53-541: The Gresham Club was founded in 1843 and dissolved in 1991. It was named after Thomas Gresham . The Gresham Club's last site was located on Abchurch Lane off King William Street before it was sold to the London Capital Club, which in turn ceased operation in 2018. Following the closure of the London Capital Club, a number of the members relaunched The Gresham Club in 2018 and recreated the raison d'être of its original predecessor. The original Gresham Club
106-513: A London merchant. By his wife he had an only son who predeceased him. He also had an illegitimate daughter who married Sir Nathaniel Bacon ( c. 1546–1622), half-brother of Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount St Albans , becoming Anne, Lady Bacon . Gresham died suddenly, apparently of apoplexy , on 21 November 1579 and was buried at St Helen's Church, Bishopsgate in the City of London . Apart from some small sums to various charities, Gresham bequeathed
159-739: A memorial to the 77 members of the Gresham Club that served in The Great War . With the help of funding from the War Memorials Trust the memorial was refurbished, and was re-dedicated on 7th December 2022 by the Bishop of London , the Rt Revd and Rt Hon. Dame Sarah Mullally . 51°30′43″N 0°05′17″W / 51.5119°N 0.0881°W / 51.5119; -0.0881 Thomas Gresham Sir Thomas Gresham
212-481: A new purpose-built clubhouse at 15 Abchurch Lane, near Cannon Street station . The club remained there until it closed in 1991. After the Second World War , the gentlemen's clubs of London fell into a decline. The Gresham Club was "a faded place offering school dinners and port". By 1991, its membership had fallen and the remaining members decided to dissolve the club. Its members were offered membership of
265-604: A private members' club with similarities to the old Gresham Club but a more modern approach and a different management structure. On the death of Peter Parker in 2002, Angela Knight , a former Economic Secretary to the Treasury , succeeded as the club's chairman. In the spring of 2018 the London Capital Club premises in Abchurch Lane were sold to the Royal Philatelic Society . The building contains
318-421: A total of £48,770. Of this, £19,500 was paid for Lord de Mauley 's house on the west side of St James's Square dating from the 1670s, immediately opposite Norfolk House . It would now have been Number 22, St James's Square, if it had survived. The St James's Square site was granted on 24 March 1672/3 by Henry Jermyn, 1st Earl of St Albans and Baptist May to trustees for Edward Shaw. In October 1673, they sold
371-480: A two-storey classical building with Corinthian columns and a crowning balustrade ending with martial trophies and a Doric entrance portico of three bays. As well as various statues in niches, over the portico he drew a pedestal with bas-reliefs, surmounted by lions and a group symbolising Britannia and Neptune . This choice was confirmed by a ballot of the club members in April 1847. However, The Builder pilloried
424-427: Is a private members' club founded in 1837, also known informally as The Rag . The club was founded by Lieutenant-General Sir Edward Barnes (1776–1838) in 1837. His proposal was to establish an Army Club, with all officers of Her Majesty's Army on full or half pay eligible for membership. However, when The Duke of Wellington was asked to be a patron, he refused unless membership was also offered to officers of
477-399: Is a combination from Sansovino's Palazzo Cornaro, and Library of St. Mark at Venice; but varying in the upper part, which has Corinthian columns, with windows resembling arcades filling up the intercolumns; and over their ached headings are groupes of naval and military symbols, weapons, and defensive armour — very picturesque. The frieze has also effective groupes symbolic of the army and navy;
530-413: Is a private members club for professionals, 'stimulating social and business interaction amongst like-minded members and their guests'. The Club is currently a nomadic dining club that meets monthly for a Club Table at a different venue each month. Venues include The Army and Navy Club , The Caledonian Club and London Scottish Horseferry Road drill hall . In October 2020 Members of the Gresham Club set up
583-432: Is composed of merchants, bankers, and other gentlemen of known respectability. No candidate is eligible until he has attained the age of twenty-one years. Election by ballot of the members, of whom 30 must actually vote. One black ball in ten shall exclude. Entrance fee, £21; subscription, £6 6s. The newly established club commissioned a clubhouse at 1 King William Street , on the corner of St. Swithin's Lane. The architect
