130-475: The National Liberal Club ( NLC ) is a London private members' club , open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate following the Third Reform Act in 1884, and was envisioned as a more accessible version of a traditional London club. The club's Italianate building on
260-545: A club required member approval and payment. Thus, a club was dependent on class and vice versa. Historian Robert Morris proposed that clubs were "part of the power nexus of capitalism , and essential to the continuity of elite dominance of society." Several private members' clubs for women were established in the late 19th century; among them the Alexandra Club , and the self-consciously progressive Pioneer Club . Women also set about establishing their own clubs in
390-485: A clubhouse of 22 stories and a worldwide membership of over 11,000, is the largest traditional gentlemen's club in the world. Membership in the Yale Club is restricted to alumni, faculty, and full-time graduate students of Yale University, and the club has included women among its members since 1969. While class requirements relaxed gradually throughout the 19th and 20th centuries and, from the 1970s onwards; "relics of
520-581: A concerted Christmas bombing campaign) which blew open the front door and gashed the duty manager's arm, while on 10 January 1992 an IRA briefcase bomb exploded outside the club, shattering many of its windows. During the February 1974 general election campaign , Liberal Leader Jeremy Thorpe was defending a wafer-thin majority of 369 votes in his Devon constituency . Instead of fighting a "typical" party leader's election campaign based in London and focusing on
650-611: A contemporary private members' club with the business facilities of an office. It was for this reason that the Institute of Directors acquired one of the older clubhouses in Pall Mall as more business-friendly. Clubs in Ireland include two prominent Dublin social clubs, each having both male and female members, a range of facilities and events, and a wide network of reciprocal clubs: The Kildare Street and University Club (formed on
780-438: A convenient retreat for men who wished to get away from female relations, "in keeping with the separate spheres ideology according to which the man dealt with the public world, whereas women's domain was the home." Many men spent much of their lives at their club, and it was common for young, newly graduated men who had moved to London for the first time to live at their club for two or three years before they could afford to rent
910-542: A direct hit by a Luftwaffe bomb during the Blitz , which utterly destroyed the central staircase and caused considerable damage elsewhere. The £150,000 cost of reconstructing the staircase in 1950 (equivalent to £6,491,849 in 2023) placed a considerable strain on the club's finances, although generous support from the War Damage Commission helped to fund the new staircase. In the nine-year interim between
1040-399: A family environment. A gentleman's club offered an escape. Men's clubs were also a place for gossip. The clubs were designed for communication and the sharing of information. By gossiping, bonds were created which were used to confirm social and gender boundaries. Gossiping helped confirm a man's identity, both in his community and within society at large. It was often used as a tool to climb
1170-697: A focus of class struggle and an obvious flashpoint. This attracted the attention of the small but growing socialist movement – the Marxists of both the Social Democratic Federation (SDF) and Socialist League , and the reformist socialists of the Fabian Society . Police and government attempts to suppress or divert the demonstrations also brought in the radical wing of the Liberal Party and free speech activists from
1300-544: A hotel since 1971. This was not without some dissent among the membership, but the sale ensured that the club's financial future was secure, and the remaining part of the club still operating, mainly on the ground and first floors of the vast building, still remains one of the largest clubhouses in the world. Originally built for 6,000 members, the club still provides facilities for around 2,000. The club's calendar includes an Annual Whitebait Supper, where members depart by river from Embankment Pier , downstream to The Trafalgar,
1430-480: A house or flat. Gentleman's clubs were private places that were designed to allow men to relax and create friendships with other men. In the 19th and 20th centuries, clubs were regarded as a central part of elite men's lives. They provided everything a regular home would have. Clubs were created and designed for a man's domestic needs. They were places to relieve stress and worries. They provided for emotional and practical needs. They provided spaces such as dining halls,
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#17327718871841560-469: A less interesting occasion than the laying of the foundation-stone of a Club in London. For, after all, what are the Clubs of London? I am afraid little else than temples of luxury and ease. This, however, is a club of a very different character", and envisioned the club as a popular institution for the mass electorate. However, another of the club's founders, G. W. E. Russell , noted "We certainly never foresaw
1690-464: A library, entertainment and game rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms and washrooms, and a study. In many ways, they resembled a home. Clubs had separate entrances for tradesmen and servants, which were usually located on the side of the building that was not easily seen by the public eye. Many clubs had waiting lists, some as long as sixteen years. There is no standard definition for what is considered a gentlemen's club. Each club differed slightly from others. In
1820-598: A meal, and in some clubs stay overnight. Expatriates, when staying in England, could use their clubs, as with the East India Club or the Oriental Club , as a base. They allowed upper- and upper-middle-class men with modest incomes to spend their time in grand surroundings. The richer clubs were built by the same architects as the finest country houses of the time and had similar types of interiors. They were
1950-649: A meeting of the General Committee of the NLF at Derby agreed to make reform a priority, a decision endorsed by [H. H.] Asquith a few days later. This reputation for radicalism was underlined when former Liberal prime minister Lord Rosebery resigned from the club in September 1909, denouncing it as "a hotbed of socialism." Several discussion groups met at the club, including the Rainbow Circle in
2080-681: A regular by the Smoking Room in previous years, often found warming his bottom by the fireplace where his portrait now hangs) was personally shunned by many NLC members. This was a highly acrimonious time within the Liberal Party, with both the Asquithian and Lloyd Georgeite factions believing themselves to be the 'true' Liberal party, and viewing the other faction as 'traitors'. Michael Bentley has written of this period that "The Lloyd George Liberal Magazine , which appeared monthly between October 1920 and December 1923, spent much space attacking
2210-534: A trench dug in 1865, intended to be the Waterloo and Whitehall Railway , stretching from Scotland Yard to Waterloo station , which planned to carry freight that would have been powered by air pressure; digging was abandoned in 1868, and when the company wound up in 1882, the National Liberal Club adapted the tunnel to its present use. Gentlemen%27s club (traditional) A gentlemen's club
2340-483: A two-year negotiation to sell off its second-floor and basement function rooms, and the 140 bedrooms from the third floor to the eighth floor (including two vast ballrooms and the Gladstone Library, which had contained 35,000 volumes before their sale in 1977, and was standing empty by the 1980s) to the adjoining Royal Horseguards Hotel , which is approached from a different entrance, and which has operated as
2470-467: A venue for large-scale meetings of Liberals. On Armistice Day 1924, over one hundred defeated Liberal candidates met at the club to express their anger at Lloyd George's failure to use his infamous " Lloyd George fund " to help the Liberals in the disastrous general election campaign one month earlier . After the 1929 general election , the first meeting of the newly expanded Parliamentary Liberal Party
2600-632: Is a private social club of a type originally set up by men from Britain's upper classes in the 18th and succeeding centuries. Many countries outside Britain have prominent gentlemen's clubs, mostly those associated with the British Empire : in particular, Australia , India , Ireland , Pakistan , and Bangladesh . There are also many clubs in major American cities, especially the older ones. The gentlemen’s club in Moscow (Angliyskoye sobranie, rus. Английское собрание), founded approximately in 1772,
2730-596: Is a well-known story told of the NLC, that the Conservative politician F. E. Smith would stop off there every day on his way to Parliament , to use the club's lavatories. One day the hall porter apprehended Smith and asked him if he was actually a member of the club, to which Smith replied "Good God! You mean it's a club as well?". This story, and apocryphal variations thereof (usually substituting Smith with Churchill), are told of many different clubs. The original related to
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#17327718871842860-545: Is located at Whitehall Place , close to the Houses of Parliament , the Thames Embankment and Trafalgar Square . The genesis of the club lay with Welsh Liberal party activist (and later MP) Arthur John Williams , who proposed the creation of such a club at a Special General Meeting of the short-lived Century Club on 14 May 1882, so as to provide "a home for democracy, void of the class distinction associated with
2990-543: Is replaced by an aristocracy of ballot. Frederick Lewis Allen showed how this process operated in the case of the nine "Lords of Creation" who were listed in the New York Social Register as of 1905: 'The nine men who were listed [in the Social Register] were recorded as belonging to 9.4 clubs apiece,' wrote Allen. 'Though only two of them, J. P. Morgan and Cornelius Vanderbilt III , belonged to
3120-485: Is still housed at Bristol today. However, the papers referring to the history of the club itself were returned to the NLC in the 1990s, as they had not been included in the sale, and had been sent to Bristol by accident. After the 1977 dismissal of de Chabris, a 1978 rescue package by Sir Lawrence Robson (a former Liberal Party President and parliamentary candidate, co-founder and partner of Robson Rhodes , and husband of Liberal peer Baroness Robson ) did much to stabilise
3250-590: Is the oldest extant fox hunting club in North America. The Golden Square Mile is home to several of Montreal's clubs, including Club Saint-James, which was founded in 1857. At the end of the nineteenth century, twenty of its most influential members felt that the St James was becoming 'too overcrowded' and founded the smaller Mount Royal Club in 1899. Overnight it became the city's most prestigious club, and in 1918, Lord Birkenhead commented that it "is one of
3380-492: The 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election , frontrunner and eventual winner Nick Clegg launched his successful leadership bid from the club's David Lloyd George Room, praising "the elegance of the National Liberal Club". As party leader, Clegg has delivered further landmark addresses at the club, such as his "muscular liberalism" speech of 11 May 2011, marking one year of the Liberal Democrats in power as part of
3510-537: The Conservative-led coalition government . After the Liberal Democrats' mixed result in the 2017 general election, party leader Tim Farron used the club to give his first major speech, calling on Prime Minister Theresa May to resign after she had lost her majority. Designed by leading Victorian architect Alfred Waterhouse using the Renaissance Revival architecture style, the clubhouse
3640-509: The Devonshire and Reform Clubs ". The first full meeting of the new club was held on 16 November 1882, at the (now-demolished) Westminster Palace Hotel on Victoria Street. The Century Club itself then merged into the NLC at the end of the year. In its early years, the club declared its objects to be: An initial circular for subscribers meant that by the end of 1882, 2,500 members from over 500 towns and districts had already signed up for
3770-700: The Knickerbocker Club , in 1933 the grandsons of six of them did. The following progress is characteristic: John D. Rockefeller, Union League Club; John D. Rockefeller, Jr., University Club ; John D. Rockefeller 3rd, Knickerbocker Club . Thus is the American aristocracy recruited.' The oldest existing American clubs date to the 18th century; the five oldest are the South River Club in Annapolis, Maryland (founded c. 1690/1700 ),
3900-544: The Knickerbocker Club , the citadel of Patrician families (indeed, both already belonged to old prominent families at the time), Stillman and Harriman joined these two in the membership of the almost equally fashionable Union Club ; Baker joined these four in the membership of the Metropolitan Club of New York (Magnificent, but easier of access to new wealth); John D. Rockefeller, William Rockefeller, and Rogers, along with Morgan and Baker were listed as members of
4030-1261: The Mississippi River are The Pacific Club in Honolulu (1851); the Pacific-Union Club (1852), Olympic Club (1860), and the Concordia-Argonaut Club (founded 1864), all in San Francisco; and the Arlington Club in Portland, Oregon (1867). Today, gentlemen's clubs in the United States remain more prevalent in older cities, especially those on the East Coast . Only twelve American cities have five or more existing clubs: Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cincinnati, Denver, Detroit, Los Angeles, New Orleans, New York City, Philadelphia, San Francisco, Seattle, and Washington, D.C. New York City contains more than any other American city. The Yale Club of New York City , comprising
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4160-832: The National Secular Society . The working class in British cities contained many people of Irish birth or origin. London, like industrial areas of northern England and western Scotland, had a large Irish working class, concentrated in the East End, where it rubbed shoulders with increasing numbers of Jews from Eastern Europe. Some 30,000 people, "mostly respectable spectators", encircled Trafalgar Square as at least 10,000 protesters marched in from several different directions, led by (among others) Elizabeth Reynolds, John Burns , William Morris , Annie Besant and Robert Cunninghame-Graham , who were primarily leaders of
