The Primrose Club was a short-lived political London gentlemen's club founded in 1886 and located at 4-5 Park Place, St. James's. It was aligned to the Conservative party, with members having to pledge support. It was launched as a bid to combine the explosion of the popularity of clubs in London at the end of the nineteenth century with the phenomenal success of the Conservative-aligned Primrose League.
At first it proved highly successful, with Whitaker's Almanack reporting 6,500 members, but within a decade this had already shrunk to 5,500, and by 1910 it had just 350 members, and was disbanded shortly afterwards. [1]
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Coordinates: 51°30′22.56″N0°8′26.34″W / 51.5062667°N 0.1406500°W
The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male clubs to change its rules to include the admission of women on equal terms in 1981. Since its founding in 1836, the Reform Club has been the traditional home for those committed to progressive political ideas, with its membership initially consisting of Radicals and Whigs. However, it is no longer associated with any particular political party, and it now serves a purely social function.
The Savage Club, founded in 1857, is a gentlemen's club in London, named after the poet, Richard Savage. Members are drawn from the fields of art, drama, law, literature, music or science.
St Stephen's Club was a private member's club in Westminster, London, founded in 1870.
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.
The Bath Club was a sports-themed London gentlemen's club in the 20th century. It was established in 1894 at 34 Dover Street. Its swimming pool was a noted feature, and it is thought that the swimming pool of the fictional Drones Club was based on this. It was one of the few gentleman's clubs that admitted women. Sir Henry "Chips" Channon was a member. Mark Twain stayed here when he visited London. Guglielmo Marconi stayed here as well when he visited London.
The Constitutional Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1883 and disbanded in 1979. Between 1886 and 1959 it had a distinctive red and yellow Victorian terracotta building, designed by Robert William Edis, at 28 Northumberland Avenue, off Trafalgar Square.
The Unionist Club was a short-lived London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1886, and had wound up by 1892. For the last four years of its existence, it had a clubhouse at 66-68 Pall Mall.
The Beaconsfield Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1880 and was disbanded circa 1887-8. For most of its existence, between 1880 and 1887, it occupied 66-68 Pall Mall, London.
The Junior Carlton Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1864 and was disbanded in 1977.
The Conservative Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1840. In 1950 it merged with the Bath Club, and was disbanded in 1981. From 1845 until 1959, the club occupied a building at 74 St James's Street.
The National Union was a short-lived political London gentlemen's club founded in 1887. It was aligned to the recently created Liberal Unionist party which had been created by the Home Rule issue. By 1890, it was reported by Whittakers Almanack to have around 1,200 members, but like the similar Unionist Club, it had difficulties establishing a membership base. Its history proved to be short, and it was disbanded before 1900.
The Junior Constitutional Club was a political London gentlemen's club founded in 1887, and located at 101 Piccadilly. It was aligned to the Conservative party, with members having to pledge support. Heavy over-subscription for the Constitutional Club which had opened in 1883 led to the creation of a further mass-membership Conservative club.
The National Conservative Club was a short-lived political London gentlemen's club founded in 1886. It was aligned to the Conservative party, with members having to pledge support. It was launched as a rival to the mass-membership National Liberal Club of the opposing Liberal party, but proved highly unsuccessful. According to Whitaker's Almanack, it had 2,500 members in 1890, but at a third of the National Liberal Club's membership, this was less than expected, and the NCC closed before the end of the century.
The Palace Club was a short-lived political London gentlemen's club founded in 1882. It was aligned to the Conservative party, with members having to pledge support. Unlike many of the better-established clubs like the Carlton, or some of the new clubs like the Constitutional, it never acquired a sizable membership; according to Whittakers Almanack it had only 220 members in 1890, and 250 by 1900. It closed within a decade.
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.
The Burlington Fine Arts Club was a London gentlemen's club based at 17 Savile Row.
The Bachelors' Club was a London gentlemen's club in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, now defunct. As the name suggests, membership was only open to bachelors. The club had a reputation for having a markedly younger membership than many other Edwardian clubs, and given the high-spirited antics which sometimes ensued on the premises, it was cited as an influence on the fictional Drones Club, in some of P.G. Wodehouse's earlier stories. A persistent rumour circulated throughout its existence, and reached wider circulation in the 1920s, that some of its membership were gay - then both illegal and publicly frowned upon – and it soon became superseded by Buck's as the young man's club in London, being forced to close shortly thereafter.
The 1920 Club was a short-lived London gentlemen's club, which existed between 1920 and 1923.
The United Service Club was a London gentlemen's club founded in 1815 for the use of senior officers in the British Army and Royal Navy – those above the rank of Major or Commander – and the club was accordingly known to its members as "The Senior". The club closed in 1978.
The American Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved. It was established to provide a centre for London's growing expatriate American community, with the inaugural meeting being held at the Savoy Hotel on 21 October 1918.
