Athenaeum Club, London
Encyclopedia
The Athenaeum Club, usually just referred to as the Athenaeum, is a notable London club with its Clubhouse located at 107 Pall Mall
, London
, England
, at the corner of Waterloo Place.
It is noted for its large library, and for a bas-relief frieze decorating the club house exterior. It was long regarded as a clergymen's club and today includes Cabinet Ministers
, senior civil servants, Peers of the Realm
and senior bishops amongst its members.
The club's facilities include a dining room, a smoking room
and a suite of bedrooms. A notable feature of the Club's clock which hangs above the stairs is that it has two figure sevens and no figure eight, the reason for which is uncertain.
, Sir Thomas Lawrence
, and some friends founded the club in 1824 for individuals known for scientific, literary or artistic accomplishments as well as patrons of these endeavours. Sir Thomas Lawrence designed the club crest: a head of Athena
inside an oval surrounded by the legend "ATHENÆUM CLUB·PALL MALL".
The club house was designed in Neoclassical
taste by Decimus Burton
. The main entrance and the front of the house on Waterloo Place has a Doric
portico
with paired columns. There is a continuous balustrade on the piano nobile
, the main floor above the ground floor, with an outstanding but costly frieze copied from the Parthenon
above. A statue of Pallas Athene by Edward Hodges Baily
stands above the porch. The original design was for two storeys; the third was added later. Croker directed the later work, resisting pressure from some members (in those pre-refrigeration days) that an ice-house be part of the scheme; hence the rhyme:
I'm John Wilson Croker, I do as I please, instead of an Ice-House I give you a... Frieze!
For many years The Athenaeum Club was widely seen to represent the peak of London's clubland for the public intellectual. Most members of the Athenaeum were men of inherited wealth and status, but, under Rule II, the club additionally admitted men "... of distinguished eminence in Science, Literature, or the Arts, or for Public Service". The admission of men who had gained their social position through intellectual influence and achievement rather than by title or money gave the club an unusual diversity of membership.
The membership of the Athenaeum was originally limited to one thousand, and the waiting list was always long. The cost of the magnificent premises had resulted in a deficit of some £20,000 and 200 supernumerary
members were elected in 1832 to restore the finances.
By 1838 the Club was again in straitened circumstances after undertaking expensive remedial action because of the damage caused by the gas lighting. (It was one of the earliest buildings to be lit by this means). To alleviate the situation, 160 supernumeraries were admitted to ordinary membership and an additional forty brought forward from the waiting list. These "forty thieves", as they became known, included Charles Dickens
and Charles Darwin
. In 1886 the clubhouse was lit by electricity, a relative innovation for London buildings. (Source 'AIM 25 Archives in London and the M25 area http://www.aim25.ac.uk/)
In 1853, Charles Manby Smith noted the importance of the club - "... from having been wise enough to join 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 2002 the members voted to admit women.
Pall Mall, London
Pall Mall is a street in the City of Westminster, London, and parallel to The Mall, from St. James's Street across Waterloo Place to the Haymarket; while Pall Mall East continues into Trafalgar Square. The street is a major thoroughfare in the St James's area of London, and a section of the...
, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, at the corner of Waterloo Place.
It is noted for its large library, and for a bas-relief frieze decorating the club house exterior. It was long regarded as a clergymen's club and today includes Cabinet Ministers
Cabinet of the United Kingdom
The Cabinet of the United Kingdom is the collective decision-making body of Her Majesty's Government in the United Kingdom, composed of the Prime Minister and some 22 Cabinet Ministers, the most senior of the government ministers....
, senior civil servants, Peers of the Realm
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
and senior bishops amongst its members.
The club's facilities include a dining room, a smoking room
Smoking room
A Smoking room is a room which is specifically provided and furnished for smoking, generally in buildings where smoking is otherwise prohibited....
and a suite of bedrooms. A notable feature of the Club's clock which hangs above the stairs is that it has two figure sevens and no figure eight, the reason for which is uncertain.
History
John Wilson CrokerJohn Wilson Croker
John Wilson Croker was an Irish statesman and author.He was born at Galway, the only son of John Croker, the surveyor-general of customs and excise in Ireland. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, where he graduated in 1800...
, Sir Thomas Lawrence
Thomas Lawrence (painter)
Sir Thomas Lawrence RA FRS was a leading English portrait painter and president of the Royal Academy.Lawrence was a child prodigy. He was born in Bristol and began drawing in Devizes, where his father was an innkeeper. At the age of ten, having moved to Bath, he was supporting his family with his...
