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56-532: Hellfire Club was a term used to describe several exclusive clubs for high-society rakes established in Great Britain and Ireland in the 18th Century. The name most commonly refers to Francis Dashwood 's Order of the Friars of St. Francis of Wycombe . Such clubs, rumour had it, served as the meeting places of "persons of quality" who wished to take part in what were socially perceived as immoral acts, and

112-443: A General warrant (possibly set up by Sandwich, who wanted to get rid of Wilkes), a version of The Essay on Woman was discovered set up on the press of a printer whom Wilkes had almost certainly used. The work was almost certainly principally written by Thomas Potter, and from internal evidence can be dated to around 1755. It was scurrilous, blasphemous, libellous, and bawdy, though not pornographic – still unquestionably illegal under

168-600: A tavern." Of early clubs the most famous, latterly, was the Bread Street or Friday Street Club that met at the Mermaid Tavern on the first Friday of each month. John Selden , John Donne , John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont were among the members (although it is often asserted that William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Raleigh were members of this club, there is no documented evidence to support this claim). Another such club, founded by Ben Jonson , met at

224-479: A club for jockeys , but rather exists to regulate the sport of horseracing ; the Marylebone Cricket Club was until recently the regulatory body of cricket ; and so on. Sports club should not be confused with gyms and health clubs, which also can be for members only. Fraternities and sororities are social clubs of secondary or higher education students. Membership in these organizations

280-770: A club of board game enthusiasts might have a library of games for members), or act as a buyers' club. These organizations are partly social, partly professional in nature and provide professionals with opportunities for advanced education, presentations on current research, business contacts, public advocacy for the profession and other advantages. Examples of these groups include medical associations , scientific societies , autograph club and bar associations . Professional societies frequently have layers of organization, with regional, national and international levels. The local chapters generally meet more often and often include advanced students unable to attend national meetings. These are activities performed by students that fall outside

336-536: A customer is induced to enroll in a free trial of a buyer's club membership, and then unexpectedly billed when the trial ends. There are two types of athletic and sports clubs: those organized for sporting participants (which include athletic clubs and country clubs), and those primarily for spectator fans of a team. Athletic and country clubs offer one or more recreational sports facilities to their members. Such clubs may also offer social activities and facilities, and some members may join primarily to take advantage of

392-454: A for-profit basis, but more frequently owned by the members who delegate to a committee the management of its affairs, first reached its highest development in London, where the district of St. James's has long been known as "Clubland". Current London proprietary clubs include Soho House , which commenced business in 1995, and Soho 's Groucho Club , which opened in 1985 as "the antidote to

448-709: A given electoral district; the rival Conservatives instead have groups called Conservative Associations . Most Canadian political parties are likewise organized into riding associations . [REDACTED] Media related to Clubs at Wikimedia Commons Robert Vansittart (jurist) Robert Vansittart (December 28, 1728 – January 31, 1789) was an English jurist , antiquarian and rake . The son of Arthur Vansittart and Martha, daughter of Sir John Stonhouse, 3rd Baronet , and elder brother of Henry Vansittart , he grew up in Shottesbrooke in Berkshire . He

504-454: A month, with an AGM lasting a week or more in June or September. The members addressed each other as "Brothers" and the leader, which changed regularly, as "Abbot". During meetings members supposedly wore ritual clothing: white trousers, jacket and cap, while the "Abbot" wore a red ensemble of the same style. Legends of Black Masses and Satan or demon worship have subsequently become attached to

560-578: A number of antiquarian works in his spare time. He was a close acquaintance of Samuel Johnson , William Hogarth and Paul Whitehead and a participant in the debauchery of the Hellfire Club . He died, unmarried, in Oxford . A character in one of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe 's comedies is named for him following a meeting in Italy . This United Kingdom law-related biographical article

616-432: A permanent institution with a fixed clubhouse . The London coffeehouse clubs in increasing their members absorbed the whole accommodation of the coffeehouse or tavern where they held their meetings, and this became the clubhouse, often retaining the name of the original innkeeper, e.g. White's , Brooks's , Arthur's , and Boodle's . These still exist today as the famous gentlemen's clubs . The peripatetic lifestyle of

