Kit-Cat Club
Encyclopedia
The Kit-Cat Club was an early 18th century English
club
in London
with strong political and literary associations, committed to the furtherance of Whig objectives, meeting at the Trumpet tavern in London, and at Water Oakley
in the Berkshire
countryside.
The first meetings were held at a tavern in Shire Lane (parallel with Bell Yard and now covered by the Royal Courts of Justice) run by an innkeeper called Christopher Catling. He gave his name to the mutton pies known as 'Kit Kats' from which the name of the club is derived.
The club later moved to the Fountain Tavern on The Strand
(now the site of Simpson's-in-the-Strand
), and latterly into a room especially built for the purpose at Barn Elms
, the home of the secretary Jacob Tonson
. In summer the club met at the Upper Flask, Hampstead Heath
.
The name Kit-Cat Club is obscure in origin. In 1705 Thomas Hearne
wrote:
The Kit Cat Club got its Name from Christopher Catling. [Note, a Pudding Pye man.] i.e. Christopher is abbreviated as "Kit" and Catling as "Cat". Kit Catling was the keeper of a pie-house in Shire Lane, by Temple Bar
, where the club originally met.
On the other hand, one of his mutton pies known as a Kit-Kat, always formed a standing dish at meetings of the club and the pie is thus itself sometimes regarded (e.g. by Addison
in the Spectator
) as the origin of the club's name.
It is possible that the Club began at the end of the 17th century as the so-called Order of the Toast. Indeed, a famous characteristic of the Kit-Kat was its toasting-glasses, used for drinking the healths of the reigning beauties of the day, on which were engraved verses in their praise. If so, one can place the date before 1699, when Elkanah Settle
wrote a poem "To the most renowned the President and the rest of the Knights of the most Noble Order of the Toast." It was this very habit of 'toasting' that led Dr. Arbuthnot to produce the following epigram, which hints at yet another possible origin of the Club's name: "Whence deathless Kit-Kat took his name / Few critics can unriddle / Some say from pastrycook it came / And some from Cat and Fiddle. / From no trim beaus its name it boasts / Grey statesmen or green wits / But from the pell-mell pack of toasts / Of old Cats and young Kits."
of 1688, and that its political importance for the promotion of Whig objectives was much greater before it became known. Those objectives were a strong Parliament
, a limited monarchy
, resistance to France
, and the Protestant
succession
to the throne. On the possible role of an early Kit-Cat grouping in furthering these goals through armed invasion by William of Orange
and through the Glorious Revolution itself, Downes cites Whig historian John Oldmixon
, who knew many of those involved, and who wrote in 1735 of how some club members "before the Revolution [of 1688] met frequently in the Evening at a Tavern, near Temple Bar
, to unbend themselves after Business, and have a little free and cheerful Conversation in those dangerous Times". Horace Walpole, son of Kit-Cat Robert Walpole
, refers to the respectable middle-aged 18th century Kit-Cat club as "generally mentioned as a set of wits, in reality the patriots that saved Britain", implying that the nexus was nothing less than the force behind the Glorious Revolution. Secret political groups with dangerous agendas tend to be poorly documented, and this sketch of the prehistory of the Kit-Cat Club can hardly be regarded as proven.
, and politicians including Duke of Somerset
, The Earl of Burlington
, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
, The Earl of Stanhope
, Viscount Cobham
, Abraham Stanyan
and Sir Robert Walpole
.
Other notables included Garth
, Steele
, and the Dukes of Grafton
, Devonshire
, Kingston
, Richmond
, Manchester
, Dorset
and Newcastle, and Lords Sunderland
and Wharton
. Of some notoriety were Lord Mohun and the Earl of Berkeley
. The artist Sir Godfrey Kneller
was also a member, his 48 portraits in a standard 'kit-cat' format of 36 by 28 inches, painted over more than twenty years, form the most complete known members list of the club. Many of these portraits currently hang in galleries created in a partnership between the National Portrait Gallery and the National Trust
at Beningbrough Hall
in Yorkshire.