, and some friends founded the club in 1824 for individuals known for scientific, literary or artistic accomplishments as well as patrons of these endeavours. Sir Thomas Lawrence designed the club crest: a head of Athena
Athena
In Greek mythology, Athena, Athenê, or Athene , also referred to as Pallas Athena/Athene , is the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, warfare, strength, strategy, the arts, crafts, justice, and skill. Minerva, Athena's Roman incarnation, embodies similar attributes. Athena is...
inside an oval surrounded by the legend "ATHENÆUM CLUB·PALL MALL".
The club house was designed in Neoclassical
Neoclassicism
Neoclassicism is the name given to Western movements in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that draw inspiration from the "classical" art and culture of Ancient Greece or Ancient Rome...
taste by Decimus Burton
Decimus Burton
Decimus Burton was a prolific English architect and garden designer, He is particularly associated with projects in the classical style in London parks, including buildings at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and London Zoo, and with the layout and architecture of the seaside towns of Fleetwood and...
. The main entrance and the front of the house on Waterloo Place has a Doric
Doric order
The Doric order was one of the three orders or organizational systems of ancient Greek or classical architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian.-History:...
portico
Portico
A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls...
with paired columns. There is a continuous balustrade on the piano nobile
Piano nobile
The piano nobile is the principal floor of a large house, usually built in one of the styles of classical renaissance architecture...
, the main floor above the ground floor, with an outstanding but costly frieze copied from the Parthenon
Parthenon
The Parthenon is a temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, dedicated to the Greek goddess Athena, whom the people of Athens considered their virgin patron. Its construction began in 447 BC when the Athenian Empire was at the height of its power. It was completed in 438 BC, although...
above. A statue of Pallas Athene by Edward Hodges Baily
Edward Hodges Baily
Edward Hodges Baily RA FRS - was an English sculptor who was born in Downend in Bristol.-Life:...
stands above the porch. The original design was for two storeys; the third was added later. Croker directed the later work, resisting pressure from some members (in those pre-refrigeration days) that an ice-house be part of the scheme; hence the rhyme:
I'm John Wilson Croker, I do as I please, instead of an Ice-House I give you a... Frieze!
For many years The Athenaeum Club was widely seen to represent the peak of London's clubland for the public intellectual. Most members of the Athenaeum were men of inherited wealth and status, but, under Rule II, the club additionally admitted men "... of distinguished eminence in Science, Literature, or the Arts, or for Public Service". The admission of men who had gained their social position through intellectual influence and achievement rather than by title or money gave the club an unusual diversity of membership.
The membership of the Athenaeum was originally limited to one thousand, and the waiting list was always long. The cost of the magnificent premises had resulted in a deficit of some £20,000 and 200 supernumerary
Supernumerary
A Supernumerary is an additional member of an organization. A supernumerary is also a non-regular member of a staff, a member of the staff or an employee who works in a public office who is not part of the manpower complement...
members were elected in 1832 to restore the finances.
By 1838 the Club was again in straitened circumstances after undertaking expensive remedial action because of the damage caused by the gas lighting. (It was one of the earliest buildings to be lit by this means). To alleviate the situation, 160 supernumeraries were admitted to ordinary membership and an additional forty brought forward from the waiting list. These "forty thieves", as they became known, included Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
and Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
. In 1886 the clubhouse was lit by electricity, a relative innovation for London buildings. (Source 'AIM 25 Archives in London and the M25 area http://www.aim25.ac.uk/)
In 1853, Charles Manby Smith noted the importance of the club - "... from having been wise enough to join the grocer's Plum-pudding Club, they shall end by becoming prosperous enough to join the Whittington Club, or the Gresham Club
Gresham Club
The Gresham Club was a City of London gentlemen's club, founded in 1843 and dissolved in 1991.-Formation and membership:The Club was founded in 1843 as a dining club for the professional classes of the City of London, and named after Sir Thomas Gresham, a celebrated Elizabethan merchant who founded...
, or the Athenaeum Club, or the Travellers' Club; or the House of Commons
British House of Commons
The House of Commons is the lower house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which also comprises the Sovereign and the House of Lords . Both Commons and Lords meet in the Palace of Westminster. The Commons is a democratically elected body, consisting of 650 members , who are known as Members...