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672-783: A philosophy of life associated with François Rabelais 's fictional abbey at Thélème and later used by Aleister Crowley . Francis Dashwood was well known for his pranks: for example, while in the Royal Court in St Petersburg , he dressed up as the King of Sweden, a great enemy of Russia. The membership of Sir Francis's club was initially limited to twelve but soon increased. Of the original twelve, some are regularly identified: Dashwood, Robert Vansittart , Thomas Potter , Francis Duffield, Edward Thompson, Paul Whitehead and John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich . The list of supposed members

728-402: A public presence. A service club is a type of voluntary organization where members meet regularly for social outings and to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. Social activities clubs are a modern combination of several other types of clubs and reflect today's more eclectic and varied society. These clubs are centered around

784-447: A symbolic rising from the ashes of Dashwood's earlier institution. To this day, the dining society abides by many of its predecessor's tenets. Its motto uno avulso non deficit alter 'when one is torn away another succeeds' is from the sixth book of Virgil's Aeneid and refers to the practice of establishing the continuity of the society through a process of constant renewal of its graduate and undergraduate members, but also refers to

840-401: A team can be sports amateurs—groups who meet to practice a sport, as for example in most cycling clubs —or professionals; football clubs consist of well-paid team members and thousands of supporters. A sports club can thus comprise participants (not necessarily competitors) or spectator fans, or both. Some organizations exist with a mismatch between name and function. The Jockey Club is not

896-416: Is generally by invitation only. Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include science fiction clubs , ham radio , model railroading , collecting , creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports, and adult education. Participants may form an organization to coordinate gatherings of hobbyists, provide services related to the activity (for example,

952-562: Is immense; among the more probable candidates are Benjamin Bates II , George Bubb Dodington , a fabulously corpulent man in his 60s; William Hogarth , although hardly a gentleman, has been associated with the club after painting Dashwood as a Franciscan Friar and John Wilkes , though much later, under the pseudonym John of Aylesbury. As there are no records left (these having been burned in 1774), many of these members are just assumed or linked by letters sent to each other. Sir Francis's club

1008-1022: The Friendly Societies Act . The institution of the gentleman's club has spread all over the English-speaking world . Many of those who energised the Scottish Enlightenment were members of the Poker Club in Edinburgh . In the United States clubs were first established after the War of Independence . One of the first was the Hoboken Turtle Club (1797), which still survived as of 1911. In former British Empire colonies like India and Pakistan they are known as Gymkhana . The earliest clubs on

1064-513: The Green Ribbon Club (1675). The characteristics of all these clubs were: These coffee-house clubs soon became hotbeds of political scandal-mongering and intriguing, and in 1675 King Charles II issued a proclamation which ran: “His Majesty hath thought fit and necessary that coffee houses be (for the future) put down and suppressed,” because “in such houses divers false, malitious and scandalous reports are devised and spread abroad to

1120-526: The 18th and 19th century middle classes also drove the development of more residential clubs, which had bedrooms and other facilities. Military and naval officers, lawyers, judges, members of Parliament and government officials tended to have an irregular presence in the major cities of the Empire , particularly London, spending perhaps a few months there before moving on for a prolonged period and then returning. Especially when this presence did not coincide with

1176-475: The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s social clubs were the precursor name of gangs like the infamous Hamburgs of Chicago. Latino immigrant adult and youth groups organized themselves as social clubs like: Black Eagles, Flaming Arrows, Paragons and Young Lords. Those made up of the elite are best known as gentlemen's clubs (not to be confused with strip clubs ) and country clubs (though these also have an athletic function, see above ). Membership to gentlemen's clubs require

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1232-574: The Defamation of his Majesty’s Government and to the Disturbance of Peace and Quiet of the Realm.” So unpopular was this proclamation that it was almost instantly found necessary to withdraw it, and by Anne ’s reign the coffee-house club was a feature of England’s social life. See English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries . The idea of the club developed in two directions. One was of

1288-577: The Devil Tavern near Temple Bar , also in London . The word “club,” in the sense of an association to promote good-fellowship and social intercourse, became common in England at the time of Tatler and The Spectator (1709–1712). With the introduction of coffee-drinking in the middle of the 17th century, clubs entered on a more permanent phase. The coffee houses of the later Stuart period are

