White's Club St James's Street - Geograph
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White's is a gentlemen's club in
St James's St James's is a central district in the City of Westminster, London, forming part of the West End. In the 17th century the area developed as a residential location for the British aristocracy, and around the 19th century was the focus of the de ...
,
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 ...
. Founded in 1693 as a hot chocolate shop in Mayfair, it is the oldest gentleman's club in London. It moved to its current premises on
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 ...
in 1778.


Status

White's is the oldest gentlemen's club in London, founded in 1693, and is considered by many to be the most exclusive private club in London. Notable current members include
Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...
, and the
Prince of Wales Prince of Wales ( cy, Tywysog Cymru, ; la, Princeps Cambriae/Walliae) is a title traditionally given to the heir apparent to the English and later British throne. Prior to the conquest by Edward I in the 13th century, it was used by the rulers ...
. Former
British Prime Minister The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister advises the sovereign on the exercise of much of the royal prerogative, chairs the Cabinet and selects its ministers. As modern p ...
David Cameron David William Donald Cameron (born 9 October 1966) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 2010 to 2016 and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2005 to 2016. He previously served as Leader o ...
, whose father Ian Cameron had been the club's chairman, was a member for fifteen years but resigned in 2008, over the club's declining to admit women. However, he has since rejoined. White's continues to maintain its tradition as an establishment exclusively for gentlemen; brief exceptions were made for the visits 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 Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
in 1991 and 2016. White's is a member of the Association of London Clubs. In January 2018, calling themselves 'Women in Whites', a group of female protesters infiltrated the club to highlight its single-sex policy, one managing to gain entry by pretending to be a man. These persons were removed.