; Lady Godolphin, Lady Sunderland, Lady Bridgewater, and Lady Monthermer, all daughters of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
, except Lady Mary Wortley Montagu who was the daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull
and but 8 years old when toasted; the Duchess of Bolton, the Duchess of Beaufort, the Duchess of St. Albans; Anne Long
, a daughter of Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet
and friend of Jonathan Swift; Catherine Barton
, Newton
's niece and Charles Montagu
's mistress; Mrs. Brudenell and Lady Wharton, Lady Carlisle and Mrs. Kirk and Mademoiselle Spanheim, among them.
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...
club
Club
A club is an association of two or more people united by a common interest or goal. A service club, for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities; there are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.- History...
in 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...
with strong political and literary associations, committed to the furtherance of Whig objectives, meeting at the Trumpet tavern in London, and at Water Oakley
Water Oakley
Water Oakley is a hamlet on the River Thames in the civil parish of Bray in the English county of Berkshire.It is the location of both Bray Studios and the Oakley Court Hotel. It first appeared on maps around 1800. However, the name 'Oakley' is derived from the Old English ac-leah which translates...
in the Berkshire
Berkshire
Berkshire is a historic county in the South of England. It is also often referred to as the Royal County of Berkshire because of the presence of the royal residence of Windsor Castle in the county; this usage, which dates to the 19th century at least, was recognised by the Queen in 1957, and...
countryside.
The first meetings were held at a tavern in Shire Lane (parallel with Bell Yard and now covered by the Royal Courts of Justice) run by an innkeeper called Christopher Catling. He gave his name to the mutton pies known as 'Kit Kats' from which the name of the club is derived.
The club later moved to the Fountain Tavern on The Strand
Strand, London
Strand is a street in the City of Westminster, London, England. The street is just over three-quarters of a mile long. It currently starts at Trafalgar Square and runs east to join Fleet Street at Temple Bar, which marks the boundary of the City of London at this point, though its historical length...
(now the site of Simpson's-in-the-Strand
Simpson's-in-the-Strand
Simpson's-in-the-Strand is one of London's oldest traditional English restaurants. Situated in the Strand, it is part of the Savoy Buildings, which also contain one of the world's most famous hotels, the Savoy....
), and latterly into a room especially built for the purpose at Barn Elms
Barn Elms
Barn Elms is an open space in Barnes in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.It is located on the northerly loop of the River Thames between Barnes and Fulham....
, the home of the secretary Jacob Tonson
Jacob Tonson
Jacob Tonson, sometimes referred to as Jacob Tonson the elder was an 18th-century English bookseller and publisher....
. In summer the club met at the Upper Flask, Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath
Hampstead Heath is a large, ancient London park, covering . This grassy public space sits astride a sandy ridge, one of the highest points in London, running from Hampstead to Highgate, which rests on a band of London clay...
.
Origins
Thomas Hearne
Thomas Hearne or Hearn , English antiquary, was born at Littlefield Green in the parish of White Waltham, Berkshire.-Life:...
wrote:
The Kit Cat Club got its Name from Christopher Catling. [Note, a Pudding Pye man.] i.e. Christopher is abbreviated as "Kit" and Catling as "Cat". Kit Catling was the keeper of a pie-house in Shire Lane, by Temple Bar
Temple Bar, London
Temple Bar is the barrier marking the westernmost extent of the City of London on the road to Westminster, where Fleet Street becomes the Strand...
, where the club originally met.
On the other hand, one of his mutton pies known as a Kit-Kat, always formed a standing dish at meetings of the club and the pie is thus itself sometimes regarded (e.g. by Addison
Joseph Addison
Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
in the Spectator
The Spectator (1711)
The Spectator was a daily publication of 1711–12, founded by Joseph Addison and Richard Steele in England after they met at Charterhouse School. Eustace Budgell, a cousin of Addison's, also contributed to the publication. Each 'paper', or 'number', was approximately 2,500 words long, and the...