1344-751: The European continent were of a political nature. These in 1848 were repressed in Austria and Germany, and later clubs of Berlin and Vienna were mere replicas of their English prototypes. In France, where the term cercle is most usual, the Club de l'Entresol (1724-1731) was followed by the Club Politique (1782), and during the French Revolution such associations proved important political forces (see Jacobins , Feuillants , Cordeliers ). Of

1400-512: The Friars met are now a tourist site known as the "Hell Fire Caves". In Anstruther , Scotland , a likeminded sex and drinking club called The Beggar's Benison was formed in the 1730s, which survived for a century and spawned additional branches in Glasgow and Edinburgh . Honorary membership was extended to the Prince of Wales in 1783. 39 years later, while the Prince (by now King George IV )

1456-611: The Hellfire Club. By this time, many of the Friars were either dead or too far away for the club to continue as it did before. Medmenham was finished by 1766. Paul Whitehead had been the Secretary and Steward of the Order at Medmenham. When he died in 1774, as his will specified, his heart was placed in an urn at West Wycombe. It was sometimes taken out to show to visitors, but was stolen in 1829. The West Wycombe Caves in which

1512-643: The Season , a permanent establishment in the city (i.e., a house owned or rented, with the requisite staff), or the opening of a townhouse (generally shuttered outside the Season) was inconvenient or uneconomic, while hotels were rare and socially déclassé . Clubbing with a number of like-minded friends to secure a large shared house with a manager was therefore a convenient solution. The other sort of club meets occasionally or periodically and often has no clubhouse, but exists primarily for some specific object. Such are

1568-436: The ability to pay large fees as well as an invitation by existing members who seek new recruits who meet personal criteria such as lifestyle, moral base, etc. Less elitist, but still in some cases exclusive, are working men's clubs . Clubs restricted to either officers or enlisted men exist on military bases . The modern Gentlemen's club is occasionally proprietary, i.e. owned by an individual or private syndicate and run on

1624-412: The activities available to the club members in the city or area in which the club is located. Because the purpose of these clubs is split between general social interaction and taking part in the events themselves, clubs tend to have more single members than married ones; some clubs restrict their membership to one of the other, and some are for gay and lesbian patrons. Membership can be limited or open to

1680-441: The alchemical kabbalistic process that a life snatched via sacrifice is a life given back via a spirit at the command of its master. The Phoenix Common Room's continuous history was reported in 1954 as a matter of note to the college. Notes Bibliography Club (organization) Historically, clubs occurred in all ancient states of which exists detailed knowledge. Once people started living together in larger groups, there

1736-510: The club supposedly came to meetings dressed as characters from the Bible. Wharton's club came to an end in 1721 when George I, under the influence of Wharton's political enemies (in particular, Robert Walpole ) put forward a Bill "against 'horrid impieties'" (or immorality), aimed at the Hellfire Club. Wharton's political opposition used his membership as a way to pit him against his political allies, thus removing him from Parliament. After his Club

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1792-634: The club, beginning in the late Nineteenth Century. Rumours saw female "guests" (a euphemism for prostitutes) referred to as "Nuns". Dashwood's Club meetings often included mock rituals, items of a pornographic nature, much drinking, wenching and banqueting. The downfall of Dashwood's Club was more drawn-out and complicated. In 1762, the Earl of Bute appointed Dashwood his Chancellor of the Exchequer, despite Dashwood being widely held to be incapable of understanding "a bar bill of five figures". (Dashwood resigned

1848-504: The expenses of their gatherings. The oldest English clubs were merely informal periodic gatherings of friends for the purpose of dining or drinking with one another. Thomas Occleve (in the time of Henry IV ) mentions such a club called La Court de Bonne Compagnie (the Court of Good Company), of which he was a member. In 1659 John Aubrey wrote, "We now use the word clubbe for a sodality [a society, association, or fraternity of any kind] in

1904-569: The general public, as can the events. Most clubs have a limited membership based upon specific criteria, and limit the events to members to increase the security of the members, thus creating an increased sense of camaraderie and belonging. Social activities clubs can be for profit or not for profit, and some are a mix of the two (a for-profit club with a non-profit charitable arm, for instance). Some social clubs are organized around competitive games, such as chess or bridge . Other clubs are designed to encourage membership of certain social classes. In