, or the House of Lords
House of Lords
The House of Lords is the upper house of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Like the House of Commons, it meets in the Palace of Westminster....
either."
In 2002 the members voted to admit women.
Notable members
This is a small selection of the notable men who have belonged to the club:- The Earl of AberdeenGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of AberdeenGeorge Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen KG, KT, FRS, PC , styled Lord Haddo from 1791 to 1801, was a Scottish politician, successively a Tory, Conservative and Peelite, who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1852 until 1855.-Early life:Born in Edinburgh on 28 January 1784, he...
- Augustus AgarAugustus AgarCaptain Augustus Willington Shelton Agar, VC, DSO, RN was a noted Royal Navy officer in both World War I and World War II and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth forces.In...
, naval hero - Matthew ArnoldMatthew ArnoldMatthew Arnold was a British poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools. He was the son of Thomas Arnold, the famed headmaster of Rugby School, and brother to both Tom Arnold, literary professor, and William Delafield Arnold, novelist and colonial administrator...
- H.H. Asquith
- Andrew Geddes BainAndrew Geddes BainAndrew Geddes Bain , South African geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer.-Life history:...
geologist, road engineer, palaeontologist and explorer - Owen BarfieldOwen BarfieldOwen Barfield was a British philosopher, author, poet, and critic.Barfield was born in London. He was educated at Highgate School and Wadham College, Oxford and in 1920 received a 1st class degree in English language and literature. After finishing his B. Litt., which became the book Poetic...
(1898-1997) philosopher, poet, etymologist, and solicitor - J. M. BarrieJ. M. BarrieSir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, OM was a Scottish author and dramatist, best remembered today as the creator of Peter Pan. The child of a family of small-town weavers, he was educated in Scotland. He moved to London, where he developed a career as a novelist and playwright...
- Louis Lucien BonaparteLouis Lucien BonaparteLouis Lucien Bonaparte was the third son of Napoleon's second surviving brother, Lucien Bonaparte. He was born at Thorngrove, mansion in Grimley, Worcestershire, England, where his family were temporarily interned after having been captured by the British en route to America A philologist and...
, linguist - L.J.F. BrimbleL.J.F. BrimbleLionel John Farnham Brimble was a botanist, author, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and editor of Nature magazine.-Early life:...
, botanist and editor of NatureNature (journal)Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
magazine - James Bryce, 1st Viscount BryceJames Bryce, 1st Viscount BryceJames Bryce, 1st Viscount Bryce OM, GCVO, PC, FRS, FBA was a British academic, jurist, historian and Liberal politician.-Background and education:...
(1838-1922), jurist, historian and politician - Sir Francis Burdett, 5th BaronetSir Francis Burdett, 5th BaronetSir Francis Burdett, 5th Baronet was an English reformist politician, the son of Francis Burdett and his wife Eleanor, daughter of William Jones of Ramsbury manor, Wiltshire, and grandson of Sir Robert Burdett, Bart...
- William BurgesWilliam Burges (architect)William Burges was an English architect and designer. Amongst the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, Burges sought in his work an escape from 19th century industrialisation and a return to the values, architectural and social, of an imagined mediaeval England...
(1827-1881), architect and designer - Lord (Alec) Broers
- Oscar BrowningOscar BrowningOscar Browning was an English writer, historian, and educational reformer. His greatest achievement was the cofounding, along with Henry Sidgwick, of the Cambridge University Day Training College in 1891...
politician, historian (1837–1923) - Thomas Campbell (poet)
- Winston ChurchillWinston ChurchillSir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
- John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge (1820-1894)
- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
- Joseph ConradJoseph ConradJoseph Conrad was a Polish-born English novelist.Conrad is regarded as one of the great novelists in English, although he did not speak the language fluently until he was in his twenties...
- Lord Curzon, MP, Viceroy of India, and British Foreign Secretary
- Charles DarwinCharles DarwinCharles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
- Charles DickensCharles DickensCharles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
- Isaac D'IsraeliIsaac D'IsraeliIsaac D'Israeli was a British writer, scholar and man of letters. He is best known for his essays, his associations with other men of letters, and for being the father of British Prime Minister Benjamin Disraeli....
- T. S. EliotT. S. EliotThomas Stearns "T. S." Eliot OM was a playwright, literary critic, and arguably the most important English-language poet of the 20th century. Although he was born an American he moved to the United Kingdom in 1914 and was naturalised as a British subject in 1927 at age 39.The poem that made his...
poet - Michael FaradayMichael FaradayMichael Faraday, FRS was an English chemist and physicist who contributed to the fields of electromagnetism and electrochemistry....