4290-558: The Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal Ocean Racing Club ) have a specific character that places them outside the mainstream, while other clubs have sacrificed their individuality for the commercial purpose of attracting enough members, regardless of their common interests. (See article at club for a further discussion of these distinctions.) The oldest gentleman's club in London is White's, which
4420-851: The Schuylkill Fishing Company in Andalusia, Pennsylvania (1732), the Old Colony Club in Plymouth, Massachusetts (1769), the Philadelphia Club (1834), and the Union Club of the City of New York (founded 1836). The Boston Club of New Orleans, named after Boston (card game) and not the city, is the oldest southern club, and third oldest "city club", founded in 1841. The five oldest existing clubs west of
4550-491: The Social Democratic Federation . Also marching were the Fabian playwright George Bernard Shaw , Eleanor Marx , and Charlotte Wilson . There were approximately 14,000 police officers for 5.5 million Londoners. Two thousand police and 400 troops were deployed to halt the demonstration. Burns and Cunninghame-Graham were arrested and imprisoned for six weeks. Annie Besant, who was a Marxist , Fabian and secularist , spoke at
4680-583: The Union League Club (the stronghold of Republican respectability); seven of the group belonged to the New York Yacht Club . Morgan belonged to nineteen clubs in all; Vanderbilt, to fifteen; Harriman, to fourteen.' Allen then goes on to show how the descendants of these financial giants were assimilated into the upper class : 'By way of footnote, it may be added that although in that year [1905] only two of our ten financiers belonged to
4810-480: The West End of London . Today, the area of St James's is still sometimes called "clubland". Clubs took over some parts of the role occupied by coffee houses in 18th-century London . The first clubs, such as White's , Brooks's , and Boodle's , were aristocratic in flavour, and provided an environment for gambling, which was illegal outside of members-only establishments. The 19th century brought an explosion in
4940-465: The "Liberal Party's 'local'" and a Liberal Party song "Down at the Old NLC" was written in response to this: Come, come, roll up your trouser leg Down at the old NLC. Come, come, stuff your coat on the peg, Down at the old NLC. There to get your apron on: Learn the secret organ song; Bend your thumb when you shake hands. Come, come, drinking till the dinner gong, Down at the old NLC. In
5070-611: The 13 November demonstration was to protest about the handling of the Irish situation by the Conservative government of Lord Salisbury , it had a much wider context. The Long Depression , starting in 1873 and lasting almost to the end of the century, created difficult social conditions in Britain—similar to the economic problems that drove rural agitation in Ireland. Falling food prices created rural unemployment, which resulted in both emigration and internal migration . Workers moved to
5200-651: The 1890s, an influential group of Liberal, Fabian and socialist thinkers who came to be identified with the Bloomsbury Group . It was also the site of much intrigue in the Liberal Party over the years, rivalling the Reform Club as a social centre for Liberals by the advent of the First World War , although its membership was largely based on Liberal activists in the country at large; it
5330-448: The 1970s and 1980s retained the idea of a daily press conference at the NLC, but with live participants rather than a TV link-up to the party leader. Throughout the 1960s and 1970s, all London clubs were in serious decline, and the NLC was no exception. By the 1970s the club was in a serious state of disrepair, its membership dwindling, and its finances losing almost a thousand pounds a week. In 1976, Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe handed over
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5460-773: The 19th century, the family was considered one of the most important aspects of a man's life. A man's home was his property and should have been a place to satisfy most of his needs, but for elite men, this was not always the case; it was not always a place that provided privacy and comfort: perhaps because the homes of elite families often entertained guests for dinners, formal teas, entertainment, and parties. Their lives were on display, and often their lives would be reported in local papers. A gentleman's club offered an escape from this family world. Another explanation would be that men were brought up as boys in all-male environments in places like schools and sports pastimes, and they became uncomfortable when they had to share their lives with women in
5590-504: The 21st century, numerous new private women's clubs had formed in support of previously male-dominated pursuits, including professional affiliations and business networking . In 2023, The Daily Telegraph reports that an "[A]bsolutely chilling" discordance around admitting women to men-only clubs persisted in the UK, as the SFGate also reports in the U.S. Membership is by election after
5720-1062: The Brisbane Club, United Services Club and the Tattersalls Club (unrelated to the identically named club in Sydney). Adelaide has the Adelaide Club and the Naval, Military and Air Force Club of South Australia. Perth has the Western Australian Club and the Weld Club . Hobart has the Tasmanian Club and the Athenaeum Club. The Launceston Club is located in the northern city of Launceston Bloody Sunday (1887) Charles Warren Metropolitan Police : 2,000 Bloody Sunday
5850-1025: The Commonwealth Club, the Kelvin Club, the Newcastle Club, the Royal Automobile Club, the Tattersalls Club in Sydney and the Union, University and Schools Club allow women to enjoy full membership. Sydney has the Australian Club , the Royal Automobile Club of Australia , the Tattersalls Club and the Union, University & Schools Club . The City Tattersalls Club , which named itself after
5980-412: The Embankment of the river Thames is the second-largest club-house built in London. (It was the largest ever at the time, but was superseded by the later Royal Automobile Club building completed in 1911.) Designed by Alfred Waterhouse , it was completed in 1887. Its facilities include a dining room, a bar, function rooms, a billiards room, a smoking room , a library and an outdoor riverside terrace. It
6110-410: The Faculty Club associated with the University of Toronto , the Arts and Letters Club , and a number of other clubs. Other Ontario cities have their clubs: the Rideau Club at Ottawa; the Hamilton Club; the Frontenac Club at Kingston , and The Waterloo Club by letters patent. The Halifax Club was founded in 1862. The Union Club (Saint John) in Saint John, New Brunswick was founded in 1884 through
6240-560: The Greenwich tavern which Gladstone used to take his cabinet ministers to by boat; as well as the Political and Economic Circle, which was founded by Gladstone in the 1890s. On 17 July 2002, Jeremy Paxman conducted a well-publicised interview with Lib Dem leader Charles Kennedy in the club's Smoking Room for an edition of Newsnight . The interview generated controversy over Paxman's querying Kennedy's alcohol intake, including his asking, "Does it trouble you that every single politician to whom we've spoken in preparing for this interview said