1960-699: The laws of the time, and the Government subsequently used it to drive Wilkes into exile. Between 1760 and 1765 Chrysal, or the Adventures of a Guinea by the Irish author Charles Johnstone was published. It contained stories easily identified with Medmenham, one in which Lord Sandwich was ridiculed as having mistaken a monkey for the Devil. This book sparked the association between the Medmenham Monks and

2016-516: The many purely athletic, sports and pastimes clubs, the Alpine, chess, yacht and motor clubs. Also there are literary clubs (see writing circle and book club ), musical and art clubs, publishing clubs. The name of “club” has been annexed by a large group of associations which fall between the club proper and friendly societies , of a purely periodic and temporary nature, such as slate, goose and Christmas clubs , which do not need to be registered under

2072-540: The members performed "obscene parodies of religious rites" according to one source. According to Horace Walpole , the members' "practice was rigorously pagan: Bacchus and Venus were the deities to whom they almost publicly sacrificed; and the nymphs and the hogsheads that were laid in against the festivals of this new church, sufficiently informed the neighbourhood of the complexion of those hermits." Dashwood's garden at West Wycombe contained numerous statues and shrines to different gods; Daphne and Flora , Priapus and

2128-480: The members were often involved in politics. Neither the activities nor membership of the clubs are easy to ascertain. The clubs allegedly had distant ties to an elite society known only as "The Order of the Second Circle". The first official Hellfire Club was founded in London in 1718, by Philip Wharton, 1st Duke of Wharton and a handful of other high-society friends. The most notorious club associated with

2184-490: The motto Fais ce que tu voudras was placed above a doorway in stained glass. It is thought that William Hogarth may have executed murals for this building; none, however, survive. Eventually, the meetings were moved out of the abbey into a series of tunnels and caves in West Wycombe Hill . They were decorated again with mythological themes, phallic symbols and other items of a sexual nature. Records indicate that

2240-462: The name was established in England by Francis Dashwood, and met irregularly from around 1749 to around 1760, and possibly up until 1766. The term was closely associated with Brooks's , established in 1764. Other groups described as Hellfire Clubs were set up throughout the 18th century. Most of these arose in Ireland after Wharton's had been dissolved. Lord Wharton was made a duke by George I and

2296-451: The post the next year, having raised a tax on cider which caused near-riots). Dashwood now sat in the House of Lords after taking up the title of Baron Le Despencer after the previous holder died. Then there was the attempted arrest of John Wilkes for seditious libel against the King in the notorious issue No. 45 of his The North Briton in early 1763. During a search authorised by

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2352-519: The previously mentioned Venus and Dionysus . A Parish history from 1925 stated that members included " Frederick, Prince of Wales , the Duke of Queensberry, the Earl of Bute, Lord Melcombe, Sir William Stanhope, K.B, Sir John Dashwood-King, bart., Sir Francis Delaval, K.B., Sir John Vanluttan, kt., Henry Vansittart, afterwards Governor of Bengal, (fn. 13) and Paul Whitehead the poet". Meetings occurred twice

2408-836: The purely social clubs in Paris the most notable were the Jockey-Club de Paris (1833), the Cercle de l'Union, the Traveller's and the Cercle Interallié. Buyer's clubs or buying clubs are clubs organized to pool members' collective buying power, enabling them to make purchases at lower prices per individual item than are generally available, or purchase goods that might otherwise be difficult to obtain. There are many legitimate buying clubs – for example, food buying clubs – but many are unauthorized credit card billing scams, in which

2464-545: The real originals of the modern clubhouse. The clubs of the late 17th and early 18th century type resembled their Tudor forerunners in being oftenest associations solely for conviviality or literary coteries. But many were confessedly political, e.g. The Rota, or Coffee Club (1659), a debating society for the spread of republican ideas, broken up at the Restoration in 1660, the Calves Head Club (c.1693) and

2520-637: The realm of classes. Such clubs may fall outside the normal curriculum of school or university education or, as in the case of subject matter clubs (e.g. student chapters of professional societies ), may supplement the curriculum through informal meetings and professional mentoring. A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain

2576-674: The social opportunities. Country clubs offer a variety of recreational sports facilities to their members and are usually located in suburban or rural areas. Most country clubs have golf facilities. Swimming pools , tennis courts , polo grounds and exercise facilities are also common. Country clubs usually provide dining facilities to their members and guests, and frequently host special events like weddings. Similar clubs in urban areas are often called "athletic clubs". These clubs often feature indoor sports, such as indoor tennis, squash , futsal , basketball , volleyball , boxing , and exercise facilities. Members of sports clubs that support

