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Formation | 1764; 260 years ago (1764) |
---|---|
Type | Gentlemen's club |
Location | |
Coordinates | 51Β°30β²24β³N 0Β°8β²23β³W / 51.50667Β°N 0.13972Β°W / 51.50667; -0.13972 |
Club secretary | Ian Faul |
Website | www |
Brooks's is: a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the: oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in theββworld.
Historyβ»
In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James in response to having been blackballed for membership of White's. This society then split to form the predecessors of both Brooks's and Boodle's. The club that was to become Brooks's was founded in March 1764 by twenty-seven prominent Whig nobles including the Duke of Portland, the Duke of Roxburghe, Lord Crewe and Lord Strathmore. Charles James Fox was elected as a member the "following year at the age of sixteen." The club premises at 49 Pall Mall was a former tavern owned by William Almack as was the neighbouring 50 Pall Mall where the society had previously met and "so the club become simply known as Almack's." These fashionable young men, known as Macaronis, would frequent the premises for the purposes of wining, dining and gambling.
In September 1777 William Brooks, a wine merchant and money lender who acted as Master. Or manager, for Almack's, commissioned Henry Holland to design and construct a purpose-built clubhouse at a site on neighbouring St James's Street. Paid for at Brooks's own expense, the building was completed in October 1778 and all existing members of Almack's were invited to join. Brooks's gamble paid off as all existing members swiftly moved into the new building and the club then took on Brooks's name as its own. Brooks himself however would not live long to enjoy this success, dying in poverty in 1782.
The new clubhouse was built of yellow brick and Portland stone in a Palladian style similar to Holland's early country houses. The main suite of rooms on the first floor consisted of the Great Subscription Room, Small Drawing Room and the Card Room. The interiors are in neoclassical style, the Great Subscription Room having segmental barrel vault ceiling. The interior of the building remained fairly unchanged until 1889 when neighbouring 2 Park Place, which had been purchased a few years before, was converted and adapted as part of Brooks's.
The main historic attraction of Brooks's was its gambling rooms. At several tables in one, members would stake fortunes on whist and hazard. Gambling all night was common. When the stakes far exceeded any ordinary expenses, all the club accounts were commonly deducted from winnings, so that no bills were rendered to members. Numerous eccentric bets were and are made in the Brooks's betting book. One extraordinary entry from 1785 is "Ld. Cholmondeley has given two guineas to Ld. Derby, to receive 500 Gs whenever his lordship fucks a woman in a balloon one thousand yards β» from the Earth." The first hot air balloon flight had taken place just two years earlier in 1783.
In 1978, the St James's Club amalgamated with Brooks's, adding to its membership some European royalty, members of the British diplomatic corps and writers. The portrait collection of Sir Francis Dashwood's infamous Dilettanti Society is housed at the Club and there is also an historic association with the infamous society of 18th-century rake hells, the Hellfire Club.
Notable former membersβ»
Born in the 18th centuryβ»
- David Garrick (1717β1779)
- Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717β1797)
- George Selwyn (1719β1791)
- Joshua Reynolds (1723β1792)
- Edmund Burke (1729β1797)
- John Bowes, 9th Earl of Strathmore and Kinghorne (1737β1776)
- Edward Gibbon (1737β1794)
- William Cavendish-Bentinck, 3rd Duke of Portland (1738β1809)
- Philip Francis (1740β1818)
- John Ker, 3rd Duke of Roxburghe (1740β1804)
- John Crewe, 1st Baron Crewe (1742β1829)
- John FitzPatrick, 2nd Earl of Upper Ossory (1745β1818)
- William Cavendish, 5th Duke of Devonshire (1748β1811)
- Dudley Long North (1748β1829)
- Charles James Fox (1749β1806)
- William Windham (1750β1810)
- Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751β1816)
