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 Bennet Street, and after a brief spell in Mayfair, 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.
The club was founded in 1857 by the Liberal statesman the second Earl Granville and by the Marchese d'Azeglio, Minister of Sardinia to the Court of St. James's, after a dispute at the Travellers' Club. [1] Most members of the diplomatic corps resigned from the Travellers' and joined the new club. [1] The club's members continued to be largely diplomats and authors, and it became the home of the Dilettanti Society.
According to the Encyclopædia Britannica article Club, in 1902, the club was the smallest London gentlemen's club in terms of numbers [2] -
The number of members included in a London club varies from 2200 in the Army and Navy to 475 in the St James's club.
The St James's Club was first established in Bennet Street, just off the north corner of St. James's Street. By 1868, it had moved into its clubhouse at 106 Piccadilly which had previously been Coventry House, [3] the London residence of the Earls of Coventry since it had been bought by George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry from Sir Hugh Hunlocke in 1764, for 10,000 guineas. [3] Coventry House had been built in 1761 [4] on the site of an old public house called 'The Greyhound Inn'. [3] The five-bay structure is neo-Palladian in style, with alternating pediments on the grand floor windows, over a rusticated ground floor. The Palladian window on the side façade lights a handsome staircase. There are ceilings by Robert Adam [5] in rooms on the piano nobile . Thomas Cundy the Elder effected some remodelling, probably in 1810-11. [6]
According to Charles Dickens, Jr., writing in 1879: [7]
St James's Club, 106, Piccadilly, W.—Ordinary members of this club are elected by ballot, but members of the corps diplomatique, of the English diplomatic service, and of the diplomatic establishment of the Foreign Office, may be admitted without ballot, under certain restrictions. The entrance fee is £26 5s.; the subscription £11 11s.; and carefully considered reductions are made in the case of members of the English diplomatic service who are employed abroad. The election is by ballot in committee; "six shall be a quorum, one black ball in nine, if repeated, and two above nine, shall exclude." The club occupies the premises once tenanted by the defunct Coventry House Club, also known as the Coventry Club, which had opened on 1 June 1846 [8] and closed on 25 March 1854. [9]
During the Second World War, the club was briefly the home of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. [10]
The club was described by Charles Graves, writing of London clubs in Leather Armchairs (1963), as "the only one in London, or possibly anywhere else in the world, which has a separate room – and a large one at that – devoted solely to backgammon". [1]
The club was also well known as a London venue for chess matches. [11]
In the decades after the Second World War, the popularity of gentlemen's clubs of London gradually fell into decline. [12] Facing financial problems, the club merged with Brooks's Club in 1978 and vacated its premises.
The grand former club house at 106 Piccadilly later became the headquarters of The International House network of language schools, founded by John Haycraft. [13] Since October 2007, it has been the London campus of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, a private intercontinental university based in Malaysia. [14] From September 2017, it will be home to Eaton Square Upper School. [15]
The St James's Club and Hotel, opened in 2008 in Park Place, has been marketed to evoke the historic club, but has no connection. A St James's Club in Manchester also has no connection.
Dame Edith Louisa Sitwell was a British poet and critic and the eldest of the three literary Sitwells. She reacted badly to her eccentric, unloving parents and lived much of her life with her governess. She never married but became passionately attached to Russian painter Pavel Tchelitchew, and her home was always open to London's poetic circle, to whom she was generous and helpful.
Piccadilly is a road in the City of Westminster, London, England, 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.
Pall Mall is a street in the St James's area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St James's Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road. The street's name is derived from pall-mall, a ball game played there during the 17th century, which in turn is derived from the Italian pallamaglio, literally "ball-mallet".
The Carlton Club is a private members' club in the St James's area of London, England. 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.
St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. The area was once part of the northwestern gardens and parks of St. James's Palace. During the Restoration in the 17th century, the area was developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the development of their gentlemen's clubs. Once part of the parish of St Martin in the Fields, much of it formed the parish of St James from 1685 to 1922. Since the Second World War the area has transitioned from residential to commercial use.
James Harris, 1st Earl of Malmesbury, was an English diplomat.
Sir Sacheverell Reresby Sitwell, 6th Baronet, was an English writer, particularly on baroque architecture, and an art and music critic. Sitwell produced some 50 volumes of poetry and some 50 works on art, music, architecture, and travel.
Sir Francis Osbert Sacheverell Sitwell, 5th Baronet CH CBE was an English writer. His elder sister was Edith Sitwell and his younger brother was Sacheverell Sitwell. Like them, he devoted his life to art and literature.
The St James's Hotel and Club is a hotel at 7-8, Park Place, St. James's, London SW1A 1LP and is part of Pakistani multinational conglomerate Nishat Group, owned by Mian Mohammad Mansha.
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.
Sir George Reresby Sitwell, 4th Baronet was a British antiquarian writer and Conservative politician who sat in the House of Commons between 1885 and 1895.
The Sitwell Baronetcy, of Renishaw in the County of Derby, is a title in the Baronetage of the United Kingdom. It was created on 3 October 1808 for Sitwell Sitwell, Member of Parliament for West Looe. The Sitwell family had been ironmasters and landowners in Eckington, Derbyshire, for many centuries.
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 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.
The Army and Navy Club in London is a private members' club founded in 1837, also known informally as The Rag.
The Oriental Club in London is an exclusive Private Members’ Club established in 1824. Charles Graves describes it as fine in quality as White's but with the space of infinitely larger clubs. It is located in Stratford Place, near Oxford Street and Bond Street. Based in one of the most elegant buildings in London, the Oriental Club is one of the most prestigious members’ clubs in the world.
Henry Frederick Carteret, 1st Baron Carteret PC (1735–1826), of Haynes, Bedfordshire, was Member of Parliament for Staffordshire (1757–1761), for Weobley in Herefordshire (1761–1770) and was Master of the Household to King George III 1768–1771. He was hereditary Bailiff of Jersey 1776–1826.
Sir Francis Oswald Lindley was a British diplomat who was HM Consul-General in Russia in 1919, British High Commissioner in Vienna 1919–1920, Ambassador to Austria 1920–1921, Ambassador to Greece 1922–1923, Minister in Oslo 1923–1929, Ambassador to Portugal 1929–1931, and finally Ambassador to Japan 1931–1934. Lindley was described as "a rather tough old character in some respects and very outspoken in his likes and dislikes."
Rubeigh James Minney was a British film producer, journalist, playwright, editor and author. He was author of over 40 books including novels and biographies. As a film-maker and film producer, he worked with British film companies such as Gainsborough Pictures, and was invited to Hollywood by Darryl F. Zanuck. He was also a journalist in India and London, and editor of several newspapers.