- John Fisher, 1st Baron Fisher
- Sir William GallowaySir William GallowaySir William Galloway was the eldest son of William Galloway , JP, Paisley shawl manufacturer and coal and iron master of Paisley, Scotland and his second wife Margaret Lindsay , daughter of Thomas Lindsay, brewer of Glasgow. He was educated firstly in Scotland, then in Germany and London...
(1840-1927) mining engineer, Professor of Mining at University College of Wales - Victoria GlendinningVictoria GlendinningThe Hon. Victoria Glendinning, CBE , is a British biographer, critic, broadcaster and novelist; she is President of English PEN, a winner of the James Tait Black Memorial Prize, was awarded a CBE in 1998 and is Vice-President of the Royal Society of Literature.- Biography :She was born in Sheffield...
- Alec Guiness
- Henry HallamHenry HallamHenry Hallam was an English historian.-Life:The only son of John Hallam, canon of Windsor and dean of Bristol, Henry Hallam was educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating in 1799...
historian, Commissioner of Stamps (1826) - Thomas HardyThomas HardyThomas Hardy, OM was an English novelist and poet. While his works typically belong to the Naturalism movement, several poems display elements of the previous Romantic and Enlightenment periods of literature, such as his fascination with the supernatural.While he regarded himself primarily as a...
- Cardinal Basil Hume
- Roy JenkinsRoy JenkinsRoy Harris Jenkins, Baron Jenkins of Hillhead OM, PC was a British politician.The son of a Welsh coal miner who later became a union official and Labour MP, Roy Jenkins served with distinction in World War II. Elected to Parliament as a Labour member in 1948, he served in several major posts in...
Chancellor of the Exchequer and Home Secretary - Sir Reginald Fleming JohnstonReginald JohnstonSir Reginald Fleming Johnston, KCMG, CBE, was a Scottish academic, diplomat and tutor to Puyi, the last emperor of China, and later appointed as the last Commissioner of Weihaiwei.-Early:...
(1874-1938), Tutor of the Last Emperor of China - Charles KembleCharles KembleCharles Kemble was a British actor.-Life:The youngest son of Roger Kemble, and younger brother of John Philip Kemble, Stephen Kemble and Sarah Siddons, he was born at Brecon, South Wales. Like John Philip, he was educated at Douai...
- Rudyard KiplingRudyard KiplingJoseph Rudyard Kipling was an English poet, short-story writer, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism, tales and poems of British soldiers in India, and his tales for children. Kipling received the 1907 Nobel Prize for Literature...
, poet laureate - H. F. B. LynchH. F. B. LynchHenry Finnis Blosse Lynch, MA, FRGS was a traveller, businessman, and British Liberal Member of Parliament.-Biography:...
, traveller and businessman - Walter de la MareWalter de la MareWalter John de la Mare , OM CH was an English poet, short story writer and novelist, probably best remembered for his works for children and the poem "The Listeners"....
(1873-1956) - Lord Robert MontaguLord Robert MontaguLord Robert Montagu PC , was a British Conservative politician. He served as Vice-President of the Committee on Education between 1867 and 1868.-Background and education:...
(1825-1902) - Thomas MooreThomas MooreThomas Moore was an Irish poet, singer, songwriter, and entertainer, now best remembered for the lyrics of The Minstrel Boy and The Last Rose of Summer. He was responsible, with John Murray, for burning Lord Byron's memoirs after his death...
(poet) - Sir Roderick Impey Murchison (1792-1871), President of the Geological Society and the Royal Geographical SocietyRoyal Geographical SocietyThe Royal Geographical Society is a British learned society founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical sciences...
. - George Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron NugentGeorge Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron NugentGeorge Nugent-Grenville, 2nd Baron Nugent GCMG , Irish politician.George Nugent-Grenville was:* Liberal Member of Parliament for Buckingham, 1810–1812; for Aylesbury, 1812–1832....
(1789-1850) - Lord PalmerstonHenry Temple, 3rd Viscount PalmerstonHenry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, KG, GCB, PC , known popularly as Lord Palmerston, was a British statesman who served twice as Prime Minister in the mid-19th century...