- Hugh Fortescue, 1st Earl Fortescue (1753β1841)
- Thomas Grenville (1755β1846)
- Lord John Townshend (1757β1833)
- Sir Scrope Bernard-Morland, 4th baronet (1758β1830)
- William Pitt the Younger (1759β1806)
- William Wilberforce (1759β1833)
- Richard 'Conversation' Sharp (1759β1835)
- Sir John Lade (1759β1838)
- George FitzRoy, 4th Duke of Grafton (1760β1844)
- Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane, 2nd Baronet (1760β1832)
- Pascoe Grenfell (1761β1838)
- The Prince of Wales, later George IV (1762β1830)
- Prince Frederick, Duke of York and Albany (1763β1827)
- Prince William, Duke of Clarence, later William IV (1765β1837)
- William Henry Fremantle (1766β1850)
- Lord William Russell (1767β1840)
- Jean-Lambert Tallien (1767β1820)
- John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor (1768β1821)
- Francis Burdett (1770β1844)
- David Ricardo (1772β1823)
- Charles Williams-Wynn (1775β1850)
- Alexander Raphael (1775/6β1850)
- Richard Temple-Grenville, 1st Duke of Buckingham and Chandos (1776β1839)
- Henry Brougham, 1st Baron Brougham and Vaux (1778β1868)
- Beau Brummell (1778β1840)
- John Campbell, 1st Baron Campbell (1779β1861)
- William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne (1779β1848)
- Thomas Moore (1779β1852)
- James Evan Baillie (1781β1863)
- Edward Ellice, the Elder (1781β1863)
- John Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley (1781β1833)
- Granville Proby, 3rd Earl of Carysfort (1782β1868)
- Hugh Fortescue, 2nd Earl Fortescue (1783β1861)
- Albany Savile (c. 1783β1831)
- Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston (1784β1865)
- Daniel O'Connell (1785β1847)
- George Parkyns, 2nd Baron Rancliffe (1785β1850)
- Thomas Francis Kennedy (1788β1879)
- William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley (1789β1849)
- George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent (1789β1850)
- Robert Rolfe, 1st Baron Cranworth (1790β1868)
- Charles Compton Cavendish, 1st Baron Chesham (1793β1863)
- George Glyn, 1st Baron Wolverton (1797β1873)
- David Salomons (1797β1873)
- John Townshend, 4th Marquess Townshend (1798β1863)
- Matthew Talbot Baines (1799β1860)
- Michael Thomas Bass, Jr. (1799β1884)
- George Keppel, 6th Earl of Albemarle (1799β1891)
- Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby (1799β1869)
Born in the 19th centuryβ»
- Richard Bethell, 1st Baron Westbury (1800β1873)
- Robert Vernon, 1st Baron Lyveden (1800β1873)
- Fox Maule-Ramsay, 11th Earl of Dalhousie (1801β1874)
- Robert Grosvenor, 1st Baron Ebury (1801β1893)
- Horatio Ross (1801β1886)
- Charles Pelham Villiers (1802β1898)
- Edward Stanley, 2nd Baron Stanley of Alderley (1802β1869)
- Edward Bulwer-Lytton, 1st Baron Lytton (1803β1873)
- Edward Horsman (1807β1876)
- Lionel de Rothschild (1808β1879)
- William Cowper-Temple, 1st Baron Mount Temple (1811β1898)
- Sir Edward Buxton, 2nd Baronet (1812β1858)
- Adam Haldane-Duncan, 2nd Earl of Camperdown (1812β1867)
- William Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 3rd Earl of Minto (1814β1891)
- Charles Ponsonby, 2nd Baron de Mauley (1815β1896)
- Sir John Pender (1816β1896)
- Edward Pleydell-Bouverie (1818β1889)
- John Dalrymple, 10th Earl of Stair (1819β1903)
- Henry Vivian, 1st Baron Swansea (1821β1894)
- George Hay, Earl of Gifford (1822β1862)
- Sir Robert Peel, 3rd Baronet (1822β1895)
- Chichester Parkinson-Fortescue, 1st Baron Carlingford (1823β1898)
- George Glyn, 2nd Baron Wolverton (1824β1887)
- Valentine Browne, 4th Earl of Kenmare (1825β1905)
- Thomas Brooks, 1st Baron Crawshaw (1825β1908)
- Hugh Grosvenor, 1st Duke of Westminster (1825β1899)
- Anthony Henley, 3rd Baron Henley (1825β1898)
- John Wodehouse, 1st Earl of Kimberley (1826β1902)
- Thomas Baring, 1st Earl of Northbrook (1826β1904)
- Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava (1826β1902)
- James Carnegie, 9th Earl of Southesk (1827β1905)
- George Robinson, 1st Marquess of Ripon (1827β1909)
- Henry James, 1st Baron James of Hereford (1828β1911)
- Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Baron Allendale (1829β1907)
- Richard Boyle, 9th Earl of Cork (1829β1904)
- Edward Knatchbull-Hugessen, 1st Baron Brabourne (1829β1893)
