The English Club of Pau (french: le Cercle anglais) is a private social club in Pau, France. It owns and conserves a decorative arts and book collection listed as a French

monument historique ''Monument historique'' () is a designation given to some national heritage sites in France. It may also refer to the state procedure in France by which National Heritage protection is extended to a building, a specific part of a building, a coll ...

(ISMH). The English Club’s mission includes an annual open house during the Journées de Patrimoine (European Heritage Days) and for reserved non-profit group tours, conferences, member publications and club member activities, all concentrated on the education and promotion of Pau’s former Anglo-American Colony. It is housed at the Villa Lawrance by the City of Pau.

History

A British Colony men’s reading room dating back to 1828 was chartered February 26, 1856 as the English Literary Society (Société Littéraire Anglaise) which became The English Club in 1859. Originally, the club was located at la Place Royale. It then moved across the Place Royale in 1871 to the building that would be its home until 1957 when it moved into the main salon of the former Hotel Gassion. Addition moves in 1990 to the Villa Regina, then the Villa Riquoir in 1996. In 2002, the City of Pau agreed to host the English Club and its collections at Villa Lawrance. For many years, members were permitted to list the English Club as the seat for sporting clubs, including the Pau Hunt, Polo Club and Pau Golf Club.

Collection

The collection includes 19th and early 20th century English language books (mostly housed at the municipal archives). The English Club’s art collection includes works by Allen Culpepper Sealy (1850-1927), Jean Heîd « Hed » (1890-1957), Harry La Montagne (1869-1959) Paul Mirat (1885 – 1966), Viscount Henri de Vaufreland (1873 – 1957) and Eugene Blocaille (1873 - 1961). It also includes horse racing, cross county and steeple chase memorabilia of the Pau Hunt and portraits of past members.

Notable members and Honored Guests

* René d'Astorg (1860-1940) - explorer of the Pyrenees * Captain James Barrow (Founder) (died 1918) - British soldier, husband of

Frances Elizabeth Barrow Frances Elizabeth Barrow (, Mease; pen name, Aunt Fanny; February 22, 1822May 7, 1894) was a 19th-century American children's writer. Biography Frances (nickname, "Frankie Blue") Elizabeth Mease was born in Charleston, South Carolina, February ...

, pen name Aunt Fanny. * Belle Baruch1 (1899-1964) - American equestrian, philanthropist *

James Gordon Bennett Jr. James Gordon Bennett Jr. (May 10, 1841May 14, 1918) was publisher of the ''New York Herald'', founded by his father, James Gordon Bennett Sr. (1795–1872), who emigrated from Scotland. He was generally known as Gordon Bennett to distinguish him ...

(1841-1918) - publisher of the

New York Herald The ''New York Herald'' was a large-distribution newspaper based in New York City that existed between 1835 and 1924. At that point it was acquired by its smaller rival the ''New-York Tribune'' to form the '' New York Herald Tribune''. His ...

* Sir

Victor Brooke Sir Victor Alexander Brooke, 3rd Baronet (5 January 1843 – 23 November 1891), was an Anglo-Irish sportsman- naturalist and baronet. He was the father of Field Marshal The 1st Viscount Alanbrooke, and grandfather of The 1st Viscount Brookeboro ...

(1843-1891) - Anglo-Irish naturalist and baronet *

Coco Chanel Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel ( , ; 19 August 1883 – 10 January 1971) was a French fashion designer and businesswoman. The founder and namesake of the Chanel brand, she was credited in the post-World War I era with popularizing a sporty, c ...

(1883-1971) - French fashion designer * Lord

John Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baron Churston John Yarde-Buller, 2nd Baron Churston (26 October 1846 – 19 April 1910) was a British peer and soldier. The elder son of the Hon. John Yarde-Buller (eldest son of John Yarde-Buller, 1st Baron Churston) and of Charlotte, a daughter of Edward Sac ...

(1846-1910) - British peer and soldier. * Lord Howth (1827-1909) - Irish peer * Harry La Montagne (1869-1959) - French-American horse owner, artist, sculptor, war veteran and sportsman * Jasper Hall Livingston (1815-1900) - American horse owner, gentleman rider and sportsman *

Ward McAllister Samuel Ward McAllister (December 28, 1827 – January 31, 1895) was a popular arbiter of social taste in the Gilded Age of late 19th-century America. He was widely accepted as the authority as to which families could be classified as the cream o ...

(1827-1895) - popular arbiter of social taste in 19th-century America *

Sir Alfred Munnings Sir Alfred James Munnings, (8 October 1878 – 17 July 1959) was known as one of England's finest painters of horses, and as an outspoken critic of Modernism. Engaged by Lord Beaverbrook's Canadian War Memorials Fund, he earned several prest ...

(1878-1959) - English painter of horses * Sir John Nugent, 3rd Baronet of Cloncoskoran (1849-1929) - lived at Cloncoskoraine, County Waterford, Ireland; died at Pau * Frederick Henry Prince (1860-1953) - American stockbroker, investment banker and financier *

Norman Prince Norman Prince (August 31, 1887 – October 15, 1916) was an American aviator and leading founder of France's Lafayette Escadrille. Biography He was born on August 31, 1887 in Beverly, Massachusetts. He was son of Frederick Henry Prince. ...

(1887-1916) - American aviator * Charles Henry Ridgway (1897-1916) - British army * Sir Henry Russell (1834–1909) - pioneer explorer of Pyrenees * General

Thomas Montagu Steele General A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. an ...

(1820-1890) - British army officer * Dr. Alexander Taylor (1802–1879) - Scottish physician and author * Lt.-Col. John Talbot Darnley Talbot-Crosbie (1843-1899) - Justice of the Peace for County Kerry; lived at Ardfert Abbey, County Kerry; died at Pau * William Knapp Thorn (1848-1910) - American champion polo player

Royal Visitors

Edward VII Edward VII (Albert Edward; 9 November 1841 – 6 May 1910) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and Emperor of India, from 22 January 1901 until his death in 1910. The second child and eldest son of Queen Victoria an ...

* The Prince of Wales, future Edward VIII

Notes

References

{{Reflist Clubs and societies in France English diaspora Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques