Whitehall Court 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 ...

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 ...

, is one contiguous building but consists of two separate constructions. The south end was designed by Thomas Archer and A. Green and constructed as a block of luxury residential apartments in 1884 while the north end, occupied by the

National Liberal Club The National Liberal Club (NLC) is a London private members' club, open to both men and women. It was established by William Ewart Gladstone in 1882 to provide club facilities for Liberal Party campaigners among the newly enlarged electorate f ...

, was designed by

Alfred Waterhouse Alfred Waterhouse (19 July 1830 – 22 August 1905) was an English architect, particularly associated with the Victorian Gothic Revival architecture, although he designed using other architectural styles as well. He is perhaps best known f ...

and completed in 1887. The building was developed speculatively by the Liberal MP and property developer

Jabez Balfour Jabez Spencer Balfour (4 September 1843 – 23 February 1916) was an English businessman, British Liberal Party politician and fraudster. Life Balfour was born in Marylebone, London to James and Clara Lucas Balfour. He was Member of Parliament ...

, through the Liberator Building Society which he controlled. In 1892 the Society collapsed, leaving thousands of investors penniless. Instead of advancing money to home buyers, the Society had advanced money to property companies to buy properties owned by Balfour, at a high price. Well-known residents have included William Gladstone, Lord Kitchener,

Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia Grand Duke Michael Alexandrovich of Russia (russian: Михаи́л Алекса́ндрович, r=Mikhail Aleksandrovich; 13 June 1918) was the youngest son and fifth child of Emperor Alexander III of Russia and youngest brother of Nicholas ...

George Bernard Shaw George Bernard Shaw (26 July 1856 – 2 November 1950), known at his insistence simply as Bernard Shaw, was an Irish playwright, critic, polemicist and political activist. His influence on Western theatre, culture and politics extended from ...

and

Hall Caine Sir Thomas Henry Hall Caine (14 May 1853 – 31 August 1931), usually known as Hall Caine, was a British novelist, dramatist, short story writer, poet and critic of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Caine's popularity during ...

. The building was used as

Secret Intelligence Service The Secret Intelligence Service (SIS), commonly known as MI6 ( Military Intelligence, Section 6), is the foreign intelligence service of the United Kingdom, tasked mainly with the covert overseas collection and analysis of human intelligenc ...

(MI6) headquarters until the end of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

. A blue plaque in

Mansfield Smith-Cumming Captain Sir Mansfield George Smith-Cumming (1 April 1859 – 14 June 1923) was a British naval officer who served as the first chief of the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS). Origins He was a great-great grandson of the prominent merchant John ...

's name at the SIS headquarters at 2 Whitehall Court was unveiled on 30 March 2015. 1 & 2 Whitehall Court are occupied by the

Royal Horseguards Hotel The Royal Horseguards Hotel is a London hotel situated in the area of Whitehall. It is operated by Guoman Hotels, a subsidiary of Thistle Hotels. History The building is the centre section of Whitehall Court which was designed by Thomas Arche ...

. 3 Whitehall Court is occupied by the

Farmers Club The Farmers Club is a London private members' club based at Whitehall Court, founded in 1842. Members are required to have an association with farming, agriculture or food. History The club was founded in 1842 by the agricultural writer Willia ...

. 4 Whitehall Court was occupied by the West Indian Club from 1912 until 1971. It is currently split into apartments: in February 2018,

Transparency International Transparency International e.V. (TI) is a German registered association founded in 1993 by former employees of the World Bank. Based in Berlin, its nonprofit and non-governmental purpose is to take action to combat global corruption with civil ...

reported that lawyer and activist

Alexei Navalny Alexei Anatolievich Navalny ( rus, links=no, Алексей Анатольевич Навальный, , ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej ɐnɐˈtolʲjɪvʲɪtɕ nɐˈvalʲnɨj; born 4 June 1976) is a Russian opposition leader, lawyer, and anti-corruption act ...

has claimed that Russian First Deputy Prime Minister

Igor Shuvalov Igor Ivanovich Shuvalov ( rus, И́горь Ива́нович Шува́лов, p=ˈigərʲ ɪˈvanəvʲɪtɕ ʂʊˈvaləf; born 4 January 1967)David Rose, the

Governor-General of Guyana This is a list of the heads of state of Guyana, from the independence of Guyana in 1966 to the present day. From 1966 to 1970 the head of state under the Constitution of 1966 was the queen of Guyana, Elizabeth II, who was also the queen of the ...

was killed after luncheoning at the West Indian Club when some scaffolding fell on a car he was in.

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External links

* {{Coord, 51.5057, N, 0.1241, W, display=title, type:landmark_region:GB 1880s establishments in England 1880s architecture Buildings and structures completed in the 19th century Grade II* listed buildings in the City of Westminster Alfred Waterhouse buildings Whitehall Buildings and structures on the River Thames