- Harry St John Philby archaeologist and Arabist
- Michael PolanyiMichael PolanyiMichael Polanyi, FRS was a Hungarian–British polymath, who made important theoretical contributions to physical chemistry, economics, and the theory of knowledge...
- Vilayanur S. RamachandranVilayanur S. RamachandranVilayanur Subramanian "Rama" Ramachandran, born 1951, is a neuroscientist known for his work in the fields of behavioral neurology and visual psychophysics...
, Neurologist & neuroscientist - Cecil Rhodes
- Emile Victor Rieu
- Jimmy SavileJimmy SavileSir James Wilson Vincent Savile, OBE, KCSG was an English disc jockey, television presenter and media personality, best known for his BBC television show Jim'll Fix It, and for being the first and last presenter of the long-running BBC music chart show Top of the Pops...
- Sir Walter Scott writer
- Idries ShahIdries ShahIdries Shah , also known as Idris Shah, né Sayed Idries el-Hashimi , was an author and teacher in the Sufi tradition who wrote over three dozen critically acclaimed books on topics ranging from psychology and spirituality to travelogues and culture studies.Born in India, the descendant of a...
, author on Sufism (1924-1996) - Richard 'Conversation' SharpRichard Sharp (politician)Richard Sharp, FRS, FSA , also known as "Conversation" Sharp, was a hat-maker, banker, merchant, poet, critic, British politician, but above all - doyen of the conversationalists.-Family background:...
, critic, merchant and politician - Herbert SpencerHerbert SpencerHerbert Spencer was an English philosopher, biologist, sociologist, and prominent classical liberal political theorist of the Victorian era....
(1820-1903) - Walter StarkieWalter StarkieWalter Fitzwilliam Starkie CMG, CBE, Litt.D was an Irish scholar, Hispanist, author and musician.Born in Killiney, County Dublin, he was the eldest son of the noted Greek scholar and translator of Aristophanes, William Joseph Myles Starkie and May Caroline Walsh. Starkie grew up surrounded by...
- James Joseph SylvesterJames Joseph SylvesterJames Joseph Sylvester was an English mathematician. He made fundamental contributions to matrix theory, invariant theory, number theory, partition theory and combinatorics...
, Mathematician - Sir Jethro Teall, geologist and petrologist
- William Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace ThackerayWilliam Makepeace Thackeray was an English novelist of the 19th century. He was famous for his satirical works, particularly Vanity Fair, a panoramic portrait of English society.-Biography:...
author - Professor Rick TrainorRick TrainorProfessor Sir Richard Hughes "Rick" Trainor KBE FRHS FKC is the current Principal of King's College London.-Biography:...
, Principal of King's College LondonKing's College LondonKing's College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and a constituent college of the federal University of London. King's has a claim to being the third oldest university in England, having been founded by King George IV and the Duke of Wellington in 1829, and... - Anthony TrollopeAnthony TrollopeAnthony Trollope was one of the most successful, prolific and respected English novelists of the Victorian era. Some of his best-loved works, collectively known as the Chronicles of Barsetshire, revolve around the imaginary county of Barsetshire...
, author - J.M.W. Turner, painter
- Anthony BluntAnthony BluntAnthony Frederick Blunt , was a British art historian who was exposed as a Soviet spy late in his life.Blunt was Professor of the History of Art at the University of London, director of the Courtauld Institute of Art, Surveyor of the King's Pictures and London...
- Sir Barnes Wallis, engineer (1887-1979)
- Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonArthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of WellingtonField Marshal Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, KG, GCB, GCH, PC, FRS , was an Irish-born British soldier and statesman, and one of the leading military and political figures of the 19th century...
(1769-1852) - W. B. YeatsWilliam Butler YeatsWilliam Butler Yeats was an Irish poet and playwright, and one of the foremost figures of 20th century literature. A pillar of both the Irish and British literary establishments, in his later years he served as an Irish Senator for two terms...
poet
External links
- Official Website of the Athenaeum Club
- Guide to the archives of the Athenaeum Club
- List of London's gentlemen's clubs
- Interesting debate in the House of Lord's May 2002 re the Sex Discrimination Bill and women members of Clubs
- List of prominent Victorian era members of the Athenaeum Club
- Map showing location of the club (streetmap.co.uk)
- Boston AthenæumBoston AthenæumBoston Athenæum is one of the oldest independent libraries in the United States. It is also one of only sixteen extant membership libraries, meaning that patrons pay a yearly subscription fee to use the Athenæum's services...