The Victoria Working Men's Club was a

working men's club Working men's clubs are British private social clubs first created in the 19th century in industrial areas, particularly the North of England, Midlands, Scotland and South Wales Valleys, to provide recreation and education for working class me ...

at 275 Sandycombe Road in

Kew Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...

Richmond, London Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commiss ...

which operated from 1892 until 2015, when the building it occupied was sold to a property developer. In February 2017

Richmond upon Thames Council Richmond upon Thames London Borough Council is the local authority for the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in Greater London, England. It is a London borough council, one of 32 in London, the United Kingdom capital. Richmond upon Thames is ...

approved a planning application to demolish the building, and erect a new community building and six

flats Flat or flats may refer to: Architecture * Flat (housing), an apartment in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Australia and other Commonwealth countries Arts and entertainment * Flat (music), a symbol () which denotes a lower pitch * Flat (soldier), ...

The building

The club was housed in Victoria & St John's, a building in timber clad with

corrugated iron Corrugated galvanised iron or steel, colloquially corrugated iron (near universal), wriggly tin (taken from UK military slang), pailing (in Caribbean English), corrugated sheet metal (in North America) and occasionally abbreviated CGI is a bu ...

, which from 1876 to 1889 had been an iron church on the opposite side of Sandycombe Road, housing St Luke's Church and St Luke's School. It was moved to its present position in 1889 when the current St Luke's Church was built in The Avenue. Its close association with the history of Kew led to it being listed in 2005 by the local council as a Building of Townscape Merit.

The club

Alderman James Weeks Szlumper, an engineer and major benefactor of Darell Road School, who had also been mayor of

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

, was, for many years, the club's president and patron.Szlumper, James 1834–1926 Sir James Szlumper Cuttings Files, 1869-1919. Richmond upon Thames Local Studies Library and Archive. GB 358 DC56 on the Archives Hub website
Retrieved 22 March 2019. The club was renowned for the amount of money it raised to send

cigarettes A cigarette is a narrow cylinder containing a combustible material, typically tobacco, that is rolled into thin paper for smoking. The cigarette is ignited at one end, causing it to smolder; the resulting smoke is orally inhaled via the oppo ...

to British soldiers at the

front Front may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''The Front'' (1943 film), a 1943 Soviet drama film * ''The Front'', 1976 film Music * The Front (band), an American rock band signed to Columbia Records and active in the 1980s and e ...

in 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 ...

. It was visited by four overseas prime ministers and many British government ministers and by members of the British Royal Family. A photograph shows Alderman Szlumper seated between the Duke and Duchess of York (later

King George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of Ind ...

and Queen Elizabeth).

David Blomfield David Guy Blomfield (11 July 1934 – 12 July 2016) was leader of the Liberal Party group on Richmond upon Thames Council, a writer, a book editor and a local historian. Early life and education David Blomfield was born in Camberley, Surre ...

, former Chairman of the

Richmond Local History Society Richmond is a town in south-west London,The London Government Act 1963 (c.33) (as amended) categorises the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames as an Outer London borough. Although it is on both sides of the River Thames, the Boundary Commis ...

, said: "In all, the club boasted of visits from 50 such VIPs over seven years – probably a unique record for a club of its size, and most certainly for one set in such accommodation".

Current use

The building continued to be used by the club as a

billiards hall A billiard, pool or snooker hall (or parlour, room or club; sometimes compounded as poolhall, poolroom, etc.) is a place where people get together for playing cue sports such as pool, snooker or carom billiards. Such establishments commonly serv ...

until 2015; it is now empty. As of 2016, an extension at the back of the building was still used by a school for

Japanese martial arts Japanese martial arts refers to the variety of martial arts native to the country of Japan. At least three Japanese terms (''budō'', ''bujutsu'', and ''bugei'') are used interchangeably with the English phrase Japanese martial arts. The usage ...

. In February 2017

approved a planning application to demolish the building, and erect a new community building and six

References

{{Reflist

External links

Burford, J-F (23 April 2016). Blog post on demolition and historical photograph, KewTW9 website.
1892 establishments in England Buildings and structures completed in 1876 Clubs and societies in London English billiards Iron and steel buildings Judo in England Kew, London Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames Working men's clubs