King of Clubs (Whig club)
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The King of Clubs was a famous Whig conversation club, founded in 1798. In contrast to its mainly Tory forerunner The Club (established by
Samuel Johnson Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709  – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
,
Edmund Burke Edmund Burke (; 12 January NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS">New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style">NS/nowiki>_1729_–_9_July_1797)_was_an_ NS.html"_;"title="New_Style.html"_;"title="/nowiki>New_Style"> ...
and
Sir Joshua Reynolds Sir Joshua Reynolds (16 July 1723 – 23 February 1792) was an English painter, specialising in portraits. John Russell said he was one of the major European painters of the 18th century. He promoted the "Grand Style" in painting which depend ...
), it was a predominantly Whig fraternity of some of the most brilliant minds of the day. The club met at the
Crown and Anchor Crown and Anchor is a simple dice game, traditionally played for gambling purposes by sailors in the Royal Navy as well as those in the British merchant and fishing fleets. History The game originated in the 18th century. It is still popul ...
on Arundel Street off the
Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...
, 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 ...
.


Membership

The original inspiration for its formation came from the Rev. Sydney Smith's older brother,
Robert The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of '' Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory, honou ...
- nicknamed "Bobus" after gaining the reputation at Eton for being such a clever Latin "versifier". The founding members were a group of friends who first met at the house of
James Mackintosh Sir James Mackintosh FRS FRSE (24 October 1765 – 30 May 1832) was a Scottish jurist, Whig politician and Whig historian. His studies and sympathies embraced many interests. He was trained as a doctor and barrister, and worked also as a jo ...
in February, 1798. As well as Mackintosh, the group comprised
Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. His ...
,
James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger (13 December 1769 – 17 April 1844), was an England, English lawyer, politician and judge. Early life James Scarlett was born in Jamaica, where his father, Robert Scarlett, had property. In the summer of 1785 h ...
, Richard "Conversation" Sharp, the historian John Allen and Robert Smith and by 1801 what had started as a small clique of friends had become a properly constituted club comprising the following members, *
Richard Porson Richard Porson (25 December 1759 – 25 September 1808) was an English classical scholar. He was the discoverer of Porson's Law. The Greek typeface '' Porson'' was based on his handwriting. Early life Richard Porson was born at East Ruston, n ...
*
Smithson Tennant Smithson Tennant FRS (30 November 1761 – 22 February 1815) was an English chemist. He is best known for his discovery of the elements iridium and osmium, which he found in the residues from the solution of platinum ores in 1803. He also cont ...
* John Courtney * Bryan Edwards * "Bobus" Smith * Jo. Richardson * John Allen *
Samuel Rogers Samuel Rogers (30 July 1763 – 18 December 1855) was an English poet, during his lifetime one of the most celebrated, although his fame has long since been eclipsed by his Romantic colleagues and friends Wordsworth, Coleridge and Byron. His ...
* Charles Butler * Richard Sharp *
James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger James Scarlett, 1st Baron Abinger (13 December 1769 – 17 April 1844), was an England, English lawyer, politician and judge. Early life James Scarlett was born in Jamaica, where his father, Robert Scarlett, had property. In the summer of 1785 h ...
* James Mackintosh * William Dickinson * John Whishaw *
Josiah Wedgwood II Josiah Wedgwood II (3 April 1769 – 12 July 1843), the son of the English potter Josiah Wedgwood, continued his father's firm and was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Stoke-upon-Trent from 1832 to 1835. He was an abolitionist, and detested slav ...
*
Pierre Etienne Louis Dumont Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...
*
Henry Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland Henry Richard Vassall-Fox, 3rd Baron Holland of Holland, and 3rd Baron Holland of Foxley PC (21 November 1773 – 22 October 1840), was an English politician and a major figure in Whig politics in the early 19th century. A grandson of Henry F ...
*
Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane, 2nd Baronet Sir Frederick Fletcher-Vane, 2nd Baronet (27 February 1760 – 26 February 1832), was a British politician, landowner and aristocrat. He was MP for the pocket borough of Winchelsea, between 1792 and 1794, the borough of Carlisle, between 1796 ...