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#1732783630260636-474: Is panelled with scagliola, and has a ceiling enriched with flowers, and pierced for ventilation by heated flues above; adjoining is a room lighted by a glazed plafond; next is the house dining-room, decorated in the Munich style; and more superb is the morning room, with its arched windows, and mirrors forming arcades and vistas innumerable. A magnificent stone staircase leads to the library and evening rooms; and in
689-591: Is provided with twenty lines of Whishaw's Telekouphona, or Speaking Telegraph, which communicate from the Secretary's room to the various apartments. The cost of this superb edifice, exclusive of fittings, was 35,000 l ; the plot of ground on which it stands cost the Club 52,000 l. In 1857, a stained-glass window was installed in the inner hall to commemorate members killed in the Crimean War , with tablets bearing
742-715: The City University Club , many of them taking this offer. On 23 October 1992, the "Gresham Club (In Dissolution)" was given a listed building consent to remove 11 glass chandeliers on the ground, first, and second floors of 15 Abchurch Lane. The club's records were deposited in the Guildhall Library , which under accession reference L 24 MSS 28834-28864 holds papers for the years 1844-1845 and 1905–1991, described as: "minute books, subscription books, legal papers, financial papers, Staff Benevolent Fund accounts and misc papers". The re-formed Gresham Club
795-525: The Rialto there, called Saint Mark 's; 'tis but a bauble, if compared to this. The nearest, that which most resembles this, is the great Burse in Antwerp , yet no comparable either in height or wideness, the fair cellarage, or goodly shops above. Oh my Lord Mayor , this Gresham hath much graced your City of London; his fame will long outlive him. In 1544 he married Anne Ferneley, widow of Sir William Read,
848-544: The Royal Navy and the Royal Marines , and this was agreed. On 28 August 1837 a meeting representing the various services took place, to elect a Committee and to settle the new club's Rules. Sir Edward Barnes died on 19 March 1838, just two weeks before the first general meeting of the club. By 1851, the club was in a strong position, with sixteen hundred members and a waiting list of 834. This pressure led to
901-567: The weathervane on the Royal Exchange in the City of London , also founded by him in 1565. The Faneuil Hall at Boston , Massachusetts , has also borrowed this heraldic device . The Gresham coat of arms is blazoned: Argent, a Chevron Erminés between three Mullets pierced Sable . According to ancient legend, the founder of the family, Roger de Gresham, was a foundling abandoned as a new-born baby among long grass in Norfolk during
954-453: The 13th century and found there by a woman whose attention was drawn to the child by a grasshopper. Although a beautiful story, it is more likely that the grasshopper is simply a canting heraldic crest playing on the sound "grassh-" and "Gresh-". The Gresham family uses as its motto Fiat Voluntas Tua ('Thy will be done'). Army and Navy Club The Army and Navy Club in London
1007-627: The Army and Navy Club in October 1846 for £19,500. It was demolished in 1847, having survived longer than any other of the other original houses in the square. It was reported in January 1847 that the club would hold an open competition for the design of its planned new building, with prizes of £200 and £100 for the two best entrants. The club committee initially chose a design by the sporting artist George Tattersall , of St James's Street , who planned
1060-634: The Club-house (H. Flower, architect) is Italian, from portions of two palaces in Venice. The site of the first clubhouse is now occupied by the main London office of N M Rothschild & Sons . The club was reported to keep a fine wine-cellar. In 1913, a Mr. L. Price, called 'the doyen of billiard stewards', achieved 60 years service with club, then housed in Gresham Place. In 1915, the club moved to
1113-462: The Elder ( / ˈ ɡ r ɛ ʃ ə m / ; c. 1519 – 21 November 1579) was an English merchant and financier who acted on behalf of King Edward VI (1547–1553) and Edward's half-sisters, queens Mary I (1553–1558) and Elizabeth I (1558–1603). In 1565 Gresham founded the Royal Exchange in the City of London . Born in London and descended from an old Norfolk family , Gresham
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#17327836302601166-674: The London merchant Sir William Read, but maintained residence principally in the Low Countries , basing his headquarters at Antwerp in present-day Belgium (then the Spanish Netherlands ), where he became renowned for his adept market-play . When in 1551 the mismanagement of Sir William Damsell , King's Merchant to the Low Countries, had caused the English Government much financial embarrassment,
