This is a list of gentlemen's clubs in

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 ...

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

, 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

Defunct or merged clubs

Fictional clubs

* Bagatelle Card Club – One of Colonel

Sebastian Moran Colonel Sebastian Moran is a fictional character in the stories written by Arthur Conan Doyle. An enemy of Sherlock Holmes, he first appears in the 1903 short story "The Adventure of the Empty House". Holmes once described him as "the second most ...

's clubs in the

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a " consulting detective" in the stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with observation, deduction, forensic science and ...

story ''

The Adventure of the Empty House "The Adventure of the Empty House", one of the 56 Sherlock Holmes short stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, is one of 13 stories in the cycle collected as ''The Return of Sherlock Holmes''. It was first published in ''Collier's'' in the ...

''. * Beargarden Club – A St James's club in

Trollope The name Trollope is derived from the place-name Troughburn, in Northumberland, England, originally Trolhop, Norse for "troll valley". The earliest recorded use of the surname is John Andrew Trolope (1427–1461) who lived in Thornlaw, Co. Durh ...

's ''Palliser novels'' * Bellona Club –

Lord Peter Wimsey Lord Peter Death Bredon Wimsey (later 17th Duke of Denver) is the fictional protagonist in a series of detective novels and short stories by Dorothy L. Sayers (and their continuation by Jill Paton Walsh). A dilettante who solves mysteries for ...

's club and location of a murder in

Dorothy L. Sayers Dorothy Leigh Sayers (; 13 June 1893 – 17 December 1957) was an English crime writer and poet. She was also a student of classical and modern languages. She is best known for her mysteries, a series of novels and short stories set between th ...

novel

The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club ''The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club'' is a 1928 mystery novel by Dorothy L. Sayers, her fourth featuring Lord Peter Wimsey. Much of the novel is set in the Bellona Club, a fictional London club for war veterans (Bellona being a Roman godd ...

* Billiards Club – Setting for the improbably tall tales of

Jorkens Joseph Jorkens (usually referred to simply as Jorkens) is the lead character in over 150 short stories written between 1925 and 1957 by the Irish author Lord Dunsany, noted for his fantasy short stories, fantastic plays, novels and other writin ...

, by

Lord Dunsany Edward John Moreton Drax Plunkett, 18th Baron of Dunsany (; 24 July 1878 – 25 October 1957, usually Lord Dunsany) was an Anglo-Irish writer and dramatist. Over 90 volumes of fiction, essays, poems and plays appeared in his lifetime.Lanham, M ...

* Black's Club –

Jack Aubrey John "Jack" Aubrey , is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his rise from lieutenant to rear admiral in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars. The twenty (and one incomple ...

's,

Stephen Maturin Stephen Maturin () is a fictional character in the Aubrey–Maturin series of novels by Patrick O'Brian. The series portrays his career as a physician, naturalist and spy in the Royal Navy during the Napoleonic Wars, and the long pursuit of hi ...

's, and Sir Joseph Blaine's club in

Patrick O'Brian Patrick O'Brian, Order of the British Empire, CBE (12 December 1914 – 2 January 2000), born Richard Patrick Russ, was an English novelist and translator, best known for his Aubrey–Maturin series of sea novels set in the Royal Navy during t ...

's Aubrey-Maturin series. O'Brian also makes Prince William, Duke of Clarence a member. * Blades Club – M's club in the James Bond series by Ian Fleming. * Bratt's Club – John Beaver's club in ''

A Handful of Dust ''A Handful of Dust'' is a novel by the British writer Evelyn Waugh. First published in 1934, it is often grouped with the author's early, satirical comic novels for which he became famous in the pre– World War II years. Commentators have, ...

'' by Evelyn Waugh; Charles Ryder’s club in “ Brideshead Revisited” by Evelyn Waugh; Colonel Charles Russell's club in two of the first three novels by William Haggard. * Centaur Club – Francis Blake's club in ''

Blake and Mortimer ''Blake and Mortimer'' is a Belgian comics series created by the writer and comics artist Edgar P. Jacobs. It was one of the first series to appear in the Franco-Belgian comics magazine ''Tintin'' in 1946, and was subsequently published in book ...

