The Portland Club is a

London London is the capital and 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 down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

card-playing

game club A club is an association of 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 c ...

and the recognised early authority on the games of

whist Whist is a classic English trick-taking card game which was widely played in the 18th and 19th centuries. Although the rules are simple, there is scope for strategic play. History Whist is a descendant of the 16th-century game of ''trump'' ...

and

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

. It is reputedly the oldest card club in the world. Founded in October 1814 as the Stratford Club, 1, Stratford Place. Following the bankruptcy of its bank, Marsh, Sibbald, and Co., in October 1824, the club had to change its partnership and was renamed the Portland Club in January 1825. Two newspapers reported the event: ''The Star'' of 5 November 1824 advertised: “In consequence of the failure of the Berners-street Banking-house, which possessed its funds, the Stratford Club, in Oxford-street, is about to be dissolved.” And, on 7 January 1825, ''The Morning Herald'' wrote: “It is the rump of the Old Stratford Club, we now hear, which assumes the imposing title of the Portland; and not, as we had been led to suppose, an entirely new Society.” The Portland Club remained in its Stratford Place/Oxford Street premises until 1890. It then moved to 9,

St James's Square St James's Square is the only square in the St James's district of the City of Westminster and is a garden square. It has predominantly Georgian and Neo-Georgian architecture. For its first two hundred or so years it was one of the three or f ...

, in a house that the club had bought there. However, in 1943 the

Royal Institute of International Affairs Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a ci ...

bought the house from the Portland Club, which moved to Charles Street, an address which it left in 1969 for 42, Half Moon Street.''The London Encyclopaedia'', 1983. From 1999 to 2014, the Portland Club was housed in the

Savile Club The Savile Club is a traditional London gentlemen's club founded in 1868. Located in fashionable and historically significant Mayfair, its membership, past and present, include many prominent names. Changing premises Initially calling itself t ...

, 69

Brook Street Brook Street is an axial street in the exclusive central London district of Mayfair. Most of it is leasehold, paying ground rent to and seeking lease renewals from the reversioner, that since before 1800, has been the Grosvenor Estate. Named ...

, then moved to its present premises. The Club now meets in the

Army and Navy Club The Army and Navy Club in London is a private members club founded in 1837, also known informally as The Rag.List of London's gentlemen's clubs This is a list of gentlemen's clubs in London, United Kingdom, including those that no longer exist or merged, with an additional section on those that appear in fiction. Many of these clubs are no longer exclusively male. Extant clubs Defun ...

References

Gentlemen's clubs in London Contract bridge clubs Contract bridge in the United Kingdom {{UK-org-stub