) as the origin of the club's name.
It is possible that the Club began at the end of the 17th century as the so-called Order of the Toast. Indeed, a famous characteristic of the Kit-Kat was its toasting-glasses, used for drinking the healths of the reigning beauties of the day, on which were engraved verses in their praise. If so, one can place the date before 1699, when Elkanah Settle
Elkanah Settle
Elkanah Settle was an English poet and playwright.He was born at Dunstable, and entered Trinity College, Oxford, in 1666, but left without taking a degree. His first tragedy, Cambyses, King of Persia, was produced at Lincoln's Inn Fields in 1667...
wrote a poem "To the most renowned the President and the rest of the Knights of the most Noble Order of the Toast." It was this very habit of 'toasting' that led Dr. Arbuthnot to produce the following epigram, which hints at yet another possible origin of the Club's name: "Whence deathless Kit-Kat took his name / Few critics can unriddle / Some say from pastrycook it came / And some from Cat and Fiddle. / From no trim beaus its name it boasts / Grey statesmen or green wits / But from the pell-mell pack of toasts / Of old Cats and young Kits."
Possible earlier objectives
However, John Vanbrugh's modern biographer Kerry Downes suggests that the club's origins go back to before the Glorious RevolutionGlorious Revolution
The Glorious Revolution, also called the Revolution of 1688, is the overthrow of King James II of England by a union of English Parliamentarians with the Dutch stadtholder William III of Orange-Nassau...
of 1688, and that its political importance for the promotion of Whig objectives was much greater before it became known. Those objectives were a strong Parliament
Parliament of England
The Parliament of England was the legislature of the Kingdom of England. In 1066, William of Normandy introduced a feudal system, by which he sought the advice of a council of tenants-in-chief and ecclesiastics before making laws...
, a limited monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
, resistance to France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, and the Protestant
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
succession
Order of succession
An order of succession is a formula or algorithm that determines who inherits an office upon the death, resignation, or removal of its current occupant.-Monarchies and nobility:...
to the throne. On the possible role of an early Kit-Cat grouping in furthering these goals through armed invasion by William of Orange
William III of England
William III & II was a sovereign Prince of Orange of the House of Orange-Nassau by birth. From 1672 he governed as Stadtholder William III of Orange over Holland, Zeeland, Utrecht, Guelders, and Overijssel of the Dutch Republic. From 1689 he reigned as William III over England and Ireland...
and through the Glorious Revolution itself, Downes cites Whig historian John Oldmixon
John Oldmixon
John Oldmixon was an English historian.He was a son of John Oldmixon of Oldmixon, Weston-super-Mare in Somerset. His first writings were poetry and dramas, among them being Amores Britannici; Epistles historical and gallant ; and a tragedy, The Governor of Cyprus...
, who knew many of those involved, and who wrote in 1735 of how some club members "before the Revolution [of 1688] met frequently in the Evening at a Tavern, near Temple Bar
Temple Bar, London
Temple Bar is the barrier marking the westernmost extent of the City of London on the road to Westminster, where Fleet Street becomes the Strand...
, to unbend themselves after Business, and have a little free and cheerful Conversation in those dangerous Times". Horace Walpole, son of Kit-Cat Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
, refers to the respectable middle-aged 18th century Kit-Cat club as "generally mentioned as a set of wits, in reality the patriots that saved Britain", implying that the nexus was nothing less than the force behind the Glorious Revolution. Secret political groups with dangerous agendas tend to be poorly documented, and this sketch of the prehistory of the Kit-Cat Club can hardly be regarded as proven.
Prominent members
Amongst the Club's membership were writers such as William Congreve, Sir John Vanbrugh, and Joseph AddisonJoseph Addison
Joseph Addison was an English essayist, poet, playwright and politician. He was a man of letters, eldest son of Lancelot Addison...
, and politicians including Duke of Somerset
Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset
Charles Seymour, 6th Duke of Somerset , sometimes referred to as the "Proud Duke". The son of Charles Seymour, 2nd Baron Seymour of Trowbridge, and Elizabeth Alington , he succeeded his brother Francis Seymour, 5th Duke of Somerset, to the dukedom when the latter was shot in 1678...