'' (comics) by Edgar P. Jacobs * Craven’s – A gaming club founded by the enigmatic Derek Craven, brought to life by author

Lisa Kleypas Lisa Kleypas (born 5 November 1964 in Temple, Texas) is a best-selling American author of historical and contemporary romance novels. In 1985, she was named Miss Massachusetts 1985 and competed in the Miss America 1986 pageant in Atlantic City ...

, destroyed by fire in its prime. *

Diogenes Club The Diogenes Club is a fictional gentlemen's club created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and featured in several Sherlock Holmes stories, such as 1893's "The Adventure of the Greek Interpreter". It seems to have been named after Diogenes the Cynic ...

–

Mycroft Holmes Mycroft Holmes is a fictional character appearing in stories written by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle from 1893 to 1908. The elder brother (by seven years) of detective Sherlock Holmes, he is a government official and a founding member of the Diogenes ...

's club in the

stories. *

Drones Club The Drones Club is a recurring fictional location in the stories of British humorist P. G. Wodehouse. It is a gentlemen's club in London. Many of Wodehouse's Jeeves and Blandings Castle stories feature the club or its members. Various members ...

–

Bertie Wooster Bertram Wilberforce Wooster is a fictional character in the comedic Jeeves stories created by British author P. G. Wodehouse. An amiable English gentleman and one of the "idle rich", Bertie appears alongside his valet, Jeeves, whose intelligenc ...

's club in

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

Jeeves Jeeves (born Reginald Jeeves, nicknamed Reggie) is a fictional character in a series of comedic short stories and novels by English author P. G. Wodehouse. Jeeves is the highly competent valet of a wealthy and idle young Londoner named Bertie W ...

stories; and is also the club of several other Wodehouse characters, including

Bingo Little Richard P. "Bingo" Little is a recurring fictional character in the comedic Jeeves and Drones Club stories of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a member of the Drones Club. In his early appear ...

Gussie Fink-Nottle Augustus "Gussie" Fink-Nottle is a recurring fictional character in the ''Jeeves'' novels of comic writer P. G. Wodehouse, being a lifelong friend of Jeeves's master Bertie Wooster and a country member of the Drones Club. He wears horn-rimmed s ...

Psmith Rupert Psmith (or Ronald Eustace Psmith, as he is called in the last of the four books in which he appears) is a recurring fictional character in several novels by British author P. G. Wodehouse, being one of Wodehouse's best-loved characters. ...

, and

Freddie Threepwood The Honourable Frederick Threepwood is a fictional character in the Blandings stories by P. G. Wodehouse. A member of the Drones Club affectionately known as "Freddie", he is the second son of Lord Emsworth, and a somewhat simple-minded youth who ...

. * Etheric Explorers Club – a society featured in a series of short stories and novels by

Paul Marlowe Paul Marlowe is a Canadian author of historical fiction and science fiction. Much of his historical fiction is connected in some way with the Etheric Explorers Club, a Victorian society devoted to investigating unusual or supernatural phenome ...

. * Egotist's Club –

's club in the

novels and short stories. * Ffeatherstonehaugh's Club – a corrupt and hedonistic establishment commemorating the libertine values of

John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester John Wilmot, 2nd Earl of Rochester (1 April 1647 – 26 July 1680) was an English poet and courtier of King Charles II's Restoration court. The Restoration reacted against the "spiritual authoritarianism" of the Puritan era. Rochester embodie ...

, featured in the crime novel ''Clubbed to Death'' by

Ruth Dudley Edwards Ruth Dudley Edwards (born 24 May 1944) is an Irish Unionist historian and writer, with published work in the fields of history, biography and crime fiction, and a number of awards won. Born in Dublin, Ireland, she has lived in England since 1965 ...

. * Hotch Potch Club – featured in

John Galsworthy John Galsworthy (; 14 August 1867 – 31 January 1933) was an English novelist and playwright. Notable works include ''The Forsyte Saga'' (1906–1921) and its sequels, ''A Modern Comedy'' and ''End of the Chapter''. He won the Nobel Prize i ...

's ''

The Forsyte Saga ''The Forsyte Saga'', first published under that title in 1922, is a series of three novels and two interludes published between 1906 and 1921 by the English author John Galsworthy, who won the Nobel Prize in Literature. They chronicle the vici ...

