The United University Club was a London gentlemen's club, founded in 1821. It occupied the purpose-built University Club House, at 1, Suffolk Street,

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 ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, from 1826 until 1971.

Formation and membership

The Club was founded at a meeting held at the Thatched House Tavern on 30 June 1821 and held its first Annual General Meeting at Willis's Rooms on 27 April 1822, under the chairmanship of Prince William Frederick, Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh.Club History Since 1821
at oxfordandcambridgeclub.co.uk (accessed 9 January 2008) It was agreed that the Club would admit no more than one thousand members and former members of the Universities of

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

and

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a university city and the county town in Cambridgeshire, England. It is located on the River Cam approximately north of London. As of the 2021 United Kingdom census, the population of Cambridge was 145,700. Cambridge bec ...

, five hundred from each. This limitation remained in place for more than one hundred years. As a result, only eight years after the Club's foundation, its waiting list was so long that a second club was formed, called the

Oxford and Cambridge Club The Oxford and Cambridge Club is a traditional London club. Membership is largely restricted to those who are members of the Universities of Oxford and Cambridge, including men and women who have a degree from or who are current undergraduates ...

. The initial entrance-fee was set at twenty-five

guineas The guinea (; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where m ...

and the annual subscription at six guineas.Peter Cunningham, ''Hand-Book of London'' (1850) By 1879, these figures had increased to thirty guineas and eight guineas.Charles Dickens Jr., ''Dickens's Dictionary of London'' (1879) It was reported in ''Dickens's Dictionary of London'' (1879) that "The members elect by ballot, one black ball in ten excludes".

Premises

The Club's premises, called the University Club House, were at 1, Suffolk Street, London near

Trafalgar Square Trafalgar Square ( ) is a public square in the City of Westminster, Central London, laid out in the early 19th century around the area formerly known as Charing Cross. At its centre is a high column bearing a statue of Admiral Nelson commemo ...

. They were designed by the architect William Wilkins RA and by his colleague J. P. Gandy and opened on 13 February 1826. Wilkins was also the architect of the nearby

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

in Trafalgar Square, finished in 1838, and of the main buildings of

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

. The Club was re-built on a grander scale in 1906, with

Reginald Blomfield Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period. Early life and career Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...

as architect.University of Notre Dame London Centre
at nd.edu (accessed 9 January 2008) In 1906,

frieze In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...

s by Henry Alfred Pegram RA (1862–1937) were also commissioned. An extension was added on the north side of the building in 1924 (again designed by Blomfield) and another extension on the east side in 1939–40.

Sir Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, '' The Buildings of England'' ( ...

described the development as "Sir Reginald Blomfield’s essay in ''Champs Elysées'' style".

Merger with New University Club

A third club for members of the two Universities, founded in 1864 and called the New University Club, had its rooms at 57 St James's Street. This amalgamated with the United University Club in 1938.

Merger with Oxford and Cambridge Club

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, the gentlemen's clubs of London fell into a decline, and in 1971 the United University Club closed its premises. In March 1972, it was merged with the Oxford and Cambridge Club. The combined club was initially called the 'United Oxford and Cambridge University Club' and in 1972–73 was housed at the University Club House, but thereafter it occupied the club house further down Pall Mall designed for the Oxford and Cambridge Club in 1836. The lease of the University Club House was surrendered to the ground landlord, the

Crown Estate The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...

. The merged University club reverted to the name "Oxford and Cambridge Club" in 2001.

Uses of the Club House since 1973

Number One Suffolk Street was occupied from 1973 until 1980 by the bankers Coutts & Co., from 1980 to 1997 by the British School of Osteopathy, and since 1998 as the London Centre of the

University of Notre Dame The University of Notre Dame du Lac, known simply as Notre Dame ( ) or ND, is a private Catholic research university in Notre Dame, Indiana, outside the city of South Bend. French priest Edward Sorin founded the school in 1842. The main campu ...

. The Centre enables the Colleges of Arts & Letters, Business Administration, Science, Engineering and the Law School to develop their own programs in London.

