St James's Club

The St James's Club was a London gentlemen's club which operated between 1857 and 1978.

Foundation

The club was founded in 1857 by the Liberal statesman the second Earl Granville and by the Marchese d'Azeglio, Minister of Sardinia to the Court of St James's, after a dispute at the Travellers' Club. Most members of the diplomatic corps resigned from the Travellers' and joined the new club. The club's members continued to be largely diplomats and authors, and it became the home of the Dilettanti Society.

The name "St James's Club" had previously been used by the Travellers' Club. When the pioneer of photography William Fox Talbot (1800–1877) was elected in 1825 to the club at 106 Pall Mall, London, it was using that name. [ [http://foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk/letters/transcriptName.php?bcode=Read-R&pageNumber=0&pageTotal=1 Letter to Fox Talbot from the St James's Club, July 28th, 1825] at foxtalbot.dmu.ac.uk (accessed 10 January 2008)]

According to the "Encyclopaedia Britannica" article "Club", in 1902, the club was the smallest London gentlemen's club in terms of numbers ["Encyclopaedia Britannica", 10th Edition (1902): article on "Club", online at [http://www.1902encyclopedia.com/C/CLU/club.html Club] at 1902encyclopedia.com (accessed 18 January 2008)] - cquote|The number of members included in a London club varies from 2200 in the Army and Navy to 475 in the St James's club.

Premises

The St James's Club was first established in Charles Street, just off the south corner of Berkeley Square, London. By 1878, it had moved into its clubhouse on Piccadilly which had previously been Coventry House,Walford, Edward, [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45198 Mansions in Piccadilly] , in "Old and New London: Volume 4" (1878), pp. 273–90 (accessed 10 January 2008)] the London residence of the Earls of Coventry since it had been bought by George Coventry, 6th Earl of Coventry from Sir Hugh Hunlocke in 1764, for 10,000 guineas. Coventry House had been built in 1761 [The date is on a lead cistern, according to Sir Nikolaus Pevsner, "London", vol I (Buildings of England series; 2nd ed., 1962:573).] on the site of an old public house called 'The Greyhound Inn'. The five-bay structure is neo-Palladian in style, with alternating pediments on the grand floor windows, over a rusticated ground floor. The Palladian window on the side façade lights a handsome staircase. There are ceilings by Robert Adam [Lord Coventry also employed Adam in the country, at his seat of Croome Court, Worcestershire.] in rooms on the "piano nobile". Thomas Cundy the Elder effected some remodelling, probably in 1810-11. [Pevsner, "ibid.".]

According to Charles Dickens, Jr, writing in 1879: [Charles Dickens, Jr, "Dickens's Dictionary of London" (1879)]

During the Second World War, the club was briefly the home of Ian Fleming, the creator of James Bond. [ [http://www.obsessional.co.uk/ianfleming.htm Life and Times of Ian Fleming] at obsessional.co.uk (accessed 10 January 2008)]

The club was described by Charles Graves, writing of London clubs in "Leather Armchairs" (1963), as "the only one in London, or possibly anywhere else in the world, which has a separate room – and a large one at that – devoted solely to backgammon".Graves, Charles, "Leather Armchairs: The Chivas Regal Book of London Clubs" (London, Cassell & Co. Ltd, 1963, with foreword by P. G. Wodehouse)]

The club was also well known as a London venue for chess matches. [Harley, Brian, "Music and Chess" in "Music & Letters", Vol. 12, No. 3 (July, 1931), pp. 276–83]

End of the Club

After the Second World War, the gentlemen's clubs of London fell into decline. [ [http://www.nd.edu/~ndlondon/londoncentre/history.htm University of Notre Dame London Centre] at nd.edu (accessed 9 January 2008)] Facing financial problems, the club merged with Brooks's Club in 1978 and vacated its premises. The grand former club house at 106, Piccadilly, later became the headquarters of The International House network of language schools, founded by John Haycraft. [ [http://www.ihworld.com/about_us/haycraftobituary-guardian.doc Obituary of John Haycraft] at ihworld.com (accessed 10 January 2008)] Since October 2007, it has been the London campus of Limkokwing University of Creative Technology, a private intercontinental university based in Malaysia. [ [http://www.limkokwing.co.uk/university/contact.asp Limkokwing University Campuses & Contact Centres] at limkokwing.co.uk (accessed 10 January 2008)]

A new establishment bearing the name St James's Club and Hotel, based in Park Place, London, has no connection with the original club.

Notable members

*Granville Leveson-Gower, 2nd Earl Granville (1815–1891), Liberal statesman [http://www.whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk/biog/D_Az_Mq.htm Correspondence of James McNeill Whistler] at whistler.arts.gla.ac.uk (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Vittorio Emanuelle Taparelli, Marchese d'Azeglio (1816–1890), Minister of Sardinia
*Sir Osbert Sitwell (1892–1969), author [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6195987 SITWELL, Sir Osbert] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Oliver St John Gogarty (1878–1957), Anglo-Irish author [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6154071 GOGARTY, Oliver St John] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Sir Harry Verney, 4th Baronet MP (1881–1974), politician [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6204311 VERNEY, Sir Harry (Calvert Williams)] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Victor Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll (1870–1928), diplomat [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6148271 ERROLL, Victor Alexander Sereld Hay, 21st Earl of] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Sir Murdoch Macdonald (1866–1957), politician and engineer [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6172841 MACDONALD, Sir Murdoch] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Arthur Rowley, 8th Baron Langford (1870–1953), diplomat [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6168927 LANGFORD, Arthur Langford Sholto Rowley, 8th Baron] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Anatole de Grunwald (1910–1967), film producer [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6144117 de GRUNWALD, Anatole] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Lord Ivor Spencer-Churchill (1898–1956), cousin of Winston Churchill [ [http://special.lib.gla.ac.uk/manuscripts/search/resultsn.cfm?NID=3609&RID= Manuscripts Catalogue] of the University of Glasgow (accessed 10 January 2008)]
*Evelyn Waugh (1903–1966), author [ [http://www.xreferplus.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=6206424 WAUGH, Evelyn Arthur St John] in "Who Was Who 1897–2006" online (accessed 10 January 2008)]

ee also

*List of London's gentlemen's clubs

References