History

The club was originally established at 4
Chesterfield Street Chesterfield Street is a "virtually intact" Georgian street (except for No. 6, which is a reconstruction) in London's Mayfair district. Several of the buildings are Grade II listed on the National Heritage List for England. Location Chesterfield ...
, off
Curzon Street Curzon Street is located within the Mayfair district of London. The street is located entirely within the W1J postcode district; the eastern end is north-east of Green Park underground station. It is within the City of Westminster, running ap ...
in
Mayfair Mayfair is an affluent area in the West End of London towards the eastern edge of Hyde Park, in the City of Westminster, between Oxford Street, Regent Street, Piccadilly and Park Lane. It is one of the most expensive districts in the world. ...
, in 1693 by an Italian immigrant named Francesco Bianco as a
hot chocolate Hot chocolate, also known as hot cocoa or drinking chocolate, is a heated drink consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and usually a sweetener like whipped cream or marshmallows. Hot chocolate ...
emporium under the name ''Mrs. White's Chocolate House''. Tickets were sold to the productions at King's Theatre and Royal Drury Lane Theatre as a side-business. White's quickly made the transition from teashop to exclusive club and in the early 18th century, it was notorious as a gambling house; those who frequented it were known as "the gamesters of White's." The club gained a reputation for both its exclusivity and the often raffish behaviour of its members.
Jonathan Swift Jonathan Swift (30 November 1667 – 19 October 1745) was an Anglo-Irish Satire, satirist, author, essayist, political pamphleteer (first for the Whig (British political party), Whigs, then for the Tories (British political party), Tories), poe ...
referred to White's as the "bane of half the English nobility." In 1778 it moved to 37–38
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 ...
. From 1783 it was the unofficial headquarters of the
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
party, while the Whigs' club
Brooks's Brooks's is a gentlemen's club in St James's Street, London. It is one of the oldest and most exclusive gentlemen's clubs in the world. History In January 1762, a private society was established at 50 Pall Mall by Messrs. Boothby and James ...
was just down the road. A few apolitical and affable gentlemen managed to belong to both. The new architecture featured a
bow window A bow window or compass window is a curved bay window. Bow windows are designed to create space by projecting beyond the exterior wall of a building, and to provide a wider view of the garden or street outside and typically combine four or more w ...
on the ground floor. In the later 18th century, the table directly in front of it became a seat of distinction, the throne of the most socially influential men in the club. This belonged to the ''
arbiter elegantiarum An arbiter or arbitrator is a person by whose decision the parties to a dispute agree to be bound in arbitration. Arbiter may refer to: Fiction * Arbiter (''Halo''), a character in the ''Halo'' video game series *''The Arbiter'', a character f ...
'',
Beau Brummell George Bryan "Beau" Brummell (7 June 1778 – 30 March 1840) was an important figure in Regency England and, for many years, the arbiter of men's fashion. At one time, he was a close friend of the Prince Regent, the future King George IV, but ...
, until he removed to the Continent in 1816, when
William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley (8 January 1789 – 16 November 1849) was a British Army officer, peer and socialite, who was a friend of Beau Brummell and one of a close circle of young men surrounding the Prince Regent. Early life and militar ...
took the place of honour. While there, he is supposed to have once bet £3,000 on which of two raindrops would reach the bottom of a pane in the bow window. Later, the spot was reserved for the use of
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish soldier and Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of 19th-century Britain, serving twice as prime minister o ...
until his death in 1852. Alvanley's was not the most eccentric bet in White's famous betting book. Some of those entries were on sports, but more often on political developments, especially during the chaotic years of the
French Revolution The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
and the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
. A good many were social bets, such as whether a friend would marry this year, or to whom. The club continues to maintain its tradition as a club for gentlemen only, although one of its best known chefs from the early 1900s was
Rosa Lewis Rosa Lewis (''née'' Ovenden; 1867–1952) was an English cook and owner of The Cavendish Hotel in London, located at the intersection of Jermyn Street and Duke Street, St. James. Known as the "Queen of Cooks", her culinary skills were highly p ...
, a model for the central character in the BBC television series ''
The Duchess of Duke Street ''The Duchess of Duke Street'' is a BBC television drama series set in London between the late 1800s and 1925. It was created by John Hawkesworth, previously the producer of the ITV period drama '' Upstairs, Downstairs''. It starred Gemma Jo ...
''. There were two American members in the interwar period, one of whom was a general in the U.S. Army. Postwar American members included diplomat
Edward Streator Edward James Streator (December 12, 1930 – April 16, 2019) was an American diplomat."Nomination of Edward J. Streator To Be the United States Representative to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development: July 28, 1984." Found a ...
. Charles III held his
stag night :''Stag night is the UK, Canadian, Irish, Australian and New Zealand term for a Bachelor party.'' ''Stag Night'' is a 2008 American horror film written and directed by Peter A. Dowling and starring Kip Pardue, Vinessa Shaw, and Breckin Meyer. The ...
at the club before his wedding to
Diana Spencer Diana, Princess of Wales (born Diana Frances Spencer; 1 July 1961 – 31 August 1997) was a member of the British royal family. She was the first wife of King Charles III (then Prince of Wales) and mother of Princes William and Harry. Her ac ...
in 1981. His eldest son,
Prince William William, Prince of Wales, (William Arthur Philip Louis; born 21 June 1982) is the heir apparent to the British throne. He is the elder son of King Charles III and his first wife Diana, Princess of Wales. Born in London, William was educat ...
, was entered as a member of the club shortly after his birth.


