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Pratt's is a gentlemen's club in London. It was established in 1857, with premises in a house in Park Place, off
The premises were later acquired by the 11th Duke of Devonshire.
It has around 600 members, but only 14 can dine at one time at the single table in the basement dining room. The club has two rooms: a dining room, and a sitting room/smoking room. Also housed in the premises is a billiard room (which is primarily used for guests to hang their coats on the chairs), a larger dining room used for lunches or private parties, a small suite that members are required to book well in advance, and the steward's quarters above.
As the building is heritage-listed (certain parts of it date back to the 16th century), there is no air conditioning, nor is there a lift; there are roughly 100 stairs from the basement club to the steward's quarters.
To avoid confusion, all male staff members are referred to as 'George'.
St James's Street
St James's Street is the principal street in the district of St James's, central London. It runs from Piccadilly downhill to St James's Palace and Pall Mall. The main gatehouse of the Palace is at the southern end of the road; in the 17th centur ...
, and close to the Ritz London
The Ritz London is a Grade II listed 5-star hotel in Piccadilly, London, England. A symbol of high society and luxury, the hotel is one of the world's most prestigious and best known. The Ritz has become so associated with luxury and elegance ...
.
History
The club takes its name from William Nathaniel Pratt, who lived there from 1841. Pratt was steward to theDuke of Beaufort
Duke of Beaufort (), a title in the Peerage of England, was created by Charles II in 1682 for Henry Somerset, 3rd Marquess of Worcester, a descendant of Charles Somerset, 1st Earl of Worcester, legitimised son of Henry Beaufort, 3rd Duke of So ...
, who called at the house with his friends one evening, and enjoyed themselves so much that they returned time and again. After Pratt's death in 1860, the club was continued by his widow, Sophia, and son, Edwin.
The premises were later acquired by the 11th Duke of Devonshire.
It has around 600 members, but only 14 can dine at one time at the single table in the basement dining room. The club has two rooms: a dining room, and a sitting room/smoking room. Also housed in the premises is a billiard room (which is primarily used for guests to hang their coats on the chairs), a larger dining room used for lunches or private parties, a small suite that members are required to book well in advance, and the steward's quarters above.
As the building is heritage-listed (certain parts of it date back to the 16th century), there is no air conditioning, nor is there a lift; there are roughly 100 stairs from the basement club to the steward's quarters.
To avoid confusion, all male staff members are referred to as 'George'.
Notable members
Notable members have included Charles Wyndham,Harold Macmillan
Maurice Harold Macmillan, 1st Earl of Stockton, (10 February 1894 – 29 December 1986) was a British Conservative statesman and politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1957 to 1963. Caricatured as "Supermac", he ...
, Randolph Churchill, Duncan Sandys and the cartoonist Osbert Lancaster, who featured the armchair and stuffed fish in the members lounge in many of his cartoons.
See also
*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 ...
*Blades Club
Blades is a fictional London gentlemen's club appearing and referenced in several of Ian Fleming's James Bond novels, most notably '' Moonraker''. Blades is situated on "Park Street" (correct name Park Place) off St James's Street, at the approx ...
References
*From: 'Park Place, South Side', Survey of London: volumes 29 and 30: St James Westminster, Part 1 (1960), pp. 542–45. URL: http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.asp?compid=40627. Date accessed: 26 September 2007. *The Arts of Cheerfulness. URL: http://www.johnderbyshire.com/Opinions/Straggler/089.html (Final paragraph is an anecdote about Michael Heseltine being blackballed by Pratt's members) Gentlemen's clubs in London 1857 establishments in England {{UK-org-stub