St James' Street: White's Club

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Sir Walter Besant, in The Fascination of London, published in 1903, continues his survey of St James' Street with this look at White's Club:

St. James's Street has been noted from the very beginning for its clubs, gaming-houses, and convivial gatherings.

Its proximity to the Court attracted all the fops and beaux, and it was the resort of fashionable and gay young idlers.

Many anecdotes are related of the street, but chiefly in connection with the clubs, for which it is still famous.

White's (37 and 38) is one of the oldest; it was established about 1698, and was at first a chocolate-house.

It stood near the low end of the street, on the west side. It was burnt down in 1733, and the present building, designed by Wyatt, was erected in 1755, and altered nearly a century later by Lockyer.

The gaming-room of the old house forms the scene of the sixth plate of Hogarth's "Rake's Progress," where the gamblers are represented intent on their cards, though the flames are bursting out.

It was after the fire that the house became a private club, and it was long noted as a gambling-house for high stakes and reckless betting.

It is of White's that the story is told that a man dropped down before the door insensible, and was taken inside.

The members immediately began to bet whether he were dead or not, and when the physician came to bleed him, those on the affirmative side protested.

Next: London: St James' Street: The Cocoa-Tree Club