Formation 1885 (1885) Location Royal Avenue, Belfast President Arthur Henderson | Type Gentlemen's club Membership c. 870 Chief Executive Alex Graham | |
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The Ulster Reform Club is a gentleman's club at No. 4, Royal Avenue, Belfast, Northern Ireland. It first opened in January 1885.
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The club was originally built by Ulster members of the Liberal Party, to celebrate William Gladstone's victory in the 1880 general election. However, by 1886, its leadership was dominated by supporters of the Liberal Unionist Party, including Fred Crawford, and they formed a political committee to further the cause of the union of Britain and Ireland.
Political committee
From 1905, the Ulster Liberal Unionist Association was represented on the Ulster Unionist Council, but given that the Association was headquartered at the Reform Club, and the Liberal Unionists soon became an irrelevance in Northern Ireland, in 1929, their representation was transferred to the political committee of the Ulster Reform Club.
The committee included members such as Lord Pirrie, Thomas Somerset and W. J. Stewart and, in later years, David Graham Shillington, Maynard Sinclair, Herbert Kirk, William McCleery, Brian Faulkner and J. L. O. Andrews. However, it attracted criticism for being overly secretive, refusing to reveal details of its constitution, membership or purpose even to officials of the Ulster Unionist Party.