Clubhouse

The clubhouse is located at 37–38 St James's Street in the
City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and London boroughs, borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of Parliament and much of the British government. It occupies a large area of cent ...
and is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
. Originally built in 1674 and then rebuilt in 1787–88, probably by
James Wyatt James Wyatt (3 August 1746 – 4 September 1813) was an English architect, a rival of Robert Adam in the neoclassical and neo-Gothic styles. He was elected to the Royal Academy in 1785 and was its president from 1805 to 1806. Early life W ...
, it was further altered in 1811 and the
frontage Frontage is the boundary between a plot of land or a building and the road onto which the plot or building fronts. Frontage may also refer to the full length of this boundary. This length is considered especially important for certain types of ...
was remodelled by Lockyer in 1852. Constructed of
Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
with a slate roof, it possesses the Victorian version of a
Palladian Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
façade A façade () (also written facade) is generally the front part or exterior of a building. It is a Loanword, loan word from the French language, French (), which means 'frontage' or 'face'. In architecture, the façade of a building is often t ...
with some French motifs. The building consists of five storeys; three principal floors of facilities for members, together with a
basement A basement or cellar is one or more floors of a building that are completely or partly below the ground floor. It generally is used as a utility space for a building, where such items as the furnace, water heater, breaker panel or fuse box, ...
and a
dormer A dormer is a roofed structure, often containing a window, that projects vertically beyond the plane of a pitched roof. A dormer window (also called ''dormer'') is a form of roof window. Dormers are commonly used to increase the usable space ...
ed
attic An attic (sometimes referred to as a '' loft'') is a space found directly below the pitched roof of a house or other building; an attic may also be called a ''sky parlor'' or a garret. Because attics fill the space between the ceiling of the ...
. In the late 1970s, the exterior was painted azure with white trim. This color scheme was not continued. The club bar is more compact than those of many other clubs. A description of it, and of the rationale behind its size, may be found in chapter ten of the spy novel ''The Sixth Column'' (1951) by Peter Fleming, in which the club is thinly disguised as "Black's". While the club does not have members' accommodation, facilities include a members' dining room, a
billiards Cue sports are a wide variety of games of skill played with a cue, which is used to strike billiard balls and thereby cause them to move around a cloth-covered table bounded by elastic bumpers known as . There are three major subdivisions of ...
room, and several rooms (including the library and the cards room) where members may socialise, or hold private dinners. The club menu revolves around British
game A game is a structured form of play (activity), play, usually undertaken for enjoyment, entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator s ...
.


Notable members

*
George Canning George Canning (11 April 17708 August 1827) was a British Tory statesman. He held various senior cabinet positions under numerous prime ministers, including two important terms as Foreign Secretary, finally becoming Prime Minister of the Unit ...
(1794) *
Norman Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick Norman Stewart Hughson Lamont, Baron Lamont of Lerwick, (born 8 May 1942) is a British politician and former Conservative MP for Kingston-upon-Thames. He served as Chancellor of the Exchequer from 1990 until 1993. He was created a life peer in ...
(1942) * Adam Fleming (1948) * Major General Sir Stewart Menzies (1890–1968) * Nicholas Elliott () MacIntyre, Ben (2014), '' A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal'',
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...
:
Crown Publishers The Crown Publishing Group is a subsidiary of Penguin Random House that publishes across several fiction and non-fiction categories. Originally founded in 1933 as a remaindered books wholesaler called Outlet Book Company, the firm expanded into ...
, pg 7.


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 ...
*
List of gentlemen's clubs in the United States The following is a list of notable traditional gentlemen's clubs in the United States, including those that are now defunct. Historically, these clubs were exclusively for men, but most (though not all) now admit women. On exclusivity and as ...


References

*Dod's ''Parliamentary Companion'' (various editions) *
Debrett's Debrett's () is a British professional coaching company, publisher and authority on etiquette and behaviour, founded in 1769 with the publication of the first edition of ''The New Peerage''. The company takes its name from its founder, John Deb ...
''People of Today'', 2011


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * * * *


External links


Architectural history, plans and elevations
- from the ''
Survey of London The Survey of London is a research project to produce a comprehensive architectural survey of central London and its suburbs, or the area formerly administered by the London County Council. It was founded in 1894 by Charles Robert Ashbee, an Ar ...
'' {{Conservative-aligned gentlemen's clubs of London Gentlemen's clubs in London Regency London 1693 establishments in England
White's White's is a gentlemen's club in St James's, London. Founded in 1693 as a hot chocolate shop in Mayfair, it is the oldest gentleman's club in London. It moved to its current premises on St James's Street in 1778. Status White's is the oldes ...
Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster Organizations established in 1693