Distinguished past members

William Ewart Gladstone William Ewart Gladstone ( ; 29 December 1809 – 19 May 1898) was a British statesman and Liberal politician. In a career lasting over 60 years, he served for 12 years as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, spread over four non-conse ...

(1809–1898), prime minister * Stanley Baldwin, 1st Earl Baldwin of Bewdley (1867–1947), prime minister * John Maynard Keynes, 1st Baron Keynes (1883–1946), economist *

Arthur Peel, 1st Viscount Peel Arthur Wellesley Peel, 1st Viscount Peel, (3 August 182924 October 1912) was a British Liberal politician who sat in the House of Commons from 1865 to 1895. He was Speaker of the House of Commons from 1884 until 1895 when he was raised to the ...

(1829–1912),

Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings. Systems that have such a position include: * Speaker of ...

1884–1895 *

Frederic Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford Frederic John Napier Thesiger, 1st Viscount Chelmsford, (12 August 1868 – 1 April 1933) was a British statesman. He served as Governor of Queensland from 1905 to 1909, Governor of New South Wales from 1909 to 1913, and Viceroy of India from 1 ...

(1868–1933),

Viceroy of India The Governor-General of India (1773–1950, from 1858 to 1947 the Viceroy and Governor-General of India, commonly shortened to Viceroy of India) was the representative of the monarch of the United Kingdom and after Indian independence in 19 ...

1916–1921 *

John George Dodson, 1st Baron Monk Bretton John George Dodson, 1st Baron Monk Bretton, PC (18 October 1825 – 25 May 1897), known before 1884 as John George Dodson, was a British Liberal politician. He was Chairman of Ways and Means (Deputy Speaker of the House of Commons) between 1 ...

(1825–1897), politician *

Alexander Staveley Hill Alexander Staveley Hill (21 May 1825 – 25 June 1905) was a Conservative Party politician in the United Kingdom. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1868 to 1900, representing Coventry, Staffordshire West and Kingswinford. Hill was born ...

KC MP (1825–1905), barrister and politician *

Douglas Freshfield Douglas William Freshfield (27 April 1845 – 9 February 1934) was a British lawyer, mountaineer and author, who edited the ''Alpine Journal ''from 1872 to 1880. He was an active member of the Royal Geographical Society and the Alpine Club and ...

(1845–1934), mountaineer * Sir Owen Seaman (1861–1936), editor of ''

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

'' 1906–1932 *

Herbert Trench Frederic Herbert Trench (12 November 1865 – 11 June 1923) was an Irish poet. Life Trench was born in Avonmore, County Cork, and educated at Haileybury and Keble College, Oxford. From 1891 he worked as an examiner for the Board of Education ...

(1865–1923), poet * Sir Leslie Scott KC MP (1869–1950), barrister and politician * Sir Herbert Brent Grotrian, 1st Baronet (1870–1951), barrister and politician *

Geoffrey Winthrop Young Geoffrey Winthrop Young (25 October 1876 – 8 September 1958) was a British climber, poet and educator, and author of several notable books on mountaineering. Young was born in Kensington, the middle son of Sir George Young, 3rd Baronet (see ...

(1879–1958), mountaineer and poet * Percy Herbert,

Bishop of Norwich The Bishop of Norwich is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Norwich in the Province of Canterbury. The diocese covers most of the county of Norfolk and part of Suffolk. The bishop of Norwich is Graham Usher. The see is in the ...

(1885–1968) * Sir Ivor Jennings (1903–1965), Vice-Chancellor of the

University of Cambridge , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

J. C. C. Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson John Colin Campbell Davidson, 1st Viscount Davidson, (23 February 1889 – 11 December 1970), known before his elevation to the peerage as J. C. C. Davidson, was a British civil servant and Conservative Party politician, best known for his cl ...

(1889–1970), politician''DAVIDSON, John Colin Campbell Davidson, 1st Viscount''
in ''Who Was Who 1897–2006'' online (accessed 9 January 2008)

Formation and membership

Premises

Merger with New University Club

Merger with Oxford and Cambridge Club

Uses of the Club House since 1973

Distinguished past members

See also

References

Further reading