Within seven years the club expanded to include such additional illustrious names as *
Thomas Moore Thomas Moore (28 May 1779 – 25 February 1852) was an Irish writer, poet, and lyricist celebrated for his ''Irish Melodies''. Their setting of English-language verse to old Irish tunes marked the transition in popular Irish culture from Irish ...
* John Wedgwood * Henry Brougham *
Thomas Creevey Thomas Creevey (March 17685 February 1838) was an English politician. He is best known for his insight into social conditions as revealed by his writings, which were published in 1903. Life Creevey was the son of William Creevey, a Liverpool me ...
* William Smith * Lord Petty * George Philips *
Francis Horner Francis Horner FRSE (12 August 1778 – 8 February 1817) was a Scottish Whig politician, journalist, lawyer and political economist. Early life: 1778–1807 He was born in Edinburgh the son of John Horner a linen merchant and his wife Joanna ...
* Rev.
Peter Elmsley Peter Elmsley (born Hampstead, London, 5 February 1774 – died Oxford, 8 March 1825) was an English classical scholar. Early life and education Peter Elmsley was the younger son of Alexander Elmsley of St Clement Danes, Westminster, who ...
*
Samuel Romilly Sir Samuel Romilly (1 March 1757 – 2 November 1818), was a British lawyer, politician and legal reformer. From a background in the commercial world, he became well-connected, and rose to public office and a prominent position in Parliament. A ...
*
John Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley John William Ward, 1st Earl of Dudley, PC, FRS (9 August 1781 – 6 March 1833), known as the Honourable John Ward from 1788 to 1823 and as the 4th Viscount Dudley and Ward from 1823 to 1827, was a British politician and slave holder. He serve ...
* Rev. Sydney Smith *
John Hoppner John Hoppner (4 April 175823 January 1810) was an English portrait painter, much influenced by Reynolds, who achieved fame as a brilliant colourist. Early life Hoppner was born in Whitechapel, London, the son of German parents – his mothe ...
*
Samuel Boddington Samuel Boddington (19 June 1766 – 19 April 1843) was an Anglo-Irish politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tralee from January 1807 to May of the same year. The Boddington family held large estates in the West Indies and Samuel ha ...
The King of Clubs had by now become well known throughout London as an exclusive Whig dining club where erudite conversation on all matters pertaining to books, authors and literature took place, but where the discussion of politics was positively excluded. Tom Campbell described the club as "a gathering-place of brilliant talkers, dedicated to the meetings of the reigning wits of London". The annual subscription had originally been set at 2 guineas but this was reduced to £2 in 1804, raised to 3 guineas in 1808, and finally fixed at £3 in 1810. As a dining club, an additional charge of 10 shillings and 6 pence was made for dinner, a considerable sum in those days, and princely suppers were held in
Harley Street Harley Street is a street in Marylebone, Central London, which has, since the 19th century housed a large number of private specialists in medicine and surgery. It was named after Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Oxford and Earl Mortimer.< ...
and later at the Crown and Anchor, Arundel Street, in the Strand. The Crown and Anchor was the very inn where Samuel Johnson and
James Boswell James Boswell, 9th Laird of Auchinleck (; 29 October 1740 (New Style, N.S.) – 19 May 1795), was a Scottish biographer, diarist, and lawyer, born in Edinburgh. He is best known for his biography of his friend and older contemporary the Englis ...
had once enjoyed supping together; and it was especially popular among the Whigs after it had hosted a great banquet in honour of Fox's birthday in 1798, when an enormous crowd of 2000 Reformers had toasted ''The People – the Source of Power!'' Such was the popularity of the King of Clubs, and so sought after did membership become, that in 1808 a decision was taken to limit membership to a maximum of thirty people who were resident in England. By this time the membership had gained: *
Lord Melbourne William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne, (15 March 177924 November 1848), in some sources called Henry William Lamb, was a British Whig politician who served as Home Secretary (1830–1834) and Prime Minister (1834 and 1835–1841). His first pre ...
*
Earl Cowper Earl Cowper ( ) was a title in the Peerage of Great Britain. It was created in 1718 by George I for William Cowper, 1st Baron Cowper, his first Lord Chancellor, with remainder in default of male issue of his own to his younger brother, Spencer ...
*
William Blake William Blake (28 November 1757 – 12 August 1827) was an English poet, painter, and printmaker. Largely unrecognised during his life, Blake is now considered a seminal figure in the history of the poetry and visual art of the Romantic Age. ...
* Abercromby (Lord Dunfermline) *
Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton Alexander Baring, 1st Baron Ashburton, PC (27 October 177412 May 1848), of The Grange in Hampshire, of Ashburton in Devon and of Buckenham Tofts near Thetford in Norfolk, was a British politician and financier, and a member of the Baring famil ...
* Charles Kinnaird, 8th Lord Kinnaird * Henry Luttrell * R.P. Knight *
Thomas Malthus Thomas Robert Malthus (; 13/14 February 1766 – 29 December 1834) was an English cleric, scholar and influential economist in the fields of political economy and demography. In his 1798 book '' An Essay on the Principle of Population'', Mal ...
*
Lord John Townshend Lord John Townshend PC (19 January 1757 – 23 February 1833), styled The Honourable John Townshend until 1787, was a British Whig politician. Background Townshend was the second son of Field Marshal George Townshend, 1st Marquess Townshend, ...
MP * John Fleming *
John Playfair John Playfair FRSE, FRS (10 March 1748 – 20 July 1819) was a Church of Scotland minister, remembered as a scientist and mathematician, and a professor of natural philosophy at the University of Edinburgh. He is best known for his book ''Illu ...
*
George Lamb George Martin Lamb (born 20 December 1979) is an English radio and television presenter, currently presenting ''Football Tonight'' on BT Sport. In 2012, Lamb presented the Channel 4 game show ''The Bank Job''. Lamb is the son of actor Larry Lam ...
* Lord King *
Henry Hallam Henry Hallam (9 July 1777 – 21 January 1859) was an English historian. Educated at Eton and Christ Church, Oxford, he practised as a barrister on the Oxford circuit for some years before turning to history. His major works were ''View of t ...
*
David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British Political economy, political economist. He was one of the most influential of the Classical economics, classical economists along with Thomas Robert Malthus, Thomas Malthus, Ad ...
* Lord
Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman Thomas Denman, 1st Baron Denman, (23 July 177926 September 1854) was an English lawyer, judge and politician. He served as Lord Chief Justice between 1832 and 1850. Background and education Denman was born in London, the son of Dr Thomas Den ...
In 1797 Bobus Smith, the originator of the club, accepted a seven-year posting in India as Advocate General of Bengal. His move abroad was a great loss to the King of Clubs and while he was away he asked Richard Sharp to perform a number of duties for him: Sydney Smith came to London and took his brother's place at the club in 1803/4, having previously worked with
Francis Jeffrey Francis Jeffrey, Lord Jeffrey (23 October 1773 – 26 January 1850) was a Scottish judge and literary critic. Life He was born at 7 Charles Street near Potterow in south Edinburgh, the son of George Jeffrey, a clerk in the Court of Session ...
and Henry Brougham on the
Edinburgh Review The ''Edinburgh Review'' is the title of four distinct intellectual and cultural magazines. The best known, longest-lasting, and most influential of the four was the third, which was published regularly from 1802 to 1929. ''Edinburgh Review'', ...
, a renowned Whig literary magazine, which, with Allen, he had helped to initiate. When he arrived in the city, the irrepressible Sydney formed an immediate attachment to the King of Clubs and his unique sense of humour quickly endeared him to other members and gave meetings an added piquancy. The club lost another of its original members when Sir James Mackintosh, recently knighted, accepted the post of Recordership of Bombay in 1804 and followed in Bobus's footsteps. A record book of the King of Clubs has been preserved and a typical meeting of about this time (1804) lists the following members in attendance: *
Richard Porson Richard Porson (25 December 1759 – 25 September 1808) was an English classical scholar. He was the discoverer of Porson's Law. The Greek typeface '' Porson'' was based on his handwriting. Early life Richard Porson was born at East Ruston, n ...
* Richard Sharp * James Scarlett * Sir James Mackintosh * Rev. Sydney Smith *
Samuel Boddington Samuel Boddington (19 June 1766 – 19 April 1843) was an Anglo-Irish politician. He was a Member of Parliament (MP) for Tralee from January 1807 to May of the same year. The Boddington family held large estates in the West Indies and Samuel ha ...
* Hon. William Drummond * George Philips Manchester * Henry Luttrell *
David Ricardo David Ricardo (18 April 1772 – 11 September 1823) was a British Political economy, political economist. He was one of the most influential of the Classical economics, classical economists along with Thomas Robert Malthus, Thomas Malthus, Ad ...
*
Charles Kinnaird, 8th Lord Kinnaird Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English and French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*karilaz'' (in Latin alphabet), whose meaning was ...
Lower Grosvenor St