''. * Imperial Club – from the 1960s UK television comedy series ''

Bootsie and Snudge ''Bootsie and Snudge'' is a British sitcom that aired on ITV for three series from 1960 to 1963, with a fourth in 1974. The show is a spin-off of ''The Army Game'', a sitcom about soldiers undertaking national service, and follows two of the mai ...

'', starring

Alfie Bass Alfie Bass (born Abraham Basalinsky, 10 April 1916 – 16 July 1987) was an English actor. He was born in Bethnal Green, London, the youngest in a Jewish family with ten children; his parents had left Russia many years before he was born. He a ...

and

Bill Fraser William Simpson Fraser (5 June 1908 – 9 September 1987) was a Scottish actor who appeared on stage, screen and television for many years. In 1986 he won the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance for his stage role in the play ''W ...

. * Iseeum Club – another featured in

's ''

''. * Jenner’s - a gaming club founded by the rough boxer Ivo Jenner, mentioned in the works of author

, later managed by the devilish Lord St. Vincent. * Junior Ganymede Club –

's club (for gentlemen's gentlemen) in

P G Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, ( ; 15 October 188114 February 1975) was an English author and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Jeeve ...

stories. * Junior Greys, Pall Mall – one of

Albert Campion Albert Campion is a fictional character in a series of detective novels and short stories by Margery Allingham. He first appeared as a supporting character in ''The Crime at Black Dudley'' (1929), an adventure story involving a ring of criminals, ...

's clubs in

Margery Allingham Margery Louise Allingham (20 May 1904 – 30 June 1966) was an English novelist from the "Golden Age of Detective Fiction", and considered one of its four " Queens of Crime", alongside Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers and Ngaio Marsh. Alli ...

's detective stories. * Marine Commando Club, Paddington – frequented by

Julian and Sandy Julian and Sandy were characters on the BBC radio comedy programme ''Round the Horne'' from 1965 to 1968 and were played by Hugh Paddick and Kenneth Williams respectively, with scripts written by Barry Took and Marty Feldman. According to a BBC Rad ...

from the BBC radio comedy ''

Round the Horne ''Round the Horne'' is a BBC Radio comedy programme starring Kenneth Horne, first transmitted in four series of weekly episodes from 1965 until 1968. The show was created by Barry Took and Marty Feldman, who wrote the first three series. The fo ...

''. Note that

Kenneth Horne Charles Kenneth Horne, generally known as Kenneth Horne, (27 February 1907 – 14 February 1969) was an English comedian and businessman. He is perhaps best remembered for his work on three BBC Radio series: ''Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh ...

's radio alter ego, a member of the Athenaeum, described it as "not my sort of club". * Old Bohemian Club – "Bunny" and Raffles' club in

E. W. Hornung Ernest William Hornung (7 June 1866 – 22 March 1921) was an English author and poet known for writing the A. J. Raffles (character), A. J. Raffles series of stories about a gentleman thief in late 19th-century London. Hornung was educa ...

's '' Raffles'' stories. * Pickwick Club – A club founded by Mr.

Samuel Pickwick Samuel Pickwick is a fictional character and the main protagonist in ''The Pickwick Papers'' (1836), the first novel by author Charles Dickens. One of the author's most famous and loved creations, Pickwick is a retired successful businessman an ...

to study human nature in

Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...

's first novel. * Progress Club – a club that "...intended to do great things for Liberal Party . . . and had in truth done little or nothing." in '' The Prime Minister'' by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ar ...

. * Puffin's – one of

's clubs in

's detective stories. * Royal Bathers Club - club with

Turkish bath A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited ...

of which Major-General Clive Wynne-Candy is a member in "

The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp ''The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp'' is a 1943 British romantic drama war film written, produced and directed by the British film making team of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. It stars Roger Livesey, Deborah Kerr and Anton Walbrook. ...

" (1943) by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. * Senior Conservative Club – features in P.G. Wodehouse's novel ''

Psmith in the City ''Psmith in the City'' is a novel by P. G. Wodehouse, first published on 23 September 1910 by Adam & Charles Black, London.McIlvaine (1990), pp. 22–23, A14. The story was originally released as a serial in ''The Captain'' magazine, between Oc ...