1219-707: The annual value of which at that time amounted ultimately to about 400 pounds a year. On the accession of Queen Mary in 1553, Gresham fell out of favour at Court for a short time with Alderman William Dauntsey displacing him. But Dauntsey's financial operations proved unsuccessful and Gresham was soon reinstated; and as he professed his zealous desire to serve the Queen, and manifested great adroitness both in negotiating loans and in smuggling money, arms and foreign goods, not only were his services retained throughout her reign (1553–1558), but besides his salary of twenty shillings per diem he received grants of church lands to
1272-615: The authorities called Gresham for advice, thereafter following his proposals. Gresham advocated the adoption of various methods – highly ingenious, but quite arbitrary and unfair – for raising the value of the pound sterling on the Antwerp bourse which proved so successful that in just a few years King Edward VI had discharged almost all of his debts. The Government sought Gresham's advice in all their money difficulties, and also frequently employed him in various diplomatic missions. He had no stated salary, but in reward of his services received from King Edward various grants of lands,
1325-554: The badge of the club and details of the battles of the war. The names of the fallen were inscribed in gold letters on marble architraves. The window was moved in 1925 and 1927, due to rebuilding. In 1878–79, a new dining-room built, the smoking-room was enlarged, and the club-house was renovated, all by H. R. Gough . Demand for bedrooms increased, and in 1919 the club bought numbers 46, 46a and 47, Pall Mall, subject to existing short leases, later adding to them 7, Rose and Crown Yard (just north of 47, Pall Mall) in 1924. A new building
1378-639: The bulk of his property (consisting of estates in London and around England giving an income of more than £2,300 a year) to his widow and her heirs, with the stipulation that after her death his own house in Bishopsgate Street and the rents from the Royal Exchange should be vested in the Corporation of London and the Mercers Company , for the purpose of instituting a college in which seven professors should read lectures, one each day of
1431-537: The choice, pointing out that "the space devoted to the purposes of the club is very meagre, indeed quite insufficient". The club held an extraordinary general meeting on 11 May 1847 and decided to buy another house in Pall Mall to make its site larger, and also to hold another competition. As a result, a design by C. O. Parnell and Alfred Smith was chosen, an essay in the Venetian Renaissance style of
1484-514: The cornice, likewise very bold, is crowned by a massive balustrade. The basement, from the Cornaro, is rusticated; the entrance being in the centre of the east or George-street front, by three open arches, similar in character to those in the Strand front of Somerset House . The whole is extremely rich in ornamental detail. The hall is fine; the coffee-room, 82 feet (25 m) by 39 feet (12 m),
1537-419: The debased currency of England. However, Sir Thomas never formulated anything like Gresham's law , which was the 1857 conception of Henry Dunning Macleod , an economist with a knack for reading into a text that which was not written. The Gresham family crest is: On a Mount Vert a Grasshopper Or (a golden grasshopper on a green mound); it is displayed by Gresham College , which he founded, and also forms
1590-460: The early sixteenth century, imitating Venice 's Palazzo Corner della Ca' Grande . Building began in March 1848, William Trego having contracted to deliver the club house structure for £19,656. The foundation stone was laid on 6 May 1848 by the chairman of the committee, Lt-Col. Daniell. In August 1849 Messrs. Smith and Appleford were instructed to equip the building for £15,671, and the club-house
1643-404: The end of 1572. In 1565 Gresham made a proposal to the City of London 's Court of Aldermen to build, at his own expense, a bourse or exchange – what became the Royal Exchange , modelled on the Antwerp bourse – on condition that the Corporation provided for this purpose a suitable location. In this proposal he seems to have had a good eye for his self-interest as well as for
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1696-506: The following resolution was carried at the annual meeting of the club on the 3rd June, 1878: "All new members who are elected to the club, commencing with the next ballot, shall pay an annual subscription at £10 10s." According to the Encyclopædia Britannica article "Club", in 1902, The largest income ... may be stated to be that of the Army and Navy club, which in the year 1875 amounted to £30,813, of which £19,383
