Fashionable Clubs in 1900 London

Arthur H. Beavan, writing in Imperial London in 1901, made a survey of the leading fashionable clubs in London at the time:

The first clubs in London worthy of the name were established in the middle of the eighteenth century, and were exclusively used by the aristocracy, even bankers and merchant-princes being considered ineligible for Brooks', Boodle's, White's, or Watkin's (in Bolton Street, Piccadilly).

These, with the Cocoa Tree, Graham's, and a few others, were the only clubs existing in the year 1800; but the nineteenth century witnessed not merely a prodigious increase in their number, but the starting of some of these "temples of luxury and ease" for the exclusive use of the fair sex.

Between fifty and sixty is about the number of the principal London clubs.

Strangely enough, though all our prominent buildings - hotels, railway stations, theatres, etc, are readily distinguishable, and public offices, picture-galleries, museums, and the like, can be tolerably well guessed at, the different clubs, like our great mansions, are differentiated by numbers and recognizable only by experienced men about town.

White's, Boodle's, Brooks', the Union, the United Service, the Athenaeum, and the Garrick, may be taken as types of the plain-looking older-fashioned clubs; and the Carlton, the Reform, the Thatched House, the Constitutional, the National Liberal, of the newer and more imposing-looking.

White's Club - White's, 37 and 38, St. James' Street, east side, easily identified by its bay-window, was designed by Wyatt, and restored in 1851. White's is distinctively Tory in its politics, comfortable in its arrangements, and sedate in its manners; no longer, as at one time, the great gaming, betting, and supper house of fashionable London.

Boodle's Club - Boodle's, at No. 28, on the same side of the street lower down, has quite an old-world look with its bow-windows - the favourite haunt of old members and flaneurs - and its rooms are old-fashioned. It is, as of yore, a popular club with country squires.

Brooks' Club - Brooks', No. 60, on the west side of St. James' Street, was once a famous Whig club, noted for its luxury as well as for heavy gambling. Like White's, it was famous for wagering, and its old betting-book is a curiosity. This club is an avowedly aristocratic one.

The Union Club - The Union, on the west side of Trafalgar Square, was founded in 1821 for politicians of whatever party, for mercantile and professional men, and for gentlemen at large. The Army and Navy element used to be more pronounced amongst its members than it is now, and there were more peers of the realm. One of its early members was James Smith, of Rejected Addresses, who almost to the day of his death made use of its comfortable dining-room and cosy library that have little changed since his day.

The United Service Club - The United Service immediately faces the Athenaeum across Waterloo Place, and its members are restricted to the Army and Navy. Its hall and staircase are fine; the upper landing is adorned with a large picture of the battle of Waterloo, and in the picture-gallery are many interesting portraits of celebrated generals, etc. When the Athenaeum undergoes its annual cleaning, its members frequently use the United Service, and vice versa.

The Thatched House Club - The Thatched House, No. 86, west side of St. James' Street, corner of Cleveland Row, and built nearly on the site of an old tavern, after which it is called, is a pleasant club with large hall richly decorated, rather plain but cosy dining-room, etc, and an excellent cuisine - a favourite and useful club for professional men.

Next: London's Fashionable Clubs in 1900: The Athenaeum