''. Although fictional, the description of a large, Conservative-aligned club in

Northumberland Avenue Northumberland Avenue is a street in the City of Westminster, Central London, running from Trafalgar Square in the west to the Thames Embankment in the east. The road was built on the site of Northumberland House, the London home of the House ...

tallies perfectly with the real-life

Constitutional Club The Constitutional Club was a London gentlemen's club, now dissolved, which was established in 1883 and disbanded in 1979. Between 1886 and 1959 it had a distinctive red and yellow Victorian terracotta building, designed by Robert William Edis ...

at No.28 and Nevill's Turkish Baths at No.25, "twenty yards from the club's front door" (which baths were also used by Sherlock Holmes and Raffles). * The Seraphim Club – A private club featured in ''

Gallows Thief ''Gallows Thief'' (2001) is a historical mystery novel by Bernard Cornwell set in London, England in the year 1817, which uses capital punishment as its backdrop. The story concerns an amateur investigator hired to rubber-stamp the death senten ...

'' by

Bernard Cornwell Bernard Cornwell (born 23 February 1944) is an English-American author of historical novels and a history of the Waterloo Campaign. He is best known for his novels about Napoleonic Wars rifleman Richard Sharpe. He has also written ''The Saxon ...

. * Stoics' Club – George Pendyce's club in ''The Country House'' by

. * The Survivor's Club – featured in the novel '' The Somnambulist'' by

Jonathan Barnes Jonathan Barnes, British Academy, FBA (born 26 December 1942 in Wenlock, Shropshire) is an English scholar of Aristotelianism, Aristotelian and ancient philosophy. Education and career He was educated at the City of London School and Balliol Co ...

. * The Tankerville Club – Featured in two

stories. * Thackeray Club – club in the movie ''

Top Hat A top hat (also called a high hat, a cylinder hat, or, informally, a topper) is a tall, flat-crowned hat for men traditionally associated with formal wear in Western dress codes, meaning white tie, morning dress, or frock coat. Traditionally m ...

'' from 1935 with

Fred Astaire Fred Astaire (born Frederick Austerlitz; May 10, 1899 – June 22, 1987) was an American dancer, choreographer, actor, and singer. He is often called the greatest dancer in Hollywood film history. Astaire's career in stage, film, and tele ...

and

Ginger Rogers Ginger Rogers (born Virginia Katherine McMath; July 16, 1911 – April 25, 1995) was an American actress, dancer and singer during the Classical Hollywood cinema, Golden Age of Hollywood. She won an Academy Award for Best Actress for her starri ...

. * Tweedles Club – club in the movie '' You Must be Joking'' 1965, American Films Limited, starring Terry Thomas, Michael Callan, Lionel Jefferies, Denholm Elliott, Wilfrid Hyde White and Bernard Cribbins. * Whitehall Club – the setting of the murder mystery in the novel ''Keep It Quiet'' (1935) by

Richard Hull Field Marshal Sir Richard Amyatt Hull, (7 May 1907 – 17 September 1989) was a senior British Army officer. He was the last Chief of the Imperial General Staff (CIGS), holding the post from 1961 to 1964, and the first Chief of the General Staf ...

Gallery

Image:Athenaeum Club, London - Nov 2006.jpg, The Athenæum Club Image:Garrick Club.jpg, The

Garrick Club The Garrick Club is a gentlemen's club in the heart of London founded in 1831. It is one of the oldest members' clubs in the world and, since its inception, has catered to members such as Charles Kean, Henry Irving, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, A ...

Image:London Reform Club.jpg, The

Reform Club The Reform Club is a private members' club on the south side of Pall Mall in central London, England. As with all of London's original gentlemen's clubs, it comprised an all-male membership for decades, but it was one of the first all-male cl ...

and the

Travellers Club The Travellers Club is a private gentlemen's club situated at 106 Pall Mall in London, United Kingdom. It is the oldest of the surviving Pall Mall clubs and one of the most exclusive, having been established in 1819. It was described as "the ...

(Left)

Notes

References

* * ''The Gentlemen's Clubs of London'' by Anthony Lejeune, first published 1979, most recently in 2012 by

Stacey International Stacey International is an independent publisher based at Catherine Place, in London. Founded in 1974 by Tom Stacey, the company aims to "maintain a resolute tradition of adaptive and imaginative publishing". The 1930s books were updated in 2010 by ...

External links

Association of London Clubs

Seth Alexander Thévoz, Global Clubs Directory
{{DEFAULTSORT:London's Gentlemen's Clubs * Lists of gentlemen's clubs Clubs Gentlemen's London's List of