The Caledonian Club is a private club founded in 1891. It is located at 9

Halkin Street Halkin Street is a street in Belgravia, London, running south-west to north-east from the north-east corner of Belgrave Square to Grosvenor Place Grosvenor Place is a street in Belgravia, London, running from Hyde Park Corner down the we ...

SW1, near

Belgrave Square Belgrave Square is a large 19th-century garden square in London. It is the centrepiece of Belgravia, and its architecture resembles the original scheme of property contractor Thomas Cubitt who engaged George Basevi for all of the terraces for t ...

, Belgravia, London.

History

Founded in 1892 as a proprietary club, the Caledonian Club as it is today was formed in 1917 under the leadership of the Marquis Tullibardine. He appealed to Members to make it "the representative national club and headquarters for Scotsmen in London" as well as to those having 'close association' with Scotland, for example, by being born in Scotland, educated in Scotland or having direct Scottish descent. Full membership has been open to women since 2011. One of the more famous members was

John Logie Baird John Logie Baird FRSE (; 13 August 188814 June 1946) was a Scottish inventor, electrical engineer, and innovator who demonstrated the world's first live working television system on 26 January 1926. He went on to invent the first publicly demo ...

who used the Club to give a private demonstration of his new

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

system to the Prince of Wales, later briefly

King Edward VIII Edward VIII (Edward Albert Christian George Andrew Patrick David; 23 June 1894 – 28 May 1972), later known as the Duke of Windsor, was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Empire and Emperor of India from 20 January 1 ...

. Baird installed a receiver at the Club and arranged for a special television programme to be sent over from his studio on Long Acre. Other famous members have included

Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh (born Prince Philip of Greece and Denmark, later Philip Mountbatten; 10 June 1921 – 9 April 2021) was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he served as the consort of the British monarch from El ...

, Viscount Younger,

Sean Connery Sir Sean Connery (born Thomas Connery; 25 August 1930 – 31 October 2020) was a Scottish actor. He was the first actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond on film, starring in seven Bond films between 1962 and 1983. Origina ...

, Sir

Alex Ferguson Sir Alexander Chapman Ferguson (born 31 December 1941) is a Scottish former football manager and player, best known for managing Manchester United from 1986 to 2013. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time ...

and William Purves, former Chairman of

HSBC HSBC Holdings plc is a British multinational universal bank and financial services holding company. It is the largest bank in Europe by total assets ahead of BNP Paribas, with US$2.953 trillion as of December 2021. In 2021, HSBC had $10.8 tri ...

. The Club was located at 33

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 fou ...

until World War II when it suffered a direct hit during the Blitz. It then moved from St James's, eventually settling across

Green Park Green Park, officially The Green Park, is one of the Royal Parks of London. It is in the southern part – the core part – of the City of Westminster, Central London, but before that zone was extended to the north, to take in Maryleb ...

into the current clubhouse on

, which opened in October 1946 and is named after Halkin Castle, the Duke of Westminster's seat in Flintshire. It was built in 1907 as a private residence of Hugh Morrison to the design of Detmar Blow. A new five-storey wing with a terrace garden was officially opened on

St Andrew's Day Saint Andrew's Day, also called the Feast of Saint Andrew or Andermas, is the feast day of Andrew the Apostle. It is celebrated on 30 November (according to Gregorian calendar) and on 13 December (according to Julian calendar). Saint Andrew is ...

in 2006 by Queen

Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until her death in 2022. She was queen regnant of 32 sovereign states during ...

Societies

The Club has established various societies: *Members of the ''Golfing Society'' play regularly at courses throughout the UK, including

Loch Lomond Loch Lomond (; gd, Loch Laomainn - 'Lake of the Elms'Richens, R. J. (1984) ''Elm'', Cambridge University Press.) is a freshwater Scottish loch which crosses the Highland Boundary Fault, often considered the boundary between the lowlands of Ce ...

, The Berkshire, Woking, and Archerfield, and on an annual visit to France, usually

Le Touquet Le Touquet-Paris-Plage (; pcd, Ech Toutchet-Paris-Plache; vls, 't Oekske, older nl, Het Hoekske), commonly referred to as Le Touquet (), is a commune near Étaples, in the Pas-de-Calais department, northern France. It has a population of 4, ...

. A putting contest takes place within the clubhouse at the annual social evening, and guests are tested on their golf knowledge thereafter. *The ''Racing Society'' has currently one horse in training, "Fruit Pastille"."Pastille seeking four time". '' Sporting Life''. 29 October 2014 Members may buy shares in a syndicate or become supporters: they are informed when the horse is racing and have the opportunity to attend races using owners’ and trainers’ facilities. *After lunch at the Club on the first Tuesday of each month, a speaker is invited to talk to ''The Number 9 Society''. *Bridge Society *Snooker Society *The ''Shooting and Fishing Society'' hosts numerous events throughout the country, including a highly sociable competition against the

New Club, Edinburgh The New Club is a private social club in the New Town area of Edinburgh, Scotland. Founded in 1787, it is Scotland's oldest club. The club occupied premises on St Andrew Square from 1809 until 1837, when it moved to purpose-built rooms on Pri ...

. *The ''Musical Society'' organises a series of performances by world-class young musicians in spring and autumn.

References

External links

Official website
{{Gentlemen's clubs of London associated with particular countries Gentlemen's clubs in London 1891 establishments in England Scottish diaspora in Europe Grade II listed buildings in the City of Westminster Organizations established in 1891 Belgravia

History

Societies

See also

References

External links