1749-602: The founding of the separate Naval and Military Club in 1862. Charles Dickens Jr. reported in Dickens's Dictionary of London (1879): Army and Navy Club, Pall Mall. — Is instituted for the association of commissioned officers of all ranks in Her Majesty’s Regular Army, Royal Navy, and Royal Marines. Election by ballot in club meeting. Thirty members must actually vote, and one black ball in ten excludes. Entrance fee, £40; subscription, £7 7S. for old members; but
1802-593: The general good of the City's merchants, for by a yearly rental of £700 obtained for the shops in the upper part of the building he received more than sufficient return for his trouble and expense. The foundation of the Royal Exchange is the background of Thomas Heywood 's play: If You Know Not Me, You Know Nobody part 2 , in which a Lord extols the quality of the building when asked if he has ever seen "a goodlier frame": Not in my life; yet I have been in Venice ... In
1855-666: The grocer's Plum-pudding Club, they shall end by becoming prosperous enough to join the Whittington Club, or the Gresham Club, or the Athenaeum Club , or the Travellers' Club ; or the House of Commons , or the House of Lords either. In 1879, the entrance fee was 20 guineas and the annual subscription six guineas, as reported by Charles Dickens, Jr. , in Dickens's Dictionary of London (1879). – Gresham Club
1908-413: The land and the house which had been built on it to the actress Moll Davis , a mistress of King Charles II , for £1800. This house (which was surveyed by John Soane in 1799) was almost square and had three storeys, each with four evenly-spaced windows, all dressed with a wide architrave and cornice. The staircase hall was south of a large room in front, and two smaller rooms and a secondary staircase at
1961-474: The membership subscription costs between £223 and £465 per year, with a £130 rate for younger members (under 29); there are reduced rates for spouses and a rate for family membership. There are joining fees. The club's first home was at 18, St James's Square , at the north corner with King Street. This house was vacated by the Oxford and Cambridge Club when it moved into its new club house in Pall Mall. A lease
2014-537: The purposes of dining drinking socialising and playing snooker". In 1993, the clubhouse was acquired by CCA Holdings, who found it in need of renovation and refurbishment. The development was funded by the International Club Company of Hong Kong , founded in 1980 by Dieter Klostermann. The company owns and operates many clubs around the world, including businessmen's clubs, golf clubs and country clubs. On 21 October 1993, Capital Club of London Ltd
2067-513: The rear. There was a massive cross-wall, containing the fireplaces of the back rooms. In 1749, John Hobart, 1st Earl of Buckinghamshire , sold the house to Thomas Brand of Hertfordshire for £4500, whose son sold it in 1799 to Samuel Thornton, a director of the Bank of England . In 1818, Thornton sold the house for £11,000 to the Whig politician W. S. Ponsonby , later Baron de Mauley , who sold it to
2120-550: The registered charity - the Gresham Benevolent Fund approved as charity number 1192072 . The charity has a separate governance structure to the Club but is largely supported by Gresham Club Members. On 18 February 1993, "Abchur Flat Gibr", represented by Wright Hassall & Co., Solicitors, of Leamington Spa , was granted a certificate of lawful development for the use of the former club's premises at 15 Abchurch Lane, as "members licensed dining club for
2173-430: The remainder of his life in London, he continued his business as merchant and government financial agent in much the same way as he had always done. Queen Elizabeth also found Gresham's abilities useful in a variety of other ways, including acting as gaoler to Lady Mary Grey (sister of Lady Jane Grey ), who, as a punishment for marrying Thomas Keyes the sergeant-porter, was imprisoned in his house from June 1569 to
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2226-531: The third story are billiard and card rooms; and a smoking room, with a lofty dome elaborately decorated in traceried Moresque. The apartments are adorned with an equestrian portrait of Queen Victoria , painted by Grant, R.A. A piece of Gobelin tapestry (Sacrifice to Diana), presented to the Club in 1849 by Prince Louis Napoleon ; marble busts of William IV and the Dukes of Kent and Cambridge; and several life-size portraits of naval and military heroes. The Club-house
2279-434: The week, in astronomy , geometry , physic , law, divinity , rhetoric and music. Thus, Gresham College , the first institution of higher learning in London, came to be established in 1597. Gresham's law (stated simply as: "Bad money drives out good") takes its name from him (although others, including the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus , had recognised the concept for years) because he urged Queen Elizabeth to restore
