The Lansdowne Club is a private members' club in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

, England occupying a large building, notable in its own right. It was established in 1935 and occupies most of 9 Fitzmaurice Place, a street connecting

Berkeley Square Berkeley Square is a garden square in the West End of London. It is one of the best known of the many squares in London, located in Mayfair in the City of Westminster. It was laid out in the mid 18th century by the architect William Kent, ...

Curzon Street Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running ap ...

Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...

History

The club formed later than many London clubs, and it permitted women from its inception. It has always had a relatively young membership, with an active social scene. The building's main

Adam Adam; el, Ἀδάμ, Adám; la, Adam is the name given in Genesis 1-5 to the first human. Beyond its use as the name of the first man, ''adam'' is also used in the Bible as a pronoun, individually as "a human" and in a collective sense as " ...

and otherwise 1930s

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

interiors, with some authentic frontages, mean it has been Grade II* listed since its first assessment in 1970. This is the mid-category of

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Ir ...

, a statutory scheme of protection which has a pyramidal hierarchy. In 1930,

Westminster City Council Westminster City Council is the local authority for the City of Westminster in Greater London, England. The city is divided into 20 wards, each electing three councillors. The council is currently composed of 31 Labour Party members and 23 Con ...

decided to improve access to Berkeley Square by creating an extra road into the square. This was accomplished by demolishing half of the main range of

Lansdowne House Lansdowne House now 9 Fitzmaurice Place is the remaining part of a building to the south of Berkeley Square in central London, England, not to be confused with 57 Berkeley Square – opposite – a much later quadrilateral building which take ...

, which stood since the 1760s. What remained was given a new frontage and a newly renovated interior, and became the Lansdowne Club. The 'First Drawing Room' was thus taken to the

Philadelphia Museum of Art The Philadelphia Museum of Art (PMoA) is an art museum originally chartered in 1876 for the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. The main museum building was completed in 1928 on Fairmount, a hill located at the northwest end of the Benjamin ...

, and the 'Dining Room' exists in the

Metropolitan Museum of Art The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the List of largest art museums, largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. The venue was founded as a 'social, residential and athletic Club for members of social standing' and their families, and unlike many rivals, it had no vocational, artistic, or political 'theme'. Its facilities include a ballroom, a terrace, a fencing Salle and a basement gym with Art Deco swimming pool. Internally architecture is extremely unusual; some is modern for its type, being significantly Art Deco, as opposed to Georgian/ Victorian/

Edwardian The Edwardian era or Edwardian period of British history spanned the reign of King Edward VII, 1901 to 1910 and is sometimes extended to the start of the First World War. The death of Queen Victoria in January 1901 marked the end of the Victor ...

styles. The Adam Room and other parts of the club on the ground floor are Georgian though. The building underwent extensive renovation and further modernisation in 2000. Resident fencing coach, Wojciechowski, is official coach of the British Olympic squad.

Members past and present

Richard Dimbleby Frederick Richard Dimbleby (25 May 1913 – 22 December 1965) was an English journalist and broadcaster, who became the BBC's first war correspondent, and then its leading TV news commentator. As host of the long-running current affairs ...

''The House in Berkeley Square: A History of the Lansdowne Club''; Perry, Maria; (2003) Lansdowne Club, London *

Beryl Cook Beryl Cook, OBE (10 September 192628 May 2008) was a British artist best known for her original and instantly recognisable paintings. Often comical, her works pictured people whom she encountered in everyday life, including people enjoying the ...

John Bly John Bly , (born 27 May 1939), is an antiques dealer, author, after-dinner speaker and broadcaster who is best known from the BBC's ''Antiques Roadshow'' TV program (UK). Career Educated at Berkhamsted School, Bly is also a lecturer, public sp ...

Luke Fildes (fencer) Frederick Luke Val Fildes (13 June 1879 – 22 April 1970) was a British fencer, solicitor and company secretary. He competed in the individual épée event at the 1908 Summer Olympics. Biography Fildes was born on 13 June 1879 in London, the s ...

Ian Campbell-Gray Lieutenant-Colonel Sir Ian Douglas Campbell-Gray (14 July 1901 – 21 March 1946) was a British soldier serving in the Royal Engineers and an international fencer. Biography He competed in the individual and team épée fencing events at the 193 ...

Loyd Grossman Loyd Daniel Gilman Grossman (born 16 September 1950) is an American-British author, broadcaster and cultural campaigner who has mainly worked in the United Kingdom. He is well known for presenting the BBC programme '' MasterChef'' from 1990 to ...

James Mason James Neville Mason (; 15 May 190927 July 1984) was an English actor. He achieved considerable success in British cinema before becoming a star in Hollywood. He was the top box-office attraction in the UK in 1944 and 1945; his British films inc ...

Charles Arnold-Baker Charles Arnold-Baker, OBE (born Wolfgang Charles Werner von Blumenthal; 25 June 1918 – 6 June 2009) was an English member of MI6, barrister ( called 1948) and historian. He was the author of the '' Companion to British History''. He was awa ...