6370-492: The House frequented by Radical millionaires and released prisoners, the National Liberal Club, where an enormous quantity of whisky is consumed." Despite this remark, it seems that the club accounted for relatively little alcohol consumption by the standards of the day – Herbert Samuel commented in 1909 that the average annual consumption of alcoholic liquor per NLC member was 31s. 4d. per annum, which compared very favourably with equivalent Conservative clubs, including 33s. 5d. for
6500-435: The London-based media, Thorpe spent almost the entire election in his constituency, keeping in contact with the national press via a live closed-circuit television link-up to daily press conferences at the National Liberal Club. Thorpe later credited this system with giving him more time to think of answers to questions, and it helped to keep the Liberal campaign both distinctive and modern. Further Liberal election campaigns of
6630-495: The Metropolitan Police, Sir Charles Warren , declined. In the fighting, many rioters were injured by police truncheons and under the hooves of police horses . The British Army dispatched a force of 400 men, consisting of both infantry and cavalry. Although the infantry were marched into position with bayonets fixed, they were not ordered to open fire and the cavalry were not ordered to draw their swords. An Australian newspaper, of conservative political orientation, reported that
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#17327718871846760-409: The NLC have mirrored those of the Liberal Party – as the Liberals declined as a national force in the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, so did the NLC. However, despite the Liberals' national decline, the NLC remained a focus for debate. In the early 1950s, it was a centre of anti-ID card sentiment, and Harry Willcock , a member who successfully campaigned for the abolition of ID cards, tore his up in front of
6890-465: The NLC, at the half-way point between Parliament and Smith's chambers in Elm Court, Temple. The comment was a jibe at the brown tiles in some of the NLC's late-Victorian architecture. During the hung parliament of 1923–24, it was at the club that Asquith – as Leader of the reunited Liberal Party – announced on 6 December 1923 that the Liberals would support Ramsay MacDonald in forming Britain's first ever Labour government . The club continued to be
7020-423: The National Liberal Club for its continued Asquithian partisanship – in particular for its refusal to hang portraits of Lloyd George and Churchill in the main club rooms, or to accept nominations for membership from Coalition Liberals. The creation of a separate ' 1920 Club ' in neighbouring Whitehall Court was one reaction to this treatment." The Lloyd George and Churchill portraits were removed in 1921 and put into
7150-417: The Tattersalls Club, no longer has exclusive membership criteria. Newcastle has the Newcastle Club. Melbourne has the Melbourne Club , the Alexandra Club, the Athenaeum Club (named after its counterpart in London), the Australian Club (unrelated to the identically named club in Sydney), the Kelvin Club and the Savage Club . Geelong has The Geelong Club . Brisbane has the Queensland Club ,
7280-415: The Thames. Of the club's political character, George Bernard Shaw remarked at a debate in the club, "I have never yet met a member of the National Liberal Club who did not intend to get into Parliament at some time, except those who, like our chairman Lord Carrington , are there already." On the club's launch, it represented all factions of liberalism from whiggery to radicalism , but within four years it
7410-420: The Trafalgar Square riot of 13 November 1887. NLC members flocked to the windows to watch George Bernard Shaw (a member of the club) address the demonstration, and later in the day, witnessed the bloodshed which ensued. In its late-19th-century heyday, its membership was primarily political, but had a strong journalistic and even bohemian character. Members were known to finish an evening's dining by diving into
7540-631: The United States have at least one traditional gentlemen's club, many of which have reciprocal relationships with older clubs in London, with each other, and with other gentlemen's clubs around the world. In American English , the term "gentlemen's club" is commonly used euphemistically by strip clubs . As a result, traditional gentlemen's clubs often are called "men's clubs" or "city clubs" (as opposed to country clubs ) or simply as "private social clubs" or "private clubs". Christopher Doob explains in his book Social Inequality and Social Stratification in U.S. Society : The most exclusive social clubs are in
7670-445: The admissions committee's standards for values and behavior. Old money prevails over new money as the Rockefeller family experience suggests. John D. Rockefeller , the family founder and the nation's first billionaire, joined the Union League Club , a fairly respectable but not top-level club; John D. Rockefeller, Jr. , belonged to the University Club , a step up from his father; and finally his son John D. Rockefeller, III , reached
7800-420: The advent of mobile working (using phone and email) has placed pressures on the traditional London clubs which frown on, and often ban, the use of mobiles and discourage laptops, indeed any discussion of business matters or 'work related papers'. A new breed of business-oriented private members' clubs, exemplified by One Alfred Place and Eight in London or the Gild in Barcelona, combines the style, food and drink of
7930-416: The age of exclusion" reported SFGate in the United States in 2004 "seem to be in no danger of going the way of other 19th century institutions." At Montreal, the Beaver Club was founded in 1785. Every year, some of its members travelled back to England to sell their furs, where they established the Canada Club in 1810; it still meets twice yearly as a dining club. The Montreal Hunt Club, founded in 1826,
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#17327718871848060-432: The aristocracy and politicians were likely to have several clubs. The record number of memberships is believed to have been held by Earl Mountbatten , who had nineteen in the 1960s. Public entertainments, such as musical performances and the like, were not a feature of this sort of club. The clubs were, in effect, "second homes" in the centre of London where men could relax, mix with their friends, play parlour games , get
8190-409: The autumn of 1980, former Liberal Leader Jo Grimond delivered the inaugural ' Eighty Club ' lecture to the Association of Liberal Lawyers at the club, drawing press attention for his scathing criticism of those Liberals who believed that their future lay in some form of social democracy , or what he termed, "a better yesterday". In 1985, reminiscent of the earlier de Chabris deals, the club undertook
8320-538: The best clubs I know in the New World, with the indefinable atmosphere about it of a good London club". In 1908 the University Club (McGill University), affiliated with McGill , opened. The Forest and Stream was formed by Frank Stephen and some of his gentlemen friends and associates on 27 November 1884 at a meeting held at the St. Lawrence Hall in Montreal. The club's original founders were Andrew Allan, James Bryce Allan, Hugh Montagu Allan, Louis Joseph Forget, Hartland St. Claire MacDougall, Hugh Paton, and Frank Stephen. It
8450-425: The bomb blast and the rebuilding of the staircase, members had to use the stairs of the club's turret tower, often taking highly circuitous routes around the vast clubhouse. One of the items damaged in the blast was the 1915 portrait of Winston Churchill (a member of the club), by Ernest Townsend . Ironically, after 25 years of being hidden from sight, it had only just been put on display the year before. Painted in
8580-411: The cause of Irish home rule had split the Liberal Party and made it easy for the Conservatives to gain a majority in the House of Commons. The period from 1885 to 1906 was one of Tory dominance, with short intermissions. Coercion Acts were the answer of British governments perturbed by rural unrest in Ireland, and they involved various degrees of suspension of civil rights. Although one purpose of
8710-445: The club a private space and attempted to control the spread of information from the outside. Under no circumstance was the club to be depressing or too involved in the pains of reality. Whether from "the streets, the courts, Parliament , or the Stock Exchange ," the chaotic nature of work life was put on hold. Young bachelors and other members were in many ways shielded from the true problems of society, especially female ones. While it
8840-404: The club and secure its future – to this day the club honours Sir Lawrence with a portrait in the Smoking Room, and one of its function rooms has been renamed the Lawrence Robson Room. As the Liberal Party's lease on its headquarters expired in 1977, the party organisation moved to the upper floors of the NLC, the negotiations being arranged by "de Chabris". The Liberals occupied a suite of rooms on
8970-474: The club as a publicity stunt in 1951. He subsequently died at a meeting of the Eighty Club during a debate on 12 December 1952, with his last word being "Freedom." It was at a debate at the club in 1971 that Yale professor James Tobin first publicly voiced his proposal for a Tobin tax on financial transactions. In addition to the Blitz bombing in 1941, the club also sustained an attack from an IRA bomb at 12 past midnight on 22 December 1973 (as part of
9100-417: The club could be represented as " homosocial domesticity". Similar to male coffeehouses of the Ottoman Empire , the clubs were a home away from home. They were alternative, competing spaces in the sense that it had some similarities with the traditional home. One of the key attractions of these clubs was their private, often exclusive, nature. They were getaways from the tight, restrictive role expected from
9230-436: The club could no longer afford to pay the Librarian's wages, and that it did not want to leave such valuable material unguarded. Ian Bradley described it as "a derisory sum" for the sale, particularly in light of the unique collection of accumulated candidates' manifestos from 19th-century general elections. Until its sale, it had been, as Peter Harris observed, "The most extensive of the Club libraries of London." The collection
9360-460: The club he also sold it a painting for £10,000, when it was valued at less than £1,000. One of his more controversial reforms was to sell the National Liberal Club's Gladstone Library (which contained the largest library of 17th- to 20th-century political material in the country, including 35,000 books and over 30,000 pamphlets) to the University of Bristol for £40,000. The pretext given was that
9490-518: The club in 1889, the Scots Observer called it "one of the most important events that has recently occurred in home politics", due to its ramifications for the Liberal Party breaking in two. The club enjoyed a reputation for radicalism, and H. V. Emy records that Radicals secured a distinct success when the Radical wing of the National Liberal Club (NLC) captured the club's organisation in
9620-542: The club relocating in the meantime to several rooms in the Westminster Palace Hotel - the venue of its original meetings in 1882–3. Many of the Canadian troops billeted in the clubhouse were offered heavily discounted temporary club membership during their stay, although it appears that some overstayed their welcome – a "farewell dinner" by the club on 19 March 1919 attempted to hint that their departure
9750-501: The club to Canadian businessman George Marks, styling himself George de Chabris (and, more improbably, "His Serene Holiness the Prince de Chabris", which he claimed was "a Catholic title"), who, unknown to Thorpe, was a shrewd operator. "De Chabris" claimed to be a multi-millionaire willing to funnel money into the club (although both his wealth and his willingness to finance the club turned out to be untrue), and he spent nine months running
9880-517: The club was one of a number of buildings to have their windows smashed in by the suffragette Women's Social and Political Union , in protest at the Liberal government's inaction over votes for women . During the Marconi scandal of 1912, Winston Churchill used a speech to the club to mount an impassioned defence of embattled ministers David Lloyd George and Rufus Isaacs , asserting that there
10010-539: The club's cellar. At the time, the Asquithians were popularly known as "Wee Frees", and historian Cameron Hazlehurst wrote that, "the civilities of social life at the National Liberal Club were increasingly reserved by 'Wee Frees' for 'Wee Frees.'" The reunion of the two branches of the Liberal Party in the run-up to the December 1923 general election meant that the neighbouring 1920 Club for Lloyd George supporters
10140-401: The club's insistence on all members signing a declaration of Liberal politics. This continues to this day, with Members signing a pledge that they will "not use the club or...membership thereof for political activities adverse to Liberalism", and not having full voting rights at Annual General Meetings, but otherwise enjoying the full benefits of club membership. On 11 May 1941 the club suffered
10270-456: The club, Hartington had argued that the club would be the future home of Chamberlain's Radical Birmingham Caucus , and Chamberlain, standing next to him, pointedly refused to contradict him. Chamberlain himself resigned in 1886, shortly after the Home Rule split, Hartington and other prominent Liberal Unionists followed early in 1887, and when a further 130 Unionists simultaneously seceded from
10400-424: The club, only the wealth and importance of the club and its amenities was displayed instead of their possibly inferior possessions or structures at home. In English clubs, this domesticity was particularly emphasized. These clubs, primarily in London, were usually very "quiet" and their members were well-behaved: again pointing to the calm familiarity of the household. In addition, club staff were tasked with keeping
10530-481: The club, relaxing membership rules and bringing in more income, but also moving his family in rent-free, running several businesses from its premises, paying for a sports car and his children's private school fees from the club's accounts, and he eventually left in a hurry owing the club £60,000, (equivalent to £545,470 in 2023) even emptying out the cash till of the day's takings as he went. He eventually agreed to pay back half of that sum in instalments. In his time at
10660-505: The clubhouse by the Liberal Central Association. The remaining £30,000 necessary was raised by mortgage debentures. The clubhouse was still unfinished when it opened its doors in 1887, but it was opened early on 20 June to allow members to watch that year's Jubilee processions from the club terrace. It was when the club had only recently moved to its present address that " Bloody Sunday " ensued on its doorstep during