, The Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington
Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington and 4th Earl of Cork PC , born in Yorkshire, England, was the son of Charles Boyle, 2nd Earl of Burlington and 3rd Earl of Cork...
, Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne
Thomas Pelham-Holles, 1st Duke of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and 1st Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne, KG, PC was a British Whig statesman, whose official life extended throughout the Whig supremacy of the 18th century. He is commonly known as the Duke of Newcastle.A protégé of Sir Robert Walpole, he served...
, The Earl of Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope
James Stanhope, 1st Earl Stanhope PC was a British statesman and soldier who effectively served as Chief Minister between 1717 and 1721. He is probably best remembered for his service during War of the Spanish Succession...
, Viscount Cobham
Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham
Field Marshal Richard Temple, 1st Viscount Cobham PC was a British soldier and Whig politician. He was known for his ownership of and modifications to the estate at Stowe and for serving as a political mentor to the young William Pitt.-Early life:Temple was the son of Sir Richard Temple, 3rd...
, Abraham Stanyan
Abraham Stanyan
Abraham Stanyan was an English politician and diplomat.After becoming a student in the Middle Temple, he served as secretary to Sir William Trumbull as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, and later to the Earl of Manchester as Ambassador to the Venice in 1697–1698 and then in France in 1699–1700. ...
and Sir Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole
Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, KG, KB, PC , known before 1742 as Sir Robert Walpole, was a British statesman who is generally regarded as having been the first Prime Minister of Great Britain....
.
Other notables included Garth
Samuel Garth
Sir Samuel Garth FRS was an English physician and poet.Garth was born in Bolam in County Durham and matriculated at Peterhouse, Cambridge in 1676, graduating B.A. in 1679 and...
, Steele
Richard Steele
Sir Richard Steele was an Irish writer and politician, remembered as co-founder, with his friend Joseph Addison, of the magazine The Spectator....
, and the Dukes of Grafton
Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton
Charles FitzRoy, 2nd Duke of Grafton KG PC was an Irish and English politician.He was born the only child of Henry FitzRoy, 1st Duke of Grafton and Isabella Bennet, 2nd Countess of Arlington...
, Devonshire
William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire
William Cavendish, 2nd Duke of Devonshire KG, PC was a British nobleman and politician, the eldest son of William Cavendish, 1st Duke of Devonshire and Lady Mary Butler. A prominent Whig, he was sworn of the Privy Council in 1707, and served as Lord President of the Council from 1716 to 1717 and...
, Kingston
Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull had been member of parliament for East Retford before his accession to the peerage in 1690. While serving as one of the commissioners for the union with Scotland he was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1706, and took a leading part in...
, Richmond
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond
Charles Lennox, 1st Duke of Richmond, 1st Duke of Lennox, 1st Duke of Aubigny was the illegitimate son of Charles II of England and his mistress Louise de Kérouaille, Duchess of Portsmouth....
, Manchester
Charles Montagu, 1st Duke of Manchester
Charles Edward Montagu, 1st Duke of Manchester, 4th Earl of Manchester , son of Robert Montagu, 3rd Earl of Manchester, was educated at Trinity College, Cambridge, and succeeded to his father's earldom in 1683...
, Dorset
Lionel Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset
Lionel Cranfield Sackville, 1st Duke of Dorset, PC was an English political leader and Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. He was the son of the 6th Earl of Dorset and 1st Earl of Middlesex and the former Lady Mary Compton, younger daughter of the 3rd Earl of Northampton...
and Newcastle, and Lords Sunderland
Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland
Sir Charles Spencer, 3rd Earl of Sunderland KG PC , known as Lord Spencer from 1688 to 1702, was an English statesman...
and Wharton
Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton
Thomas Wharton, 1st Marquess of Wharton PC was an English nobleman and politician. He was the son of Philip Wharton, 4th Baron Wharton and his second wife, Jane Goodwin, only daughter of Colonel Arthur Goodwin of Upper Winchendon, Buckinghamshire, and heiress to the extensive Goodwin estates in...