2632-466: The time of the London gentlemen's club , when there was a meeting place for every interest, including poetry, philosophy and politics, Wharton's Hellfire Club was, according to Blackett-Ord, a satirical "gentleman's club" which was known to ridicule religion, catching onto the contemporary trend in England of blasphemy. The club was more a joke, meant to shock the outside world, than a serious attack on religion or morality. The supposed president of this club

2688-452: The traditional club." In this spirit, the club was named for Groucho Marx because of his famous remark that he would not wish to join any club that would have him as a member. A political club is a group of people who share a political ideology, or supporters of a particular political party , of which it may function as a local element. For example, a Constituency Labour Party is an association of British Labour Party members who live in

2744-419: Was a prominent politician with two separate lives: the first as a "man of letters" and the second as "a drunkard, a rioter, an infidel and a rake ". The members of Wharton's club are largely unknown. Mark Blackett-Ord assumes that members included Wharton's immediate friends: the Earl of Hillsborough , cousin; the Earl of Lichfield; and Sir Ed. O'Brien. Aside from these names, other members are not revealed. At

2800-663: Was disbanded, Wharton became a Freemason , and in 1722 he became the Grand Master of England. Sir Francis Dashwood and the Earl of Sandwich are alleged to have been members of a Hellfire Club that met at the George and Vulture Inn throughout the 1730s. Dashwood founded the Order of the Knights of St Francis in 1746, originally meeting at the George & Vulture. The club motto was Fais ce que tu voudras ( Do what thou wilt ),

2856-491: Was educated at Winchester College and Trinity College, Oxford , becoming a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford in 1748. In 1753, he was called to the bar at the Inner Temple . He held a number of minor judicial appointments, including that of recorder of Maidenhead in 1758 and Newbury in 1764, before being appointed Regius Professor of civil law at Oxford in 1767, a chair he held until his death. He published

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2912-498: Was held on Walpurgis Night , 1752; a much larger meeting, it was something of a failure and no large-scale meetings were held there again. In 1751, Dashwood , leased Medmenham Abbey on the Thames from a friend, Francis Duffield. On moving into Medmenham Abbey, Dashwood had numerous expensive works done on the building. It was rebuilt by the architect Nicholas Revett in the style of the 18th-century Gothic revival . At this time,

2968-465: Was need for people with a common interest to be able to associate despite having no ties of kinship. Organizations of the sort have existed for many years, as evidenced by Ancient Greek clubs and associations ( collegia ) in Ancient Rome . It is uncertain whether the use of the word "club" originated in its meaning of a knot of people, or from the fact that the members "clubbed" together to pay

3024-609: Was never originally known as a Hellfire Club; it was given this name much later. His club in fact used a number of other names, such as the Brotherhood of St. Francis of Wy , Order of Knights of West Wycombe , The Order of the Friars of St Francis of Wycombe , and later, after moving their meetings to Medmenham Abbey , they became the Monks or Friars of Medmenham . The first meeting at Sir Francis's family home in West Wycombe

3080-597: Was paying a royal visit to Scotland, he bequeathed the club a snuff box filled with his mistresses' pubic hair. In 1781, Dashwood's nephew Joseph Alderson (an undergraduate at Brasenose College, Oxford ) founded the Phoenix Society (later known as the Phoenix Common Room), but it was only in 1786 that the small gathering of friends asserted themselves as a recognised institution. The Phoenix was established in honour of Sir Francis, who died in 1781, as

3136-713: Was the Devil, although the members themselves did not apparently worship demons or the Devil, but called themselves devils. Wharton's club admitted men and women as equals, unlike other clubs of the time. The club met on Sundays at a number of different locations around London. The Greyhound Tavern was one of the meeting places used regularly, but because women were not to be seen in taverns, the meetings were also held at members' houses and at Wharton's riding club. According to at least one source, their activities included mock religious ceremonies and partaking of meals featuring such dishes as "Holy Ghost Pie", "Breast of Venus", and "Devil's Loin", while drinking "Hell Fire Punch". Members of

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