10790-412: The clubhouse were raised by selling 40,000 shares of £5 each (equivalent to £658 in 2023), in a Limited Liability Company, with the unusual stipulation that "No shareholder should have more than ten votes", so as to prevent a few wealthy men from dominating the club. However, this only raised £70,000 (equivalent to £9,216,667 in 2023), and so an additional £52,400 was raised for the construction of
10920-413: The connection between the members was membership in the same branch of the armed forces, or the same school or university. Thus the growth of clubs gives some indication of what was considered a respectable part of the "Establishment" at the time. By the late 19th century, any man with a credible claim to the status of "gentleman" was eventually able to find a club willing to admit him, unless his character
11050-525: The consumption of 200 dozen bottles of Pommery champagne. During the club's time on Trafalgar Square, a parliamentary question was asked in the House of Commons about the White Ensign being raised on the club's flagpole as part of a prank. The club's foundation stone on the modern clubhouse was laid by Gladstone on 9 November 1884, when he declared "Speaking generally, I should say there could not be
11180-425: The country was the National Liberal Club — a temple of luxury and ease where every enemy of England enjoyed the rites of hospitality. Enver [Pasha] when he was "Bey", and all the cosmopolitans, all the friends of every country but their own, were made welcome at the National Liberal Club. From late 1916 to December 1919, the clubhouse was requisitioned by the British government for use as a billet for Canadian troops,
11310-429: The guest flow could be more easily controlled than at the home. Members' social status was marked by the prestige of the club, but within it, the lines were blurred. Prominent guests could be invited to dinner or to lounge at the club over the house. Staff would monitor these guests and their arrival for the members and, as employees of the members, could personally tailor the experience. Thus, by holding important events at
11440-539: The late 19th century, such as the Ladies' Institute, and the Ladies' Athenaeum. They proved quite popular at the time, but only one London-based club, The University Women's Club , has survived to this day as a single-sex establishment. Traditionally barred from full membership in existing clubs of similar interest, and somewhat mobilized by the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 in the United States; by
11570-963: The merger of Kildare Street Club ( traditionally Conservative ) with The Dublin University Club ( academic )) and The St Stephen's Green Hibernian Club (similarly formed when the St Stephen's Green Club ( Whig ) merged with The Hibernian United Services Club ( military )). A number of other, specialist clubs flourish in Dublin such as The Royal Irish Automobile Club (R.I.A.C) on Dawson Street, Established in 1901, The United Arts Club, Royal Irish Academy , Royal Dublin Society , Yacht Clubs (The Royal Irish , The National , and The Royal St George ) of Dún Laoghaire, The Hibernian Catch Club ( catch music ), and The Friendly Brothers of St Patrick ( originally anti-duelling ). Most major cities in
11700-548: The merger of two earlier clubs, and the Fredericton Garrison Club was founded in 1969 by associate members of the area headquarters officers' mess. The Manitoba Club is Western Canada's oldest club, founded in 1874 at Winnipeg. The Union Club of British Columbia was founded in 1879 in Victoria. The Vancouver Club was founded in 1889. Australia has a number of gentlemen's clubs. Of those listed below,
11830-666: The nearby Constitutional Club , 48s. for the City Carlton Club , and 77s. for the Junior Carlton Club . One possible explanation was the strength of the Temperance movement in the Liberal party at the time. On 3 December 1909, Liberal Chancellor David Lloyd George used the club to make a speech fiercely denouncing the House of Lords , in what was seen as a de facto launch of the "People's Budget" general election of January 1910 . On 21 November 1911,
11960-525: The network analysis perspective by Maria Zozaya. Today, establishments based on the concept of the traditional gentlemen's clubs exist throughout the world, predominantly in Commonwealth countries and the United States. Many clubs offer reciprocal hospitality to other clubs' members when travelling abroad. There are perhaps some 25 traditional London gentlemen's clubs of particular note, from The Arts Club to White's . A few estimable clubs (such as
12090-552: The new club, and membership would reach 6,500 by the time the clubhouse opened in 1887. An initial temporary clubhouse opened on Trafalgar Square in May 1883, on the corner of Northumberland Avenue and Whitehall . The club would be based here for the next four years. The opening of the first clubhouse was marked by an inaugural banquet for 1,900 people at the Royal Aquarium off Parliament Square , which Punch reported saw
12220-592: The oldest cities – Boston, New York City, and Philadelphia. Others, which are well respected, have developed in such major cities as Pittsburgh, Chicago, and San Francisco. The most exclusive social clubs are two in New York City – the Links and the Knickerbocker (Allen 1987, 25) Personal wealth has never been the sole basis for attaining membership in exclusive clubs. The individual and family must meet
12350-731: The painting was held by the club in storage. When Churchill became prime minister in May 1940, the club rushed out the painting and put it on display in the main lobby (where it still hangs today). It was bombed after one year, suffering a diagonal gash down the middle. The painting was then painstakingly restored, and Churchill re-unveiled it himself on 22 July 1943, at a ceremony also attended by his wife (a lifelong Liberal), Liberal Leader Sir Archibald Sinclair (a friend and colleague of over 30 years, then serving in Churchill's cabinet), lifelong friend Lady Violet Bonham Carter , Club chairman Lord Meston and cartoonist David Low . The fortunes of
12480-449: The palatial pile of terra-cotta and glazed tiles which now bears that name. Our modest object was to provide a central meeting-place for Metropolitan and provincial Liberals, where all the comforts of life should be attainable at what are called 'popular prices'", but added "at the least, we meant our Club to be a place of "ease" to the Radical toiler. But Gladstone insisted that it was to be a workshop dedicated to strenuous labour." Funds for
12610-540: The pinnacle with his acceptance into the Knickerbocker Club (Baltzell 1989, 340). E. Digby Baltzell , sociologist of the WASP establishment, explains in his book Philadelphia Gentlemen: The Making of a National Upper Class : The circulation of elites in America and the assimilation of new men of power and influence into the upper class takes place primarily through the medium of urban clubdom. Aristocracy of birth
12740-557: The popularity of clubs, particularly around the 1880s. At the height of their influence in the late 19th century, London had over 400 such establishments. Club Life in London , an 1866 book, begins: "The Club in the general acceptation of the term, may be regarded as one of the earliest offshoots of man's habitual gregariousness and social inclination." An increasing number of clubs were influenced by their members' interests in politics, literature, sport, art, automobiles, travel, particular countries, or some other pursuit. In other cases,
