difficulties of urban life for the "New Woman" in the late nineteenth century, maintaining their right to independent opinion and the questioning of social norms.
Nashdom, also known as Nashdom Abbey, is a former country house and former Anglican Benedictine abbey in Burnham, Buckinghamshire, England. Designed in Neo-Georgian style by architect Edwin Lutyens, it is a Grade II* listed building. It was converted into apartments in 1997. The gardens are Grade II listed in the National Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
The Ladies Empire Club was a private members club for women at 69 Grosvenor Street, at the east end on the south side, in London's Mayfair district.
Benburb Street is a street in Dublin, Ireland.
The Bath & Racquets Club is a private members gym and squash club at 49 Brook's Mews in London's Mayfair district. The club has 300 members and is the most expensive private gym club in London. It was established by Mark Birley in 1989. Birley sold the club with his four other Mayfair clubs, Annabel's, Harry's Bar, Mark's Club, and George, to Richard Caring in 2007.
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has generic name (help)Coordinates: 51°30′44.06″N0°8′45.67″W / 51.5122389°N 0.1460194°W