2332-669: The yearly value of 200 pounds. Under Queen Elizabeth 's reign (1558–1603), besides continuing in his post as financial agent of the Crown, Gresham acted as Ambassador Plenipotentiary to the Court of Duchess Margaret of Parma , Governor of the Netherlands , and was appointed a Knight Bachelor in 1559 prior to his departure. The unsettled times preceding the Dutch revolt compelled him to leave Antwerp on 10 March 1567; but, though he spent
2385-576: Was Henry Flower, and the beginning of construction in 1844 was marked by a dinner at the Albion Tavern, at which Sir William Magnay , Lord Mayor of London , presided. John Timbs wrote in 1855 – G RESHAM C LUB-HOUSE , St Swithin's-lane, King-William-street, City, was built in 1844, for the Club named after Sir Thomas Gresham, who founded the Royal Exchange. The Club consists chiefly of merchants and professional men. The style of
2438-619: Was concurrently apprenticed in the Mercers' Company to his uncle Sir John Gresham , founder of Gresham's School , while he was still at Cambridge . In 1543 the Mercers' Company admitted the 24-year-old Gresham as a liveryman , and later that year he left England for the Low Countries , where, either on his own account or that of his father or uncle, he carried on business as a merchant whilst acting in various matters as agent for King Henry VIII . In 1544 he married Anne Ferneley, widow of
2491-429: Was designed by C. W. Ferrier and work on it began late in 1924. The old smoking-room was demolished and a new one built, a new kitchen constructed, and the exterior stone of the old club house was renovated. The new house, which connected with the back of the club house at the end of the new smoking-room, provided a squash court, a ladies' drawing-room and dining-room, and shop premises, as well as bedrooms. The club house
2544-486: Was founded in 1843 as a dining club for the professional classes of the City of London, and named after Thomas Gresham , a celebrated Elizabethan merchant who founded the Royal Exchange . The club's first president was John Abel Smith (1802–1871), member of parliament for Chichester . In 1853, Charles Manby Smith located the Gresham Club as a stepping-stone in a successful Londoner's sequence of increasingly elite memberships. – ...from having been wise enough to join
2597-422: Was given a listed building consent for 15 Abchurch Lane, described as "Repairs and restoration of interior and exterior of building which is to be retained as members' dining club. Installation of new roof plant and screening" and also planning permission for "installation of roof plant and screen". The new interior was designed by Peter Inston. In September 1994, the building was re-opened as the London Capital Club,
2650-419: Was one of two sons and two daughters of Sir Richard Gresham , a leading merchant mercer and Lord Mayor of London , who was knighted by King Henry VIII for negotiating favourable loans with foreign merchants. Gresham was educated at St Paul's School . After that, although his father wanted Thomas to become a merchant, Sir Richard first sent him to university at Gonville and Caius College, Cambridge . He
2703-477: Was opened on 25 February 1851. The club was faced with Caen stone , but this decayed, and in 1886 the bad stone had to be cut out and replaced with Portland . An early description of the new club house appears in John Timbs 's Curiosities of London (1855) - A RMY AND N AVY C LUB-HOUSE , Pall Mall, corner of George-street, designed by Parnell and Smith, was opened February, 1851. The exterior
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#17327836302602756-653: Was raised by entrance fees and subscriptions alone. The expenditure is, however, most commonly of nearly equal amount, and of few of the clubs can it be said that they are entirely free from debt. 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 . Membership of the Army and Navy Club is now offered also to members of Commonwealth armed services, to members' immediate families and to individuals who have no service background who are nominated and seconded by existing members. There are some female members. As of 2011,
2809-457: Was taken and the club opened its doors early in 1838. In 1843, the club began to search for a site to build a purpose-built club house. In 1846, it moved to larger premises called Lichfield House, now 15, St James's Square. In 1846–1847, the club bought six adjacent freehold houses in Pall Mall , St James's Square , and George Street, at the west corner of Pall Mall and George Street, for
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