12870-468: The proposers (at least two and in many clubs more), who have known the candidate for a term of years, formally nominate the person for membership. Election is by a special committee (itself elected), which may interview the candidate and which looks at any support and also objections of other members. Some top clubs still maintain distinctions which are often undefined and rarely explained to those who do not satisfy their membership requirements. After reaching
13000-465: The rally and offered herself for arrest, but the police declined to do so. Of the 400 arrested, 50 were detained in custody. At some point James Compton Merryweather, head of the firm Merryweather & Sons , and a Conservative supporter, offered to use a 400-gallons-per-minute steam fire engine as a water cannon of the day to clear the rioters from Trafalgar Square. However the Commissioner of
13130-505: The replies indicated that the weight of opinion lay with the democratisation of Parliament, involving the abolition of the Lords' veto, reform of registration and electoral law, and devolution. Amongst "other prominent reforms" were included all the major issues of the day (except nationalisation). These were then drafted into a manifesto of Radical reform which was "greatly resented by the official organisation." 38,000 copies were circulated, and
13260-467: The same thing – 'You're interviewing Charles Kennedy, I hope he's sober'?" It was the first time a major television interviewer had raised the topic with the Lib Dem leader, who resigned three and half years later after admitting that he suffered from alcoholism. In the 2006 Liberal Democrats leadership election , Chris Huhne launched his leadership campaign from the main staircase of the club, while in
13390-663: The second floor, and a series of offices converted from bedrooms on the upper floors. The party continued to operate from the NLC until 1988, when it merged with the Social Democratic Party to form the Liberal Democrats , and moved to occupy the SDP's old headquarters in Cowley Street. During this time, party workers were known to avail themselves of the club downstairs, and the NLC bar became known as
13520-417: The social ladder. It revealed that a man had certain information others did not have. It was also a tool used to demonstrate a man's masculinity. It established certain gender roles. Men told stories and joked. The times and places a man told stories, gossiped, and shared information were also considered to show a man's awareness of behaviour and discretion. Clubs were places where men could gossip freely. Gossip
13650-446: The stoic gentleman. Like the home, men could act and behave in ways not usually acceptable in public society. For men who lived their lives at the club, the home lost its status as their base. Members would use this address for official documentation, mailing, and appointments. Meals, formal or informal, were provided and tastes could be catered for by the club staff. Spaces within the club were designated for these various functions, and
13780-460: The summer of 1897 and elected a new political committee with [Henry] Labouchere as the chairman and H. J. Reckitt as secretary. The Committee itself included Sir Robert Reid , [Philip] Stanhope , Herbert Samuel , Rufus Isaacs and W. F. Thompson, the editor of Reynold's News . The Committee wrote an open letter to the constituencies, asking them for their opinions on policy, designating several areas where opinion would be welcome. By November,
13910-554: The tiled pillars found throughout the club. (It was this resilient structure which enabled the building to survive a direct hit in the Blitz.) Waterhouse's work extended to designing the club's furnishings, down to the Dining Room chairs. It was the first London building to incorporate a lift , and the first to be entirely lit throughout by electric lighting. To provide its electricity, the Whitehall Supply Co. Ltd.
14040-633: The top of a long waiting list, there is a possibility of being blackballed during the process of formal election by the committee. In these circumstances, the principal proposer of such a person may be expected to resign, as he failed to withdraw his undesirable candidate. More often, the member who proposes an unsuitable candidate will be "spoken to" at a much earlier stage than this, by senior committee members, and he will withdraw his candidate to avoid embarrassment for all concerned. The clubs are owned by their members and not by an individual or corporate body. These kinds of relationships have been analyzed from
14170-490: The towns and cities in thousands, eroding employment, wages and working conditions. By November 1887, unemployed workers' demonstrations from the East End of London had been building up for more than two years. There had already been clashes with the police and with the members of upper class clubs. Trafalgar Square was seen symbolically as the point at which the working-class East End met the upper-class West End of London ,
14300-551: The unemployed and Irish movements. William Morris, leader of the Socialist League, gave the main speech and "advocated a holy war to prevent London from being turned into a huge prison". A smaller but similar event marked the burial of another of those killed, W. B. Curner, which took place in January. The release of those imprisoned was celebrated on 20 February 1888, with a large public meeting. Henry Hyndman , leader of
14430-453: The wounds received by the mob were less severe than those of the constables. The following Sunday, 20 November, saw another demonstration and more casualties. According to a report in the partisan Socialist Review , among them was a young clerk named Alfred Linnell, who was run down by a police horse, dying in hospital a fortnight later from complications of a shattered thigh. The funeral of Linnell on 18 December provided another focus for
14560-534: The year of the Dardanelles Campaign , Churchill was soon unavailable for unveiling the portrait as he went into exile in the trenches. After his return, his strong support for the Lloyd George coalition meant that from 1916 he proved to be persona non-grata at the club, and this only increased after he left the Liberal Party in 1924. Thus from 1915 to 1940 (with only a brief display in 1923–4),
14690-553: Was "no stain of any kind" upon their characters. The club's cosmopolitan and internationalist make-up drew outside criticism as nationalist feelings rose in the First World War - the fervently anti-German and anti-semitic campaigner Arnold White wrote in his 1917 tract The Hidden Hand that: an official of the National Liberal Club at the beginning of the war publicly ex- pressed the opinion that Germans would always be welcome. The spiritual home of every pro-German crank in
14820-456: Was also a tool that led to more practical results in the outside world. There were also rules that governed gossip in the clubs. These rules governed the privacy and secrecy of members. Clubs regulated this form of communication so that it was done in a more acceptable manner. Until the 1950s, clubs were also heavily regulated in the rooms open to non-members. Most clubs contained just one room where members could dine and entertain non-members; it
