Badminton Club

Last updated

100 Piccadilly today 100 Piccadilly, London.jpg
100 Piccadilly today

The Badminton Club is a former London gentlemen's club. According to the 8th Duke of Beaufort in his book Driving (1889), the club was founded in 1875 at 100 Piccadilly by a sporting doctor called Hurman. According to the Duke, "this was a thorough coaching establishment, having all the year round a coach, a brake, a team or two... capital stabling and coach-houses, as well as chambers and bedrooms kept for the use of members". [1]

The club was named after Badminton House, the country seat of the Dukes of Beaufort. The 10th Duke was Master of the Horse (1936–1978) to three British monarchs, King Edward VIII, King George VI, and Queen Elizabeth II. Since 1949, Badminton House has hosted the prestigious annual Badminton Horse Trials, a three-day competition event.

In 1883, the club also acquired the adjacent premises at 98 and 99 Piccadilly and a new clubhouse was built on the site, designed by the architect Robert William Edis. The principal internal feature was the "Flower Court", approached through the narrow entrance from Piccadilly.

The club flourished so long as the horse remained supreme in London but, by the late 1930s, driving was only the pastime of a few. The club had lost its raison d’etre and decided to disband in 1938. At about that time the Public Schools Club was on the lookout for larger premises and they took over the clubhouse immediately.

The clubhouse was finally closed in 1972, when the Public Schools Club merged with the East India Club in St James's Square, and was demolished a few years later. The last surviving parts of the clubhouse are the war memorial plaques for members of the Public Schools Club from World War I and World War II and the Badminton Club's plaque for World War I, which are still preserved at the East India Club.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Piccadilly</span> Road in the City of Westminster, London, England

Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, Heathrow Airport and the M4 motorway westward. St James's is to the south of the eastern section, while the western section is built up only on the northern side. Piccadilly is just under 1 mile (1.6 km) in length, and it is one of the widest and straightest streets in central London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlton Club</span> Gentlemens club in London

The Carlton Club is a private members' club in St James's, London. It was the original home of the Conservative Party before the creation of Conservative Central Office. Membership of the club is by nomination and election only.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Badminton, Gloucestershire</span> Human settlement in England

Badminton is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It consists of Great Badminton and Little Badminton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">East India Club</span>

The East India Club is a gentlemen's club founded in 1849 and situated at 16, St James's Square in London. The full title of the club is the East India, Devonshire, Sports and Public Schools' Club due to mergers with other clubs. The club was originally founded for officers of the East India Company, and its first Patron was Prince Albert.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Henry Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort</span> British peer (1900–1984)

Henry Hugh Arthur FitzRoy Somerset, 10th Duke of Beaufort, KG, GCVO, PC of Badminton House in Gloucestershire, styled Marquess of Worcester until 1924, was a peer, landowner, society figure and a great authority in the fields of horse racing and fox-hunting. As a relative and very close friend of the Royal Family, he held the office of Master of the Horse for 42 years (1936–1978), the longest to hold the position. He founded the Badminton Horse Trials and was deemed "the greatest fox-hunter of the twentieth century"; his long tenure as Master of the Beaufort Hunt led to his being universally nicknamed Master and his car bore the private numberplate MFH1. In 1980 he published the authoritative book Fox-Hunting.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devonshire Club</span>

The Devonshire Club was a London gentlemen's club which was established in 1874 and was disbanded in 1976. Throughout its existence it was based at 50 St James's Street. The major Liberal club of the day was the Reform Club, but in the wake of the 1868 Reform Act's extension of the franchise, the waiting list for membership from the larger electorate grew to such an extent that a new club was formed to accommodate these new Liberal voters. The clubhouse was on the western side of St James's Street. The original intention was to call it the 'Junior Reform Club', along the model of the Junior Carlton Club formed in 1866, but complaints from the Reform Club's members led it to being named the Devonshire, in honour of its first chairman, the Duke of Devonshire, an aristocrat from a long line of Liberals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St James's Street</span>

St James's Street is the principal street in the district of St James's, central London. It runs from Piccadilly downhill to St James's Palace and Pall Mall. The main gatehouse of the Palace is at the southern end of the road; in the 17th century, Clarendon House faced down the street across Piccadilly from the site of what is now Albemarle Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dover Street</span>

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Den Norske Klub</span>

Den Norske Klub is a social club based in London. It was founded on 17 May 1887. Its members are Norwegians living in London or Britons with a connection to or interest in Norway. It is the oldest club of its kind in the UK and is still an important meeting place for the Norwegian community in London.

The Guards Club, established in 1810, was a London Gentlemen's club for officers of the Guards Division, originally defined by the club as being the Coldstream Guards, Grenadier Guards or Scots Guards, traditionally the most socially elite section of the British Army. Officers of the Welsh and Irish Guards were not able to join until the second half of the 20th century. Its clubhouse at 70 Pall Mall was the first to be built on that street, which later became noted for its high concentration of clubs; earlier clubs had been focused on the adjoining St James's Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Turf Club (gentlemen's club)</span>

The Turf Club is a London gentlemen's club, established in 1861 as the Arlington Club. It has been located at 5, Carlton House Terrace since 1965.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St James's Club</span>

The St James's Club was a London gentlemen's club which operated between 1857 and 1978. It was founded by two leading diplomats and its members continued to be largely diplomats and authors. It was first established in Charles Street and moved to 106 Piccadilly by 1868. In the final quarter of the twentieth century many gentlemen’s clubs of London suffered from declining membership, and in 1978 the St James's Club merged with Brooks's Club and vacated its premises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Green Room Club</span>

The Green Room Club was a London-based club, primarily for actors, but also for lovers of theatre, arts and music. It was established in 1877 in a restaurant in Piccadilly Circus, and moved to premises on Adam Street in 1955, where it remained until its closure in 2004.

Arthur's was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1811 and was disbanded in 1940. Between 1827 and 1940 it was based at 69 St James's Street. It is now best remembered for having built the London clubhouse currently occupied by the Carlton Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Burlington Fine Arts Club</span>

The Burlington Fine Arts Club was a London gentlemen's club based at 17 Savile Row.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavalry and Guards Club</span>

The Cavalry and Guards Club is a London gentlemen's club, at 127 Piccadilly, situated next to the RAF Club.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Athenaeum Club, London</span> Club and Grade I listed building in United Kingdom

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavalry Club</span>

The Cavalry Club was a London gentlemen's club, which was established in 1890. In 1975, it merged with the Guards' Club, and became the Cavalry and Guards Club, which still exists today.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Public Schools Club</span> Former London gentlemens club

The Public Schools Club is a former London gentlemen's club.

In the 19th century, a driving club was a membership club for the recreational practice of carriage driving.

References

  1. Denys Forrest, Foursome in St James's (East India Club, London, 1982) pp.153-5 and plates

See also

Coordinates: 51°30′20.01″N0°8′44.03″W / 51.5055583°N 0.1455639°W / 51.5055583; -0.1455639