Meetings

Meetings of the King of Clubs did not always take place at the Crown and Anchor, and after 1819 they were held at the Freemasons' Tavern, at Grillions in Albemarle Street, and latterly at the Clarendon Hotel. A surviving account from one of the club's early meetings shows that a dinner for twelve members cost a £24, which included two bottles of Madeira, three bottles of Sherry, two bottles of Port and three bottles of Claret. Despite such unashamed conviviality there is no evidence that alcohol in any way impeded the flow or the quality of the conversation that took place, and we may imagine that the reverse was probably the case since the atmosphere was always a happy blend of the jovial and the serious. It was expected that members should give time to the preparation of their bon-mots, witticisms and anecdotes so that in due course these could be woven into the discussion as productively and effectively as possible.
Peter William Clayden Peter William Clayden (20 October 1827 – 19 February 1902) was a British Nonconformist and Liberal journalist and author.G. S. Woods, Clayden, Peter William (1827–1902), rev. H. C. G. Matthew, ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Ox ...
recalls how on one occasion Sharp, in fun, chanced upon Boddington's notes before a meeting, made a mental note of all his stories and brought them into the conversation before Boddington could relate them himself. The preparation that members were expected to undertake before attending meetings of the King of Clubs does not seem to have spoiled either the spontaneity of what occurred or the enjoyment of those who attended. Yet when
Francis Horner Francis Horner FRSE (12 August 1778 – 8 February 1817) was a Scottish Whig politician, journalist, lawyer and political economist. Early life: 1778–1807 He was born in Edinburgh the son of John Horner a linen merchant and his wife Joanna ...
had his first experience of the club, on 10 April 1802, he gained a very mixed impression, finding the conversation less animated than he had anticipated but attributing this to the absence of Sydney Smith: Horner regretted that there was no discussion of political ideas and complained that Sharp and Mackintosh seemed to be too much in agreement with one another, "as if they belonged to a kind of sect". In a sense this remark was quite true, but Horner was quite happy to become a member of the sect himself that year and Clayden confirms that by 1804 Mackintosh and Sydney Smith had established "a kind of society" which still held parties "once or twice every week" in their own homes. In effect these were a continuation of the informal meetings which had started in 1798 and which Horner was now happy to attend. As far as the more formal meetings of the club were concerned there was broad agreement by members that James Mackintosh and Sydney Smith were the most brilliant contributors.see for example,''Letter from Sydney Smith to James Mackintosh, 20.2.1805''. MS National Library of Scotland Tom Moore felt that certain of the group, Mackintosh included, invested so much of their time and energy in club proceedings that their literary and professional careers suffered as a direct consequence, but whatever the risks, the King of Clubs enjoyed immense status as a place where superb conversation might be found and accordingly membership became more keenly sought than ever. In 1809, and mindful of those times when he had been in financial straits,
Sydney Smith Sydney Smith (3 June 1771 – 22 February 1845) was an English wit, writer, and Anglican cleric. Early life and education Born in Woodford, Essex, England, Smith was the son of merchant Robert Smith (1739–1827) and Maria Olier (1750–1801), ...
wrote dryly to Lady Holland: Smith added pointedly: At one stage it was proposed by Mackintosh that the conversation and witticisms of their meetings should be recorded in a literary magazine, to be called ''The Bachelor''. It was felt that there existed more than sufficient material to support a twice-weekly publication, but although the idea had the support of Rogers, Robert Smith, Scarlett and Sharp, the project never materialised. Consequently, though the Club's meetings spanned a quarter of a century, few details have survived of the bonhomie, the magic and the sparkling conversation that went on at them. The reason for the final demise of the club is not known but the poet
Thomas Campbell Thomas Campbell may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Thomas Campbell (poet) (1777–1844), Scottish poet * Thomas Campbell (sculptor) (1790–1858), Scottish sculptor * Thomas Campbell (visual artist) (born 1969), California-based visual artist ...
became a frequent guest and in the following letter to a friend he reflects on some of the reasons why he himself gradually became disenchanted:


Ending

As a creative phenomenon perhaps it was inevitable that the King of Clubs should enjoy an initial period of rapid growth, reach a high point of maturity, and then suffer a final decline. Perhaps the appeal of such a club went out of fashion, or perhaps more likely it simply outgrew itself and became a victim of its own success. As more and more people with diverse personalities and different conversational skills became members, the dynamics of the group must inevitably have changed and in Campbell's view the club was ultimately consumed in the heat of its own incandescence. But as it came towards its end, the final glowing embers were not easily extinguished in the hearts of members and many warm memories were kept alive. A good number of those who had attended meetings for much of their lives would reflect nostalgically in old age on what wonderfully pleasurable times had been spent at the club. Richard Sharp summed up the sentiment at the very end of his life, when he wrote to Scarlett on 13 November 1834:


References


External links


An early description of the club in W.P. Courtney's ''Lord Byron and his Times''
{{Coord, 51, 30, 44.79, N, 0, 6, 50.78, W, scale:1563_region:GB, display=title Whiggism 1798 establishments in Great Britain Defunct clubs and societies of the United Kingdom Gentlemen's clubs in London