14950-943: Was an event which took place in London , England on 13 November 1887, when a crowd of marchers protesting about unemployment and the Irish Coercion Acts , as well as demanding the release of MP William O'Brien , clashed with the Metropolitan Police . The demonstration was organised by the Social Democratic Federation and the Irish National League . Violent clashes took place between the police and demonstrators, many "armed with iron bars, knives, pokers and gas pipes". A contemporary report noted that 400 were arrested and 75 people were badly injured, including many police, two policemen being stabbed and one protester bayonetted. Gladstone's espousal of
15080-748: Was built on such a large scale to provide London club facilities for Liberal activists from around the country, justifying its use of the description 'national'. On 22 March 1893, during the Second Reading of the Clubs Registration Bill, the Conservative MP (who was later to defect to the Liberals) Thomas Gibson Bowles told the House of Commons "I am informed there is an establishment not far from
15210-446: Was constructed at a cost of some £165,950; a substantial sum in 1884 (equivalent to £21,850,083 in 2023). An earlier design by architect John Carr was rejected by members. The NLC was described by Munsey's Magazine in 1902 as possessing, "The most imposing clubhouse in the British metropolis", and at the time of its construction, it was the largest clubhouse ever built; only the subsequent Royal Automobile Club building from 1910
15340-423: Was definitely an escape, it was not an escape from domesticity. Men knew and enjoyed the matching elements of the home life; it was more of a transfer or alternative reality. Despite the opportunity for mobility within the club, secrecy and exclusivity supported the patriarchal authority. With the absence of female voices and set of rigid institutional structures, members created internal stability. Induction into
15470-477: Was deposed as prime minister by David Lloyd George , he spent his last full evening as prime minister on 8 December 1916 reporting to a full meeting of the Liberal Party at the club. It provided an overwhelming vote of confidence in his leadership. During the Liberal Party's 1916–23 split, the Asquith wing of the party was in the ascendant in the club, while Liberal prime minister David Lloyd George (who had been
15600-470: Was disbanded, and "the portraits of Lloyd George and [fellow Lloyd George Liberal] Churchill , long consigned to the cellar, were recovered and reinstated in the places of honour in the smoking room", although Churchill's defection back to the Conservatives within less than a year meant that his portrait was just as swiftly returned to the basement, and would not re-emerge for another 16 years. There
15730-841: Was formed with 15 shareholders and is still open today. Quebec City has the Literary and Historical Society , the Stadacona Club, and the Garrison Club, which was founded by officers of the Canadian Militia and opened to the public in 1879. The Toronto Club is the oldest in that city, founded in 1837. Others include the National Club , the Albany Club , the York Club , the University Club of Toronto,
15860-685: Was founded in 1693. Discussion of trade or business is usually not allowed in traditional gentlemen's clubs, although it may hire out its rooms to external organisations for events. Similar clubs exist in other large UK cities, such as: In London, the original gentlemen's clubs exist alongside the late 20th century private members' clubs such the Groucho Club , Soho House and Home House , which offer memberships by subscription and are owned and run as commercial concerns. All offer similar facilities such as food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and in many cases accommodation. In recent years
15990-600: Was held at the club, with all MPs except one (the independently minded Rhys Hopkin Morris ) re-electing Lloyd George as Liberal Party Leader. In 1932, the club first introduced non-political membership (now simply called Membership, in contrast to Political Membership). Michael Meadowcroft explains that this was done to provide, "membership for Liberals who, by reason of their employment, such as judges, military officers or senior civil servants, were not permitted to divulge their politics", and so who had been previously debarred by
16120-484: Was imminently expected. At the end of the First World War, the Canadian soldiers who had stayed there presented the club with a moose head as a gift of thanks, which was hung in the billiards room for many years. After the troops finally left in December 1919, the club was closed for a year for renovations (partly necessitated by the damage done by the troops), and did not re-open until 19 December 1920. As H. H. Asquith
16250-412: Was incorporated in 1887, being based underneath the club's raised terrace. By the time the supply opened in 1888, it had been bought by the expanding Metropolitan Electricity Supply Co. NLC members were so enamoured with the modern wonder of electric lighting that the original chandeliers featured bare light bulbs, whose distinctive hue was much prized at the time. The club's wine cellar was converted from
16380-475: Was larger. The NLC's building once hosted its own branch of the Post Office, something which the Royal Automobile Club still does. Waterhouse's design blended French, Gothic and Italianate elements, with heavy use of Victorian Leeds Burmantofts Pottery tilework manufactured by Wilcox and Co. The clubhouse is built around load-bearing steelwork concealed throughout the structure, including steel columns inside
16510-415: Was objectionable in some way or he was "unclubbable" (a word first used by F. Burney). This newly expanded category of English society came to include professionals who had to earn their income, such as doctors and lawyers. Most gentlemen belonged to only one club, which closely corresponded with the trade or social/political identity he felt most defined him, but a few people belonged to several. Members of
16640-647: Was often assumed that one's entire social circle should be within the same club. Harold Macmillan was said to have taken "refuge in West End clubs ...: Pratt's , Athenaeum , Buck's , Guards , the Beefsteak , the Turf , [and] the Carlton ". Although gentlemen's clubs were originally geared towards a male audience, domestic life played a key role in their establishment and continuity. Defying classic gender norms,
16770-661: Was rocked by the Home Rule Crisis of 1886 , which saw the Liberal Unionists led by Joseph Chamberlain and the Marquess of Hartington (both of whom had been founder members of the NLC) secede from the party and eventually go into alliance with the Conservatives. Indeed, Chamberlain had been one of the NLC's most enthusiastic promoters upon its launch. At the 1884 ceremony of Gladstone's foundation-stone-laying for
16900-477: Was the centre of noble social and political life in the 18th-19th centuries, and largely determined public opinion. A gentleman's club typically contains a formal dining room, a bar, a library, a billiard room , and one or more parlours for reading, gaming, or socializing. Many clubs also contain guest rooms and fitness amenities. Some are associated mainly with sports, and some regularly hold other events such as formal dinners. The original clubs were established in
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