Terry Beddard Terence Elliott Beddard (30 October 1901 – 21 August 1966) was a British fencer. He competed at the 1936 and 1948 Summer Olympics. In 1939, he won the épée The ( or , ), sometimes spelled epee in English, is the largest and heavi ...

Mary Glen-Haig Dame Mary Alison Glen-Haig, (née James; 12 July 1918 – 15 November 2014) was a British fencer who competed in four Olympic games in 1948, 1952, 1956 and 1960. She was born in London, the daughter of William James, a fencer at the 1908 Lond ...

Desmond Flower, 10th Viscount Ashbrook Desmond Llowarch Edward Flower, 10th Viscount Ashbrook (9 July 1905 – 5 December 1995) was an Irish peer and soldier. Flower was the only son of Llowarch Flower, 9th Viscount Ashbrook and his wife Gladys Lucille Beatrice, daughter of Ge ...

Archibald Craig Archibald Craig (24 March 1887 – 30 December 1960) was a British fencer. He competed at the 1924 and 1948 Summer Olympics. References External links * 1887 births 1960 deaths British male fencers Olympic fencers for Great Britai ...

Frederick Ramon de Bertodano y Wilson, 8th Marquis del Moral Frederick may refer to: People * Frederick (given name), the name Nobility Anhalt-Harzgerode * Frederick, Prince of Anhalt-Harzgerode (1613–1670) Austria * Frederick I, Duke of Austria (Babenberg), Duke of Austria from 1195 to 1198 * Frederi ...

* Bill Hoskyns *

Baroness Butler-Sloss Baron is a rank of nobility or title of honour, often hereditary, in various European countries, either current or historical. The female equivalent is baroness. Typically, the title denotes an aristocrat who ranks higher than a lord or knigh ...

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice of ...

* John Emrys Lloyd *

Nick Halsted Nicholas Halsted (14 October 1942 – 22 September 2007) was a British international fencer. Halsted was captain of the Oxford University Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, ...

Paul Smith (fashion designer) Sir Paul Brierley Smith (born 5 July 1946) is a British fashion designer. His reputation is founded on his designs for men's clothing, but his business has expanded into other areas as well. Smith was made a Royal Designer for Industry in 1991 ...

* Ermine, Lady Elibank (née Aspinwall widow of

Gideon Oliphant-Murray, 2nd Viscount Elibank Gideon Oliphant-Murray, 2nd Viscount Elibank (7 August 1877 – 12 March 1951) was a Scottish colonial administrator, politician and nobleman. He was the third son of 1st Viscount Elibank of Selkirkshire and his wife Blanche Alice ''née'' Scot ...

)Dann, John,(2017) Maud Coleno's Daughter: the life of Dorothy Hartman 1898–1957, Matador, * Elizabeth Blackadder *

Merlin Hanbury-Tracy, 7th Baron Sudeley Merlin Charles Sainthill Hanbury-Tracy, 7th Baron Sudeley, (17 June 1939 – 5 September 2022) was a British peer, author, and monarchist. In 1941, at the age of two, he succeeded his first cousin once removed, Richard Hanbury-Tracy, 6th Bar ...

Joachim von Ribbentrop Ulrich Friedrich Wilhelm Joachim von Ribbentrop (; 30 April 1893 – 16 October 1946) was a German politician and diplomat who served as Minister of Foreign Affairs of Nazi Germany from 1938 to 1945. Ribbentrop first came to Adolf Hitler's not ...

(before the outbreak of World War II) * Tim Richardson (writer) *

Rainier III, Prince of Monaco Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...

and

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kell ...

were honorary members

Chairmen

*1935–40 Dr. F. Howard Humphies *1940–54

Sir Frederick Arnold-Baker Sir Frederick Spencer Arnold-Baker (1 April 1885 – 9 December 1963) was a British lawyer. He was the third son of Frederick Arnold-Baker (born 30 December 1845) and Helen Catherine Nairne (born 1 September 1843), and grandson of the New Zealand ...

*1954–57 Clarence Napier Bruce, 3rd Baron Aberdare *1957 (interim)

Morys Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare Morys George Lyndhurst Bruce, 4th Baron Aberdare, (16 June 1919 – 23 January 2005), was a Conservative politician, and from 1999 until his death, one of ninety-two elected hereditary peers in the British House of Lords. He was the eldest so ...

*1957–63 P.D. Krolik esq *1963–67 Major J. Fletcher *1967–88 C.G. Findlay esq *1988–97 J.R.M. Keatley esq *1998–2006 J Moore *2006–10 D. Whitehouse esq *2010–14 C. Powell esq *2014–15 Dr D Prince *2015–18 D. Whitehouse esq *2018–19 J. North esq *2019–20 M. Dixon esq *2020– K. Hollender esq

References

External links

* * {{Gentlemen's clubs in London 1935 establishments in England Art Deco architecture in London Gentlemen's clubs in London Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade II* listed houses Mayfair

History

Members past and present

Chairmen

See also

Further reading

References

External links