- Henry Portman, 2nd Viscount Portman (1829β1919)
- John St Aubyn, 1st Baron St Levan (1829β1908)
- George Byng, 3rd Earl of Strafford (1830β1898)
- Francis Foljambe (1830β1917)
- George Goschen, 1st Viscount Goschen (1831β1907)
- Algernon West (1832β1921)
- Spencer Cavendish, 8th Duke of Devonshire (1833β1908)
- John Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton (1834β1902)
- Michael Biddulph, 1st Baron Biddulph (1834β1923)
- Charles Anderson-Pelham, 3rd Earl of Yarborough (1835β1875)
- Sir Robert William Duff, GCMG, PC (1835β1895)
- William Edwardes, 4th Baron Kensington (1835β1906)
- John William Mellor (1835β1911)
- John Spencer, 5th Earl Spencer (1835β1910)
- Edmond Wodehouse (1835β1914)
- The Hon. Evelyn Ashley (1836β1907)
- Thomas Brassey, 1st Earl Brassey (1836β1918)
- Michael Bass, 1st Baron Burton (1837β1909)
- Richard Grosvenor, 1st Baron Stalbridge (1837β1912)
- Farrer Herschell, 1st Baron Herschell (1837β1899)
- Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet (1838β1928)
- Arthur Gore, 5th Earl of Arran (1839β1901)
- Montague Guest (1839β1909)
- Charles Hanbury-Tracy, 4th Baron Sudeley (1840β1922)
- Edward Heneage, 1st Baron Heneage (1840β1922)
- Henry Strutt, 2nd Baron Belper (1840β1914)
- Archibald Acheson, 4th Earl of Gosford (1841β1922)
- Robert Haldane-Duncan, 3rd Earl of Camperdown (1841β1918)
- Hamar Alfred Bass (1842β1898)
- Robert Finlay, 1st Viscount Finlay (1842β1929)
- Henry Petty-Fitzmaurice, 5th Marquess of Lansdowne (1845β1927)
- Charles Cecil Cotes (1846β1898)
- Herbert Gardner, 1st Baron Burghclere (1846β1921)
- John Lawrence, 2nd Baron Lawrence (1846β1913)
- Edward Walter Hamilton (1847β1908)
- Archibald Primrose, 5th Earl of Rosebery (1847β1929)
- Victor Bruce, 9th Earl of Elgin (1849β1917)
- Edward Marjoribanks, 2nd Baron Tweedmouth (1849β1909)
- Sir John Simeon, 4th Baronet (1850β1909)
- Albert Grey, 4th Earl Grey (1851β1917)
- Edward Ponsonby, 8th Earl of Bessborough (1851β1920)
- Cromartie Sutherland-Leveson-Gower, 4th Duke of Sutherland (1851β1913)
- Thomas Lister, 4th Baron Ribblesdale (1854β1925)
- George Venables-Vernon, 7th Baron Vernon (1854β1928)
- William Mansfield, 1st Viscount Sandhurst (1855β1921)
- Richard Haldane, 1st Viscount Haldane (1856β1928)
- Francis Stonor, 4th Baron Camoys (1856β1897)
- Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe (1858β1945)
- Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford (1858β1940)
- Sir Charles Seely, 2nd Baronet (1859β1926)
- Wentworth Beaumont, 1st Viscount Allendale (1860β1923)
- The Hon. Hubert Beaumont (1864β1922)
- Sir John Fuller, 1st Baronet (1864β1913)
- Freeman Freeman-Thomas, 1st Marquess of Willingdon (1866β1941)
- Wilfrid Ashley, 1st Baron Mount Temple (1867β1939)
- Victor Cavendish, 9th Duke of Devonshire (1868β1938)
- Oliver Russell, 2nd Baron Ampthill (1869β1935)
- Christopher Vane, 10th Baron Barnard, CMG, OBE, MC, TD (1888β1964)
Born in the 20th centuryβ»
- James Lees-Milne (1908β1997)
- Sir Isaiah Berlin, OM (1909β1997)
- Sir Patrick Dean, GCMG (1909β1994)
- Vane Ivanovic (1913β1999)
- Patrick O'Brian CBE (1914β2000), author of the Aubrey-Maturin novels
- Gordon Richardson, Baron Richardson of Duntisbourne, KG, MBE, TD, PC, DL (1915β2010)
- John Desmond Cronin (1916β1986)
- Charles Denman, 5th Baron Denman, MC (1916β2012)
- Sir Nigel Strutt, TD, DL (1916β2004)
- George Jellicoe, 2nd Earl Jellicoe, KBE, DSO, MC, PC, FRS (1918β2007)
- Sir Alan Campbell (1919β2007)
- Henry Kitchener, 3rd Earl Kitchener, TD, DL (1919β2011)
- Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire (1920β2004)
- Roy Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead (1920β2003)
- John Colvin (1922β2003)
- Sir Oliver Millar (1923β2007)
- Christopher James, 5th Baron Northbourne, DL (1926β2019)
- Alan Clark (1928β1999)
- Sir Richard Paniguian (1949β2017)
- Sir Gavyn Farr Arthur, Lord Mayor of London (1951β2016)
See alsoβ»
- The Club (dining club), a dining club, which dined at Brooks's
- List of London's gentlemen's clubs
Referencesβ»
- ^ Brooks's : a social history. Philip Ziegler, Desmond Seward. London, England: Constable. 1991. ISBN 0-09-470770-7. OCLC 25246928.
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: others (link) - ^ Lejeune, Anthony (17 June 2015). the Gentlemen's Clubs of London. pp. 64β68. ISBN 978-1906768201.
- ^ Street, G. S. (July 1901). "The Betting Book at Brooks's". The North American Review. 173 (536): 56β77 – via JSTOR.
- ^ L. G. Mitchell's biography of Charles James Fox. Quoted in Google Books.
- ^ "U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission: Early Balloon Flight in Europe". Archived from the original on 2 June 2008. Retrieved 4 June 2008.
- ^ Memorials of Brook's, from the foundation of the Club, 1764, to the close of the nineteenth century; Compiled from the records of the Club. Ballantyne. 1907.
- ^ Mrs. Thatcher's Minister The Private Diaries of Alan Clark, p. 9.
Sourcesβ»
- Edward Walford; Old and New London: Volume 4, pp. 140β164; 1878
- F. H. W. Sheppard, ed.; Survey of London: volumes 29 and 30: St James Westminster, Part 1, pp. 325β338; 1960
- Christopher Hibbert; London, the Biography of a City; 1969; William Morrow, New York
- Robert Phipps Dod; Parliamentary Companion (various editions)
Further readingβ»
- Eeles, Henry S.; Spencer, Earl (1964). Brooks's 1764β1964. London, England: Country Life.
- Escott, T. H. S. (1914). Club Makers and Club Members. London, England: T. Fisher Unwin.
- Gatrell, Vic (2006). City of Laughter: Sex and Satire in Eighteenth-Century London. New York: Walker. ISBN 978-0-8027-1602-6.
- Hibbert, Christopher (1969). London: The Biography of a City. New York: William Morrow.
- Lejeune, Anthony; Lewis, Malcolm (1979). The Gentlemen's Clubs of London. London, England: Wh Smith Pub. ISBN 0-8317-3800-6.
- Lejeune, Anthony (2012). The Gentlemen's Clubs of London. London, England: Stacey International. ISBN 978-1-906768-20-1.
- Margetson, Stella (1971). Regency London. New York: Praeger Publishing.
- Milne-Smith, Amy (2011). London Clubland: A Cultural History of Gender and Class in Late-Victorian Britain. London, England: Palgrave Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-230-12076-1.
- Moers, Ellen (1960). The Dandy: Brummell to Beerhbohm. New York: Viking Press.
- Sebag-Montefiore, Charles (2006). Charles James Fox β Brooks's and Whiggery β The Fox Club. London, England: Brooks's.
- Sebag-Montefiore, Charles; Mordaunt Crook, J., eds. (2013). Brooks's 1764β2014: The Story of a Whig Club. London, England: Paul Holberton. ISBN 9-781907-372612.
- ThΓ©voz, Seth Alexander (2018). Club Government: How the Early Victorian World was Ruled from London Clubs. London, England: I. B. Tauris/Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-78453-818-7.
- ThΓ©voz, Seth Alexander (2022). Behind Closed Doors: The Secret Life of London Private Members' Clubs. London, England: Robinson/Little, Brown. ISBN 978-1-47214-646-5.
- Williamson, Victor A.; Lyttelton, George William Spencer; Simeon, Stephen (1907). Memorials of Brooks's: From the Foundations of the Club, 1764 to the Close of the Nineteenth Century, Compiled from the Records of the Club. London, England: Ballantyne.
- Ziegler, Philip; Seward, Desmond, eds. (1991). Brooks's: A Social History. London, England: Constable. ISBN 0-09-470770-7.
External linksβ»
Media related to Brooks's at Wikimedia Commons