. Of some notoriety were Lord Mohun and the Earl of Berkeley
James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley
Vice-Admiral James Berkeley, 3rd Earl of Berkeley KG, PC was the son of Charles Berkeley, 2nd Earl of Berkeley and the Hon. Elizabeth Noel. He was known by the courtesy title of Viscount Dursley prior to succeeding as Earl of Berkeley in 1710...
. The artist Sir Godfrey Kneller
Godfrey Kneller
Sir Godfrey Kneller, 1st Baronet was the leading portrait painter in England during the late 17th and early 18th centuries, and was court painter to British monarchs from Charles II to George I...
was also a member, his 48 portraits in a standard 'kit-cat' format of 36 by 28 inches, painted over more than twenty years, form the most complete known members list of the club. Many of these portraits currently hang in galleries created in a partnership between the National Portrait Gallery and the National Trust
National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty
The National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, usually known as the National Trust, is a conservation organisation in England, Wales and Northern Ireland...
at Beningbrough Hall
Beningbrough Hall
Beningbrough Hall is a large Georgian mansion near the village of Beningbrough, North Yorkshire, England overlooking the River Ouse. It boasts one of Britain's finest baroque interiors and an attractive walled garden, as well as being home to over 100 portraits on loan from the National Portrait...
in Yorkshire.
Toasts
The toasts of the Kit-Kat Club were famous at the time, and drunk to the honour of a reigning beauty, or lady to whom the Club wished to do particular honour. We know by name some of those who were toasted: Lady Mary Wortley MontaguLady Mary Wortley Montagu
The Lady Mary Wortley Montagu was an English aristocrat and writer. Montagu is today chiefly remembered for her letters, particularly her letters from Turkey, as wife to the British ambassador, which have been described by Billie Melman as “the very first example of a secular work by a woman about...
; Lady Godolphin, Lady Sunderland, Lady Bridgewater, and Lady Monthermer, all daughters of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, Prince of Mindelheim, KG, PC , was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs through the late 17th and early 18th centuries...
, except Lady Mary Wortley Montagu who was the daughter of Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl of Kingston-upon-Hull
Evelyn Pierrepont, 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull
Evelyn Pierrepont, 5th Earl and 1st Duke of Kingston-upon-Hull had been member of parliament for East Retford before his accession to the peerage in 1690. While serving as one of the commissioners for the union with Scotland he was created Marquess of Dorchester in 1706, and took a leading part in...
and but 8 years old when toasted; the Duchess of Bolton, the Duchess of Beaufort, the Duchess of St. Albans; Anne Long
Anne Long (c.1681-1711)
Anne Long , was born at Draycot Cerne, Wiltshire, one of six children of James Long and his wife, Susanna, née Strangways. A celebrated beauty, she was the granddaughter of Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet, and of another leading civil war politician, Giles Strangways...
, a daughter of Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet
Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet
Sir James Long, 2nd Baronet was an English politician and Royalist soldier.Born at South Wraxall, Bradford-on-Avon, Wiltshire, the son of Sir Walter Long and Anne Ley , he was educated at Magdalen College, Oxford, and admitted to Lincoln's Inn in 1634...
and friend of Jonathan Swift; Catherine Barton
Catherine Barton
Catherine Barton was Isaac Newton's half-niece, probable mistress of Charles Montague and later, the wife of John Conduitt.-Early life:...
, Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
's niece and Charles Montagu
Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax
Charles Montagu, 1st Earl of Halifax, KG, PC, FRS was an English poet and statesman.-Early life:Charles Montagu was born in Horton, Northamptonshire, the son of George Montagu, fifth son of 1st Earl of Manchester...
's mistress; Mrs. Brudenell and Lady Wharton, Lady Carlisle and Mrs. Kirk and Mademoiselle Spanheim, among them.